I have to admit that when I first started reading Reading Lolita in Tehran, I didn’t think I was going to enjoy it very much. I haven’t quite finished the book and I wouldn’t use enjoy as the adjective to describe this reading experience. I have found the book to be a thought provoking one though.
Books or articles about life in some other countries cause me to stop and think about all of the freedom and liberties I take for granted. To be able to read what I want to read, listen to music I want to listen to, watching the shows I want to watch, or dressing how I want to dress are some of the daily things we all do that we don’t even stop to think about. The opportunity to be able to participate in our Discussion Boards and post Blogs isn’t something you can do in some countries.
One of the stories that stuck with me from RLiT was when Nafisi’s daughter recounts the story of a classmate who was taken away to the principal’s office because her nails were too long and they cut them so short she was bleeding. Who treats a child like that???
I work with a lady from Tehran and we were discussing this book today. She shared some of her stories with me. She left the country about the time the Ayatollah was coming into power so she didn’t have to endure much of the revolution but many in her family did and still live there. She said her brother got in trouble a lot with the authorities for taking a stand. One day a lady was thought to be wearing make-up so a bag of rats were poured on her head and started biting her. Her brother and others came to her rescue but I can’t even imagine this kind of treatment. My co-worker took her American daughter back to Iran to visit when she was 6-years old. She told me that a man came up and started yelling at her daughter because she was not covered which isn’t even a requirement until the girls are 12 according to my co-worker. My co-worker told the man to leave her daughter alone and he pushed her so she pushed him back. It was getting very heated and fortunately she had enough family and friends around that they were able to get away before anyone got hurt. She made a vow then and there never to take her daughter back to Iran again. That is unfortunate that her daughter won’t be able to experience her mother’s native land and visit family that is still there because of cultural differences.
As we were finishing our conversation this morning, she looked at me and said “We all need to be glad we are here in the United States.” This was a huge reminder to me that I need to stop and take the time to give thanks for all of the blessings we have in this great country of ours.
I haven't finished reading the book either, but I'm working on it! I forgot about the little girl with the long nails. How cruel.
ReplyDeleteYour co-worker sounds like a very interesting woman! It is really sad that her daughter will never see Iran, just because of all the differences. It's true that we should be glad that we are in the United States. Quite often we take it for granted, when we really shouldn't.
One of the stories in the book that actually made me laugh was the professor teaching the difference between Muslim and Christian girls, and the only major difference he could give was that the Muslim girls were saving themselves for their husbands. I am a Christian, and I plan on saving myself also, but unlike the Muslim girls, I don't need to be forced into that decision. Those girls really don't have very much of a choice. They are forced to be veiled and hidden away. I have a choice though, to be modest, or I can be as wild as I want. Either way, I can wear makeup, I can wear pink socks, I can wear nail polish. I decide what is modest, not my church, and not my government. I will always be thankful for that!
-Alley
Hi Teri! Nice blog! I really enjoyed your anecdote of your friend from Tehran. I think its really cool you took the time to discuss with her the similarities of the stories Nafisi wrote to what she experienced. I found it quite enlightening. Granted its not under the best of circumstances but I think it acts as a sort of confirmation. We can all learn from people like your friend, who have had this occur close to home. I don’t think most Americans can fathom the idea of having rats poured on our head because of some make-up. it’s a terrible reality that most choose to put away in the back of there minds. I think that the way Nafisi wrote her story, by connecting famous works of literature to her struggle, enabled those of us too afraid to see the truth to better understand the extreme issue at hand. After working on the air force base I have found that most of us born in the US are literally spoiled Americans. As you said something such as this blog, so simple, yet such a freedom. We need to treasure what we have going for us and feel so blessed we live in this great country, as screwed up as it can be. It could definitely be a lot worse.
ReplyDeleteWell done Teri, it was worth the read!
One of my friends from churched served in the military and was stationed in Afghanistan. When he returned home to the US he would often tell of his experiences there. Once he brought two burka to church and asked a couple of women to wear them as a demonstration of the repression women undergo in repressive Muslim societies. My reaction was that it was sad, but somewhat interesting. I’ll never forget my husband’s reaction though; he was incensed. He said, “He shouldn’t have even brought those into the church, let alone ask a woman to wear one even for demonstration purposes.”
ReplyDelete“Reading Lolita in Tehran” is a very important book because it shows us what it’s like to live under a dictatorship from someone’s first hand experiences. I think your coworker’s personal testimony of her own experiences helped you to get a better idea of what it is really like to live that way. It is so foreign to our way of thinking that when we see news accounts or see television shows about that way of life we don’t truly grasp how terrible it really is.
I remember watching with avid interest when the demonstrations were taking place after the elections in Iran. The whole world seemed to be cheering for the demonstrators. Unfortunately it was not successful in creating change in that culture and many of the leaders have been jailed. It’s really a loss for the whole world when people try to gain their freedom and fail.