Observations Of Marji

Observations:
The panel on page 71 shows the main character, Marji floating in space, almost as if she is dead. Her body is frozen and her facial expression is emotionless. There is a triangle facing downward on her shirt. The background is outer space, so it is inevitable that the background is black. Around Marji are stars, saturn, and the sun. The sun is significantly smaller than everything else on the page. Towards the right side and slightly more than halfway down the page lies a star that is much bigger than Marji. The text says, “Marji, run to the basement! We’re being bombed!” The immensity of the star and the harshness of the words from the text does not seem to phase her.
2. Interpretation:
When Marji’s uncle, Anoosh, was executed,

she felt lost and disconnected from the world. She believed that her uncle kept her grounded to her family, to the revolution, and to her life; once he was gone, she had nothing to hold on to. Therefore, she let go. Marji drew a picture describing her feelings of being “lost in space”. In space, there is no set path of direction. Everything floats, letting gravity take over. Marji illustrated herself in space signifying that her emotions are taking over her well-being as a civilized person in the real world.
3. Significance:
The loss of a loved one causes a detrimental decline in personality and health. People become absorbed in the past, and have no desire to move into the future. Resilience is a true
Denneen 2
problem. It is a problem not only in a scenario of a loss of a loved one, but also in a scenario of relationships or feuds. People refuse to move on, which only entails a feeble mental state of despair.

4. Question:
If the death of a loved one affected Marji about her view on god, does it affect her views on the war?