The Last of Juha

Well in finishing Tales of Juha I can't say I'm either disappointed or relieved.  While I didn't always find the jokes funny, overall it was an amusing read.  I think this last section had some of my favorite chapters.  The anecdotes in the first two chapters just show the typical Juha at it again, doing ridiculous things.  I especially enjoyed the one where Juha is trying to brag about his horsemanship skills but his friend makes sure to tell the group that he too fell off the rowdy stallion.  One of my favorite jokes in the book, though, is when Juha falls off his donkey and then tells the laughing bystanders that he'd "just decided to get off anyway."  As a horse-rider I have had (probably more than) my fair share of tumbles, so I can relate.  In fact I was a bit disappointed that I myself had never thought of using Juha's quick-witted line.

The Juha portrayed in chapter seven and nine seems to stand in pretty stark contrast with simple-minded person portrayed in a most of the stories.  In a number of the tales in these chapters, Juha out-wits the corrupt figures in power, often backing them into a corner by throwing their own words back at them.  Judge Juha proves to be a wise figure, dispelling those with false claims and properly discerning the innocent and guilty parties in the cases that come to him.  I like the one where he decides the jingle of coins is proper payment for the greedy cook who wanted to charge the poor man for using his steam.  I was also amused when Juha decides the coins belong to the butcher because of the film of fat that rises to the surface when he soaks them in water—pretty ingenious if you ask me.  I found it interesting how many of these stories involved judges taking bribes and people coming with false witnesses or cases.  Perhaps this reflects the feelings of people in the Arab world towards the judicial system.

Sandwiched between these two chapters is the good-'ole Juha we are used to, amusing us with his silly ways.  Who else decides they can't fight off a thief because their hands are too occupied just holding a variety of weapons?

The tone of very last chapter is also quite different than that of the other anecdotes.  In the stories Juha deals with Tamerlane, an oppressive and corrupted figure of power.  I couldn't help but see some political/social commentary behind these stories; a bit of a digress from the light-heartedness of the rest of the book.  Tamerlane is depicted as being set in his ways, putting the interests of the people behind his own.  In one story Tamerlane seems completely unmoved by the fact that many of his people are dying due to fires, floods, etc, even going so far as to say it was the people's fault.  Juha appears to be the only one to stand firm against Tamerlane, making his own small form of rebellion simply by refusing to just cower to Tamerlane.  Juha even outwardly mock Tamerlane at times, comparing him to kings famous for their downfalls.  It appears that for the people who pass around these stories, Juha personifies the way they wish they could stand up to oppressive rulers.  I think these anecdotes are a perfect example of a point Comic Relief discussed: people use humor to point out the shortcomings of those in power.

After seeing Juha take on a variety of roles, I found that I tended to like the stories more when Juha was cleverly exposing the foolishness of others than when he was the one doing nonsensical things.  Either way, he can be quite an interesting figure.