Motherhood in Iran

All of the women within these stories have sacrificed something. Taji sends her only daughter to Austria at 14 in hopes of a better future, Roza "reaches enlightenment" but seemingly loses herself in the process, and the grandmother is unable to connect with her family due to the pandemic.

While struggling with the revolution herself, Taji is forced to send Marjane away in fear of what the future holds. Taji gives up her own safety, comfort, and precious time with her daughter to give her another chance. By the time Marjane is able to come back to her home in Iran, she states that her mother walks right passed her, unable to recognize her own daughter. Taji lives in fear, fear of bombings and being arrested and beaten. She has lost much of her freedom and sacrificed to give it to Marjane.

Roza, after losing her daughter in a bombing and her son is taken, hung, and buried in a mass grave, seems to lose her mind. She climbs into the tallest greengage tree and stays there for many days and nights, losing herself and becoming essentially mute for the time being. Most mothers rely on the idea that their children will always be safe. That is a privilege that Roza did not get. The torment of losing a child, let alone two, was enough to have Roza spiraling.

The grandmother has the most recent obstruction of freedom, the pandemic. She states in the beginning "any day can be my last, I won't go without seeing you guys". She shows up in almost a full hazmat suit, with a face shield and sanitizer. She is unable to leave her home, see her family, or live her ordinary life. She even grapples with the idea of death. She is unafraid of death herself, but fears for her family, especially since her granddaughter is said to be in Europe.

Mothers around the world face so many challenges within their daily lives, but those challenges were tenfold for the women of Iran. War, the fear of execution, and the introduction of new, harsher laws made the navigating of motherhood much more difficult. Not only did he mothers of Iran lose their own freedoms, they also feared for the freedoms of their children, especially their daughters.

They gave up their time with their children, their autonomy as women, and ultimately their lives to protect and care for their children.