I finished reading Prisoner of Tehran a while back and wanted to write up my thoughts on it here. I have to say that Iran has been a fascination of mine for a while. I am not sure why, but I find Persian history quite interesting.
The book goes over an interesting time in Iran; a despotic Shah gets overthrown, an Ayatollah comes into power. In between these events, the protagonist in the story goes through a lot.
Anyway, if you intend to read the book, stop as I will go into details of the book. The book was written by an Iranian Christian who now calls Canada home. As a 16-year old, she was put in prison as a political prisoner, beaten, tortured and so forth. She seems to be in an impossible situation: being sentenced to death and then saved by a prison guard, with a caveat that she change religions, and get married to him. Oh and be in prison for life. As a 16 year old.
Most 16-year old children, for they are children, don't have to worry about spending the rest of their life in prison. It isn't the sort of thing that comes up one would hope. And yet, here were a group of children and young adults going to prison to protest the Shah, and then the Ayatollah. The protagonist goes into some detail of how she was tortured and what she thought happened to the others. I am sure torture exists everywhere in the world... but reading about it makes one feel quite uncomfortable. You really have to wonder how badly you must have pissed someone off to get beaten to a pulp by angry men.
The protagonist seems to be lucky though, if you could call it luck; one of her prison guards takes a fancy to her, presumably races off to the Ayatollah (he seems to be from a well connected family) and somehow convinces him to commute her death sentence to one of perpetual imprisonment. And then he suggests that she marry him after converting to Islam, if you could call that a suggestion. As a prisoner, it doesn't sound like she has much of a choice. It is either death or marriage. As a married woman, I think she finds some odd things. For one thing, her new family seems to have all the affection in the world for her. She seems conflicted that her captor's parents seem to love her more than her own family ever did. She also seems to be deeply conflicted by how to feel towards her captor, saviour and husband. Her relationship with her own family prior to imprisonment is quite telling as well. They didn't seem to be a very loving family.
Anyway, there seems to be some level of fatalism out there; first she gets pregnant (presumably thanks to her captor and husband) and then he dies tragically by gunshots as she watches. Somewhere along the way, the trauma of it all causes her to miscarry. With her husband dead, she goes back to prison with a promise from her father-in-law that he will do everything to get her out. He seems to come through for her. He protects her while she was in prison and eventually get her out. She is free to go on with life, and of course, she gets married to the Christian fellow she wanted to marry before she went to prison. Except that everyone is watching everyone else in Iran it seems and apostasy isn't really looked upon favourably. Of course, word of her marriage seems to get to her former in-laws and the prison guards. And yet, they seem to protect her. And somehow at the end of it all, she makes it out of Iran to Canada.
I learned a lot of neat things about Iran through the book. I had no idea there were so many Russians who lived there. Although, given geography (as in, North of the Caspian), it shouldn't be that surprising. I also had no idea other people lived there (like the Hungarians). I am also conflicted on how to feel for this woman. On the one hand, she was treated horribly if the story she tells us is true (at least the way things transpired). Well, in any case, if a 16-year old is thrown in prison and tortured or sentenced to death, there isn't much justice out there. But then, given her lease on life (and a different kind of horrible sentence), she still seems to not be able to get on with life. I can understand her hatred for her husband and his family... but I don't know if she realises that she lives today only because of them. Perhaps death would have been a better option for her, but that's not how this story unfolded. But then again, she was a captive prisoner.
I find it fascinating that a country with such a rich past and a fairly well educated and modern populace chose to ditch one dictator for another. I remember looking at Akbar Nazemi's pictures (titled Unsent dispatches from the Iranian revolution, 1978 - 1979) when they were exhibited in Vancouver (he lives here as well I believe), and couldn't help but notice all the people who were out there welcoming the Ayatollah. It wasn't a fringe group of people, it looked like a genuine outpouring of happiness by all sections of society. From men in beards to school children and women, it seemed to cut across the entire spectrum of society. Some of this is also expressed in the book as well.
I just don't understand how all that promise of a better life without the Shah ended up the way it is today. I suppose that is the warning that we should heed: all these Arab spring type activities could actually bring out more extreme regimes into power who have little care for democracy and so-called western values. And we helped put them there.
Anyway, back to the book. I think it is definitely worth a read. I am glad she was able to get out of Iran and move to this country. Hopefully, she comes to peace with herself and her life.
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