While reading the final pages of Persepolis, many things stuck out in my mind as unusual or strange. The most unusual occurrence was Marjane’s father in regards to her marriage. I found it very strange that Marjane’s father had given the couple his blessing to be married even though he knew the marriage would fail. If he knew that their marriage would not work why would he allow his daughter to make such a huge mistake? I feel that if his motives were to teach his daughter to realize her mistakes, then he is completely wrong. From what I have learned from Persepolis, religion is a big part of Iranian culture. Marriage is looked at as sacred and serious. It should not be taken lightly. Especially in such a religiously influenced culture. By letting Marjane marry Raza just so she can get a divorce is bad parenting on Marjane’s father’s part. Marjane went through times of pain when her and her husband fought. Why would a father want his daughter to feel that kind of pain? What good came out of marrying someone who you will eventually divorce? “He wanted me to realize by myself that Raza and I were not made for each other” (Satrapi 313). I find that his way of “helping” Marjane with life in general was wrong. He was not acting like a good father. He could have prevented his daughter from suffering. Instead he wanted to make her realize things for herself. Her fathers decision was a poor and bad decision as a father.
I do agree that the way Marjane's father handled the situation was unorthodox, but one should not fault a father who is raising a child for the first time. He has not had experience in situations like this before and therefore I do believe he did an acceptable job by showing Marjane that life is not easy. He wanted her to learn through her own experiences so she would know when she found the right guy. If Marjane's father had another opportunity to help his daughter, he may handle it differently. Another reason one can not fault him is because he does not truly know who his real daughter is. Marjane spent the most influential years of her life in a different country away from her parents. Because of her years away from her parents, Marjane's father does not understand his daughter. Furthermore, by approaching Marjane's marriage the way he did, Marjane's father hurt her at the time, but also strengthened her for years to come.
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