The changes that happened in Marjane’s life were quite drastic and sudden. One moment, the shah was exiled and things seemed to be getting better, and the next, Iran is at war with Iraq. Perhaps most surprising, is Marjane’s interest in the war. She is not afraid at first, she wants Iran to win and almost enjoys seeing the battle against Iraq. As a child, she is obviously not able to fully understand the war, but what she does understand is intriguing to her and promotes nationalistic views that she had. It is interesting to see how Marjane and her family try to cope with their circumstances. Her parents throw parties for their friends and family, something that is forbidden but they know that the people need some happiness in their lives. No one has been in a situation like this before, so they are all just trying to figure it out as they go along. Rather than be consumed by fear, the Satrapi’s are trying to look for the good still left in their lives and embrace it.
We are brought back to the reality of what life is like in a war-torn country when Uncle Taher is unable to get proper medical attention because the borders of Iran are closed. One does not usually have to think about how they will get medical attention that they need, and having such advanced hospitals in America and also the ability to travel abroad to receive medical attention is something that we take for granted. It seems as though proper medical care should be a reasonable excuse to leave the country, but, unfortunately for Uncle Taher, his life or death situation was not enough of a reason to leave the country. While we see Marjane’s juvenile reactions to the world around her, it is important when stories like Uncle Taher’s are shared in order to put the reader back into the reality of Iran at the time and how the war affected people in many different ways. Marjane wants to leave Iran in order to get contraband Western goods, but Uncle Taher needs to leave Iran in order to receive critical surgery.
I think your point about Marjane’s juvinile reactions and wanting to be such a large part of the war efforts is an interesting one. It’s not the kind of reaction I think most American children have about political events occurring in the United States. I think that speaks to how shielded parents keep their children in the U.S., but in Iran parents don’t have that luxury and children have to learn to be adults.
Seeing what Marjane’s family does in secret during the war is an interesting insight to the lifestyle which many families similar to Marjane’s might have experienced. This seemingly ‘overnight’ shift to the new regime brings upon rules which most liberal families follow in plain site while having parties or card games hidden from people in their own neighborhood who would expose them. This is a crazy and confusing shift…especially for an adolescent.
Uncle Taher’s medical situation sheds light on a global issue regarding access to medical care. While the United States does have advanced hospitals, not all citizens of the United States can take advantage of them. On a global scale, this inaccessibility magnifies; especially during a time of war, when Uncle Taher needed approval to leave the country in order to receive proper care. The ability to travel abroad to receive medical care is a luxury, something that many people often lack the time or funds to do.
I really fixated on the point where you bring up the fact that Marji was interested in the war. Just as she was with her parents’ protesting, she is very interested in the war and the updates. She pushes her mom to talk about it and comments on things that her parents are sometimes too timid to say, or simply don’t care enough. However, we can start to see some of that slip away as the story progresses. She goes from being informed because she thinks the resistance is cool to being interested so she can be informed to properly rebel. It’s a shift that seems like it goes from her wanting to be interested to NEEDING to be interested, in a way.
I agree that it is important for stories like Uncle Taher’s to be shared, but it is also important to look beyond single accounts. Not only is Taher one of many individuals who had similar experiences, but his view also only shows one side portion of a multifaceted coin. We are led to believe that one thing while there were clearly many different reactions to the same events.