Marjane Case

If I were in a similar situation to Marjane, living in an extremely non-secular country and being an extremely outspoken girl, I would want my parents to make the same decision that Marjane’s parents made. With the large amount of prejudice towards women and the lack of input form the people, the country of Iran is a negative place for a girl like Marjane to develop. A big factor that plays into Marjane’s parent’s decision is the role that women play in a country where religion and state are connected. Marjane’s mother knows first hand the way that women are treated by the fundamentalists when she is yelled at for not wearing a veil. This incident is followed by the government implementing a law that all women must wear a veil, which perpetuates …show more content…
A large problem with the shift from a secular to a non-secular state is the fact that now all schools are affiliated with religion, which does not give a girl like Marji a lot of room for creative learning and growth. This is especially problematic when Marji speaks against what she believes is being improperly taught to the students, which is greatly frowned upon. This is shown as a problem when the revolution has begun and the Shah is kicked out of power. The students are told to tear out the pictures of the Shah, who they were previously taught was chosen by God. Marji questions this because it goes against her previous knowledge and she would like to know what changed, but rather than give her an explanation as to what happened, Marji is sent to the corner because she “shouldn’t say things like that” (44). She is a curious child who has a hard time accepting what is told to her. To many this behavior would be seen as positive because the child has a yearning for learning, but instead she is seen as rebellious which leads her to be more rebellious because of the self-fulfilling prophecy that the teachers place on her. Once they see her a trouble child who questions authority, she will continue this behavior because it gets her a reaction. Later in her story she is asked by her principle not to wear jewelry, and instead of follow her instruction; she wears the bracelet the following day. This act of rebellion leads to her getting yelled at by the principle, which is followed by Marjane hitting the principle (143). This is a pretty powerful way to get expelled if you ask me. These acts of defiance show that the schooling that is provided in Iran is most likely not the best fit for