Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Growing Up and Growing Old
Identity, Culture, and Self-Expression
Gender and Oppression
Suffering and Trauma
Summary
Analysis
By 1991, things settle down. Marjane is in her second year of college, is madly in love with Reza, and has tempered her Western ideals. Her friends have relaxed their traditional views too, so many of them are now coupled. It’s very difficult to be a couple and to be unmarried. Marjane and Reza can’t get hotel rooms or rent an apartment together without a marriage certificate. After a real estate agent suggests they get married, Reza asks Marjane to marry him, though neither of them feel ready. Marjane asks for time to think and goes home to talk to Dad, since Mom is away. Dad points out that the only way for Marjane to get to know Reza is to live with him, and that’s only possible if they’re married. He and Marjane acknowledge that she can always get a divorce.
Two years into school, Marjane is beginning to feel more comfortable. She notes that all her classmates have relaxed and moved toward the middle in terms of liberal versus conservative views. This could be because their education helps them see how repressive Iran is—and that Marjane might have some good points. Regardless, Iran’s strict rules about what couples can and can’t do have major consequences. Even though Marjane knows she’s not ready to get married, it seems like her only option if she wants to live like a normal, independent adult.
Themes
Ultimately, Marjane decides to get married. Dad takes Marjane and Reza out for dinner so they can all talk about it. After dinner, Dad gives Reza three conditions if he wants to marry Marjane. First, Reza must give Marjane the right to divorce (women only have this right if their husbands agree when they sign the marriage certificate). Then, Reza has to promise to take Marjane to Europe after they graduate; Dad promises to support them financially. Dad’s last condition is that they should only stay together as long as they’re happy. Years later, Dad shares with Marjane that he always knew she and Reza would get divorced. But he thought it was important for Marjane to figure that out on her own.
It’s significant that Dad is the one to lay down the law with Reza. Even if Dad accepts Marjane as an adult, he still knows that Iranian law doesn’t see Marjane as a fully capable person all on her own. Instead, it falls on him as her father—the man currently responsible for her—to make sure that Reza will treat her well and respect her autonomy. Though this may make it seem like Dad doesn’t truly respect Marjane as an adult, it’s something Dad has to do to make sure that Marjane doesn’t sign away any power she has.
Themes
After this, Marjane calls Mom, who’s visiting a sibling in Vancouver. Unlike Dad, Mom is aghast and insists they’ll revisit the conversation when she gets home. Dad assures Marjane that he’ll talk to Mom. By the time Mom gets home, she’s fully supportive of the wedding and throws herself into planning. She drags Marjane all over Tehran to shop for dresses, pick out flowers, and try hairstyles. At one point, Marjane asks Dad for a small party, but Dad points out that Marjane is his only child. This is their chance to throw a party and celebrate. Eventually, Marjane gives in. Her parents invite 400 guests and hire two bands.
Dad makes the case that the wedding isn’t just about Marjane and Reza. Rather, it’s about their families and gives Mom and Dad an opportunity to express their pride in their only daughter. When Marjane backs down and accepts the big wedding, she essentially accepts her parents’ autonomy and agrees to the fact that their opinions are valid. This is a mark of Marjane’s maturity and her changing relationship with her parents.
Themes
Marjane and Reza have a ceremony with a mullah first. Then, they follow Iranian traditions by having a married woman rub sugar loaves over their head and by sucking honey off of each other’s fingers. Next, they open gifts. Marjane notices that Mom is absent from the festivities and finally finds her crying in the bathroom. Mom sobs that she wants Marjane to be independent and educated, not get married at 21. Marjane begs Mom to trust her. The party goes on for hours. At 2:00 a.m, Marjane and Reza finally go home to their new apartment. As soon as the door closes, Marjane regrets getting married. She’s always wanted to subvert expectations and doesn’t think she can do that as a married woman. It’s too late to go back, though. Marjane feels trapped.
Mom has this meltdown because she sees getting married as something that will trap Marjane. It doesn’t matter to her that Reza presumably agreed to Dad’s conditions—the fact remains that Marjane will now have to defer to another person when she makes decisions about her life. Once she gets home, Marjane realizes that Mom is right: getting married feels oppressive and wrong. This is mostly because Marjane felt she had no choice but to get married if she wanted to lead an independent life with Reza.
Themes
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In addition to Marjane’s identity crisis, Reza becomes a problem. They begin arguing immediately and lead separate social lives. Marjane says that in retrospect, she knew it wasn’t going to work, but she needed to feel loved after her debacle in Vienna. To keep their marriage going, Marjane agrees with everything Reza says. She even gets blue contacts when he says he likes light eyes. Within a month of their wedding, they set up separate bedrooms and stop going out together. Since so many consider them a model couple, it’s hard to admit that they’re failing. So they pretend to be in love in public, but they fight and insult each other daily in private.
As Marjane and Reza’s marriage crumbles, society’s customs and expectations keep them from pursuing a divorce, which might make them happy. Iranian culture, Marjane shows, forces people to make choices they wouldn’t normally make to fit in and seem normal—but behind closed doors, those people suffer as a result of their choices. With this, Marjane illustrates that suffering can take many forms and often isn’t visible to those on the outside.
Themes
