Pardoning The Unpardonable By Marjane Satrap

The quote “To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable” by Gilbert Chesterton would fit exceptionally well in nearly any part of Marjane Satrapi’s memoir of her uncommonly somber childhood in a revolution and war-torn region of Iran. The many unpardonable events that afflicted innocent individuals and entire communities serve as moments in her childhood that would change and shape her as a person while also changing and shaping Iran’s history. Although she stresses the importance of forgiveness in even the darkest of circumstances, she also illustrates why forgetting what has been forgiven would prove detrimental not only to herself, but also to the rest of the world.

In Marjane’s memoir she describes the various atrocities committed by …show more content…
She had been told by her school teacher that the Shah was chosen by god; when, in reality, the current Shah’s rise to power was started by a soldier, named Reza, organizing a putsch to overthrow the previous emperor and create a republic. This plan soon changed once the British realized that they could take oil from the country in exchange for practically nothing if they convinced the leader of the would-be republic to instead make himself Shah. The current Shah, Reza’s son, was very unpopular among the revolutionaries for making empty promises, and realized that after numerous scandals he would be forced to step down from office, so he decided to tell the people that they would work to make their country more democratic. All his attempts at creating a democracy failed, and he was forced to leave office and many in country were overjoyed… …show more content…
Iraq focused their bombing first on the towns bordering the country; then on the capital city of Tehran. Anytime the bombs began to fall Marjane and her family would retreat to their basement that had been converted into a shelter, but they decided to abandon the idea after Iraq began to use ballistic missiles on the capital. Marjane tells the story of how she was out shopping with a friend when she hears a bomb explode in her neighborhood. After rushing home to make sure that her family was alive she discovers that her neighbors home had been destroyed in the bombing. She and her mother attempted to convince themselves that their neighbors had not been home, but as Marjane passed by the wreckage she noticed Neda’s bracelet, and upon closer inspection she found that it was still attached to Neda’s arm. Marjane said that no scream in the world could have relieved her suffering and her