Azar Nafisi, the narrator of Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books (2003), is a self-centered, self- righteousness character who, according to her claim, has very little contact with other Iranian people in general. (p. 11, 74, 186, 169) Being “very American” (p. 175), in several incidents she finds herself in a great distance of what others acknowledge as custom, ordinary or natural. (p. 32, 98, ..) Bear that in mind, she also admits that “events in [her] mind have become confused” (p. 89) Yet, do these shortcomings mean that Nafisi is an unreliable narrator? Should the fact that there is a lot she does not know about events or can only relate from hearsay, put one on guard against her judgments? In the first pages of the text, the narrator functions primarily to establish a representational frame within. At first, like a camera she presents an overall perspective, which is elucidating life in the Islamic Republic of Iran. An attitude that will always hover above the scenes to come that invites the reader to see the entire scenes and outlines under its shadow. Afterwards, the camera’s perspective changes as it introduces the close up image through two photographs. In these photographs, the reader is made acquainted with seven young woman who, in accompany with their teacher; Nafisi, form a literary group to discuss literature. These photographs, however, perform another significant task; they are complementary in the narrative discourse. While the narrator addresses the reader repeatedly and directly; she almost desperately asks them to be a part of the scene. The two photographs, being effectively graphic, almost instinctively engage the reader with the text. In this manner, taking the reader, the narrator esta... ... middle of paper ... ...ngs [are] leaning against the wall”, “the vases [are] on the floor”, “the fireplace [is] in the corner”, “the love seat [is] against one wall” and “the peach couch [is facing] the window”. Therefore, at the end of the description, one, inevitably, feels a sense of familiarity with the living room as well as the narrator. As the narrator changes perspective, the audience respectively adopts the narrator’s point of view and sees and experiences events as she sees and experiences them. The same attitude, repeats in introducing the girls via the photos, as the narrator does not find it adequate to merely name the girls, she points out to their specific place within the photo. As if the reader is holding the photo, she indicate “the one to the far right is Manna”, Yassi is “the one in yellow, bending forward and bursting with laughter”, “I am the one in brown”. (p. 4)
Literature is the key to our world or language. Many writers have emerged from this subject such as Homer who wrote The Odyssey and Euripidies who wrote about the evil Medea. Also mentioned in this paper are the Thousand and One Arabian Nights which is a collection of folktales and stories that are compiled into one. Each of these works of literature has a woman character that has many similarities in solving their problems. In The Odyssey the woman character that will be in comparison is Penelope which is Odysseus’s wife. In the story of Medea, Medea is of course the character we will be discussing and Shaharazad is the woman character from the Thousand and One Arabian Nights that will also be in comparison. Each of these women find themselves in a particularly “sticky situation.” However, Penelope, Medea, and Shahrazad are three strong women whose perseverance and cleverness help them to attain their goals.
Fatima Mernissi is a superb writer who introduces the reader into a harem through the mind of a nine-year-old girl. In this autobiographical novel young Mernissi talks uncensored about the contradictions of life in a harem, surrounded by the extraordinary women in her family who are restrained from leaving the family courtyard. These women’s is a struggle of complete lack of freedom. They are not allowed to leave the courtyard except on very few occasions, and escorted by men (Mernissi 39). Their lack of mobility is also accentuated by lack of other freedoms such as education and financial freedom, although they have a voice in the decision making of the crucial changes in the harem life.
The windowless room symbolizes the almost perfect Eadith identity; living in this identity, s/he feels safe and that is why s/he likes the room. The children represent h/er other identities; being forced to hide under Eadith identity, they feel uncomfortable and that is why they insist on getting out of there. This is the problem of fragmented identity.
Galchen creates the character of her narrator to be very similar to that of the young narrator in “Araby” in a modern setting. In their youth, each narrator becomes infatuated and obsessed with someone who does not realize. The narrator of “Araby” falls in love with his friend Mangan’s sister, as seen in that he states that “when she came out on the doorstep [his] heart leaped” (123). He forms an obsession with her, as evidenced by the fact that he “had never spoken to her . . . and yet her name was like a summons to all [his] foolish blood” and in that “her image accompanied [him] even in places the most hostile to romance” (123).
