A few analyses I got from the internet:
"The young Sohrab was the fruit of one of Rustum's early amours.
He had left his mother, and sought fame under the banners of
Afrasiab, whose armies he commanded, and soon obtained a
renown beyond that of all contemporary heroes but his father. He
had carried death and dismay into the ranks of the Persians, and
had terrified the boldest warriors of that country, before Rustum
encountered him, which at last that hero resolved to do, under a
feigned name. They met three times. The first time they parted by
mutual consent, though Sohrab had the advantage; the second, the
youth obtained a victory, but granted life to his unknown father; the
third was fatal to Sohrab, who, when writhing in the pangs of death,
warned his conqueror to shun the vengeance that is inspired by
parental woes, and bade him dread the rage of the mighty Rustum,
who must soon learn that he had slain his son Sohrab. These words,
we are told, were as death to the aged hero; and when he recovered
from a trance, he called in despair for proofs of what Sohrab had
said. The afflicted and dying youth tore open his mail, and showed
his father a seal which his mother had placed on his arm when she
discovered to him the secret of his birth, and bade him seek his
father. The sight of his own signet rendered Rustum quite frantic; he
cursed himself, attempting to put an end to his existence, and was
only prevented by the efforts of his expiring son. After Sohrab's
death, he burnt his tents and all his goods, and carried the corpse to
Seistan, where it was interred; the army of Turan was, agreeable to
the last request of Sohrab, permitted to cross the Oxus unmolested.
To reconcile us to the improbability of this tale, we are informed
that Rustum could have no idea his son was in existence. The
mother of Sohrab had written to him her child was a daughter,
fearing to lose her darling infant if she revealed the truth; and
Rustum, as before stated, fought under a feigned name, an usage
not uncommon in the chivalrous combats of those days." — Arnold
Sohrab (SOH-rahb), the champion of the Tartar army. Little more
than a boy but the mightiest warrior of the Tartar hosts, Sohrab,
restless and dissatisfied, seeks Rustum, a Persian, the father he has
never seen. Hoping that his fame will reach his father’s ears, he
asks Peran-Wisa to challenge the Persians to a single combat, with
each side choosing a champion for the duel. Sohrab, the Tartar,
faces Rustum, the Persian, on the field of battle, and Sohrab is
transfixed by Rustum’s spear. Before Sohrab dies, father and son
become known to each other.
Rustum (REWS-tuhm), a Persian chieftain and champion of the
Persian army. Meeting the challenge of the Tartars for a duel
between a chosen warrior from each side, Rustum, unknowingly,
faces his son, Sohrab. He transfixes and mortally wounds the
youthful champion with his spear. As the victim’s life ebbs away,
Rustum learns the identity of his son. In an agony of grief and
remorse, he promises to bear Sohrab’s body to the palace of his
fathers.
Main theme: Fate controls us/You can’t change your destiny.
Sub-themes:
1) Weakness of women (shown when Rustum left the wife
because she supposedly gave birth to a girl)
2) Young, self-centered kids are always out to prove themselves
3) Some people are willing to give up their lives to save others.
(Sohrab and Rustum agreed to fight each other so that their
men would not get hurt)
4) Over the course of the universe, one event is one event. It’s
insignificant. (The last 40 lines or so talk about human life as if
it were flowing into the Aral Sea. It shows that no matter what
happens, life will go on.)
5) Sometimes, it takes the supreme sacrifice to get what you
want. (This works in two ways; First, Sohrab died before he
met his father. Second, when Sohrab died, his men were
allowed to cross the Oxus.)
6) Parents should never outlive their children. (more on this in
the Romeo and Juliet comparisons)
7) Blood is thicker than water. (Sohrab was pretty content, but
he would never be able to rest until he found his real father)
8) Experience will win out more often. (Rustum defeated Sohrab)
Similarities to Romeo and Juliet:
Characters:
For one, you could say that Romeo and Sohrab were similar. Both
were kids that didn’t really know what they were doing. You could
call them cheeky little boys that bit off more than they could chew
and in their haste to decide and rash thinking, got more than what
they bargained for (ergo, dying). The young hero, our protagonist,
the person we’re supposed to cheer for.
Peran-Wisa (though he is a minor character) and Friar Lawrence are
also similar, in a way. Both are older men of authority (Peran-Wisa
was like the military chieftain and Friar Lawrence was a priest). Both
advice the young hero on what they’re supposed to do and warn
them of possible consequences.
Rustum and the Capulets are also similar because of their great
grief for their children dying (and if you look at Romeo and Juliet,
Capulet also made some comment about wishing he didn’t have a
daughter). Rustum and Juliet, not so much, although they both
caused the hero to die.
Plot:
The most striking similarity of the plots is that they both deal with
the concept of fate, something that is a very debatable concept,
even in today’s times. For both poems, so many things could have
happened that would have changed the course of the entire thing.
For Romeo and Juliet, if the guy didn’t get quarantined, the plot
would have been discovered and it would be okay. For Sohrab and
Rusum, if Sohrab didn’t take Rustum 1-on-1, if Sohrab’s mother had
just been honest, if Rustum did not use a different name when
fighting Sohrab, then the ending of the story would be different.
Both of them just make the reader feel the hopelessness of it all,
that everything we do is futile because nothing is going to change
our fate.
Another thing is the theme I mentioned earlier. It’s a common
saying among parents that they should never outlive their children,
and obviously, when Juliet, Romeo and Sohrab die, this is
manifested.
Theme:
As it is, almost all of the themes above can be applied to Romeo and
Juliet as well. Fate, women being the weaker sex (which according
to Ms. Ibanez, is the reason why Juliet is the “greater rebel” if you
remember the essay sa LT2) and all the other themes are present in
both because they both revolve around one plotline. The names and
the stories may change, but the feeling is the same.
Other notes about the story:
I think what was really interesting was how Sohrab’s quest for
knowledge and power ended up costing him in the end, like his
ambition did him in. Additionally, the use of Iran and the Middle East
was very useful, as it allowed the author and the readers to step
back and see the story as something that was bound to happen and
not really feel sorry for the characters at all.