The Liberating Power of Fiction

In Azar Nafisi’s Reading Lolita in Tehran, Nafisi accomplishes, in a non fiction book, what she explains only fiction can do: make the reader feel empathy towards the characters. As the reader gets to know the characters, sympathizing with them and eventually empathizing with them, it is hard to decide where to put the blame for all the women’s problems. Nafisi makes it clear to the reader that many of the women’s issues are directly and indirectly caused by the Islamic Republic of Iran. When Nafisi confronts her magician with this mentality, he argues that she can not blame everything on the regime and she must forget about the politics and read literature. It is almost impossible for the reader to agree with the magician as we see the harsh rules of Sharia law and how they affect Nafisi and her girls. As the book continues and the women develop further, it is obvious that while the women read their literature, it is important for them to address the politics around them-influential factors in their life-in order to fully gain the epiphanies of truths Nafisi describes. As Nafisi exposes these women to literature, she is also allowing them to grasp the world around them-filled with such hatred for women­ and find themselves. Azar Nafisi’s Reading Lolita in Tehran exposes an Islamic Republic of Iran where women fall victim to a Sharia that not only sexually suppresses them physically and mentally, but also further dehumanizes them, denying them the basic elements of life. Simultaneously, these women are exposed to Western literature by Nafisi, leading them to take control of their own identities.

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Reading Lolita in Tehran Essay by JH