The emotive language used throughout her memories, show direct contrast to her present situation, as well as her reasons for leaving home. The use of personification, in text such as ‘ the sea roared like an angry beast’, provide emphasis of emotive language, used in describing the estrangement felt. The language is so eloquent, conjuring such engagingly vivid images, of Ziba’s emotions, particularly as she feels the ups and downs of the unforgiving ocean. Through figurative and evaluative language, Ziba is able to depict her past and present feelings and memories. The strong connection between sensory experiences and memory is sophisticated and crisp, making the text straightforward and resonant. The author uses simile’s such as, ‘thoughts of home washed over Ziba like the surge of sea washing over the deck’, linking past and present, creating feelings of loneliness, whilst reflecting on her once peaceful home. The effective use of noun groups - laughter of children, cool mountain air, rich spices of the evening meal - alongside side a number of sensory verbs - thought, felt and smelled - assist and connect the reader to Ziba’s thoughts. Furthermore, the use of repetition in the first and last page of the text, places emphasis on the unstable state of their emotions, the uncertainty of what’s to
Marjane Satrapi in her memoir, “The Complete Persepolis” enlightens readers with the reality of living in Iran, as she tells her journey through her life of becoming a woman during the Islamic Revolution. Iran similar to other countries has made different prescribed roles for their women and men based on their cultures religious and traditional set of laws. Society to them was a depiction of what their people were expected to look, and act like when in public. When trying to understand the importance of gender along with their roles in society, it’s crucial to acknowledge outside factors, for instance things like culture and social class. The characters throughout her memoir illustrate how their
The composer has aimed this text for general reading by all people over the age of ten. However as this publication is the young reader’s edition, it is targeted at young readers. People who may wish to read the book may be able to attain it through mediums such as book stores and libraries etc. Although this publication of the novel is the young reader’s edition, there is a publication aimed at adults.
Throughout “Araby”, the main character experiences a dynamic character shift as he recognizes that his idealized vision of his love, as well as the bazaar Araby, is not as grandiose as he once thought. The main character is infatuated with the sister of his friend Mangan; as “every morning [he] lay on the floor in the front parlour watching her door…when she came on the doorstep [his] heart leaped” (Joyce 108). Although the main character had never spoken to her before, “her name was like a summons to all [his] foolish blood” (Joyce 108). In a sense, the image of Mangan’s sister was the light to his fantasy. She seemed to serve as a person who would lift him up out of the darkness of the life that he lived. This infatuation knew no bounds as “her image accompanied [him] even in places the most hostile to romance…her name sprang to [his] lips at moments in strange prayers and praises which [he] did not understand” (Joyce 109). The first encounter the narrator ex...
Persepolis, a graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi, is not a run-of-the-mill comic book. It is written with purpose. Satrapi wrote and illustrated this book to show Americans that their perspective of her home country, Iran, is askew. She believes Americans are too focused on the “fundamentalism, fanaticism, and terrorism” (Satrapi ii), of the nation and that they forget to notice the normality and humanness of it. Since these two perspectives have vast differences, Satrapi wants to change their minds. Thus, it is crucial that she effectively communicate this humanness of Iran to the literary audience in America. Since the literary devices in a work are needed to correctly convey a message, she found it necessary to include these and manipulate them in her favor. Satrapi uses the innocence of a child along with morals in her pictures and a relation of cultures to effectively communicate her message. It is necessary to examine how she manipulates such literary devices in order to gain a full understanding of the text.
In ‘unreliable narration’ the narrator’s account is at odds with the implied reader's surmises about the story’s real intentions. The story und...
The young girl sprawls on comfortably as a way of the illustrating her rebellion, as this is not the appropriate position to have one’s portrait taken. Also, the girl seems to be from a well of family since her dress is a fashion-forward, her shawl and bow matches with her socks. Her hair is neatly placed in clean and neat shoes that that seems to be new as they have buckles that sparkle. Conversely, the little girl has insignificant concern for all this primness where her unselfconscious pose presents a novel image regarding childhood (Jones
In the story, the narrator is forced to tell her story through a secret correspondence with the reader since her husband forbids her to write and would “meet [her] with heavy opposition” should he find her doing so (390). The woman’s secret correspondence with the reader is yet another example of the limited viewpoint, for no one else is ever around to comment or give their thoughts on what is occurring. The limited perspective the reader sees through her narration plays an essential role in helping the reader understand the theme by showing the woman’s place in the world. At ...
Azar Nafisi wrote, Reading Lolita in Tehran: a Memoir in Books, a book about her life as a teacher in Iran. Nafisi decided to teach an all- female class in her home. Nafisi quotes one of her students who explains why she had to lie to her father about taking the class,
...the story he is inviting the reader to condemn the mistreatment of women and lack of freedom in the family particularly under the institution of marriage. The attitude of the author gives the story a condemning tone. The tone is appropriate for the theme which is a strained relations in the family and specifically in marriage relations.
The novel Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi and the article “With Tasers and placards, the women of Egypt are fighting back against sexism” by Laurie Penny can be connected both internally in regards to the text and outwardly to the time and place surrounding the novel and article. Although Woman at Point Zero provides a fictional journey, one that is at heart and by inspiration very genuine, the ideas incorporated into this novel are just as authentic as those provided by the first hand account given by Laurie Penny. Woman at Point Zero follows the story of one woman, Firdaus, who is forcibly raped on numerous occasions. Firdaus later finds security by means of prostitution, which leads her to be targeted on a more authoritative scale. Ultimately Firdaus finds strength to retaliate against the men who have harmed her, as can be seen when she defends herself, killing her pimp. Penny documented her experience at a women’s march in Egypt, after interviewing after obtaining views of the social injustices occurring in this region. The very similar infrastructure for these texts allows one to easily draw connections. Both article and novel can be connected through the familiar settings of the authors, the techniques used to convey the situation of Egypt, and the direct intentions that the authors held and ultimately saw into fruition.