Week 4 Prompt #4

Near the end of the book Marjane’s neighborhood is bombed and a girl near her age, Neda, who she use to talk to is killed. After Neda’s death Marjane becomes fearless, she disobeys her teachers and gets expelled for pushing the principle off of her. Her parents go through the trouble of finding her a new school and when she gets there she corrects the teacher on some of Iran’s history. Her parents realize that it is unlikely that Marjane’s behavior will change, and Iran is not a good environment for the rebelling teen, so they decide to send her to Paris. Marjane is torn by the situation but gets to say good bye to her friends and on her last night she sleeps with her grandma, who gives her advice. At the end of the book Marjane’s parents are seeing her off at the airport. Marjane knows that she will never live with her parents again.

The end of the novel definitely leaves you wanting more. The story has lead you through Marjane’s life as a little girl wanting to be a prophet who lives through a period of time in her country where the government isn’t stable and this has led her to become rebellious. She loses many people in her life, some she’s loved dearly and have been killed while others were friends who had moved to get away from the government. Through unintentional influences from her parents and the people who surround her she becomes rebellious against the government and many authority figures, such as the teachers.

Seeing everything that has happened so far in the book, I think Marjane will be a little bit more against the religious reforms and the government in Iran, but she also won’t be as much a part of it as she was when she lived there. Everything that will be happening in Iran she’ll know about, but she will no longer be in it, so I think she may perceive it a bit differently then she would if she had been living there. I also think the move will be good for her; she will be staying with her mom’s good friend where there won’t be as many issues as Iran had. In a sense she is going to have more freedom then she had in Iran, though we don’t know what kind of person Marjane’s mother’s friend will be. She will be able to listen to anything she wants, wear whatever she wants and not be forced to wear a veil, the schools will also probably have a different feel to them. The people she is around will also probably be different, if they are from Paris they will probably have a different way of thinking and this might be very good for Marjane. If worse comes to worse Marjane may end up hating who she’s living with and rebel against her rules and her beliefs, but I doubt it. I believe Marjane will move to Paris, miss her family and country dearly, but will enjoy the people she meets. I think she’ll enjoy the schools more over there and may become more involved with politics.