Week four

Maria Barrera
Professor Knapp
English 1B(Friday)

Week four prompt 2

Some people have changed because some external changes have affected their lives. Many years ago I experienced a big change when my parents decided to come to the United States. At that time I was very religious, and I had a huge faith on God. However, my loneliness made me start thinking that I was by myself, and my beliefs could not help me at all. This situation that I lived in the past helped me to understand Marjane’s rejection of God. Being a little girl Marjane “wanted to be justice, love and the wrath of God all in one," but later she was affected by her uncle’s death and her unshakable faith disappeared (9). Anoosh, Marjane’s uncle, was very important for her because she saw him as her hero. Also, Marjane had a great connection with her uncle, and she was pleased and interested on Anoosh’s stories. One day Marjane was waiting for her uncle at school, but he never arrived there because he was arrested. Marjane went to visit her uncle in prison, and that was the last meeting that Marjane had with her beloved Anoosh. After Anoosh was executed, Marjane was disappointed of God and she decided to get him out of her life (70). We, as human beings, have the need to believe in a supernatural force called God, but the experience of loneliness and death can change our way of thinking.

Rebellious is not an act that comes by itself, most of the time there is something that provokes it. Marjane was trying to live her life in a normal way during a dangerous period of time, so she was happily shopping with her friend. When Marjane heard the sound of a bomb, she instantly turned back to the reality: war. The explosion of the bomb brought to Marjane the horrible scene of Neda’s death. While Marjane and her mother were walking in front of the Baba-levy’s house, Marjane saw, under the debris, a turquoise bracelet that was attached to Neda’s hand. When Neda Baba-Levys died, Marjane felt anger and sad. After this, the rebel Marjane became a fourteen-years-old teenager that was brave and nothing scared her (143). For this reason, Marjane shouted louder than anybody else, and she was expelled from school after hitting the principal. I could understand this aspect of the novel because I have a rebel mother. My mother’s rebelliousness was caused by the change that she suffered after losing her mother. Marjane and my mother acted rebelliously because both lost an adored person. In my mother’s case, she could go to school and become a teacher as she wanted. I think that Marjane has experienced some external changes that have shaped her life. As a result, I can predict that Marjane will be a strong woman who will be honest with all people and herself.