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passive and subordinate as it sometimes assumed. This is happened when a mother chooses the couple for their son or daughter. Maryam’s mother has done
the same thing. She forces Maryam to marry the man who is already chosen by her family. Maryam said, “She said that I must leave school soon, then surprised
me by asking if I’d thought more about the marriage my father had proposed. I felt the air ebb away inside me. I hadn’t expected him to tell her about it” 50.
Maryam’s mother even insists Maryam to leave her school and get married. However, this is the only right for women in the family, to choose the right couple
for her son or daughter. As stated in The New Encyclopædia Britannica, the influence of mothers on their son is reported to be profound and persistent;
especially in choosing the brides for their son.
4.2.1.4. Being Protected from Outside Influences
In Iran, the family is the basis of the social structure. The concept of the family is more private than in many other cultures. Female relatives must be
protected from outside influences and are taken care of at all the times. Maryam’s father also tries to protect her daughters from outside influences, especially for
men who want to have relationship with them. Maryam’s relationship with Ali, her father servant, is denied by her father. When he knows that Maryam and Ali
have done something embarrassing, he decides to punish them. “She’d say that our grandfather, in his temper, couldn’t forgive Maryam
her waywardness. He had to protect our family name. He had tried to marry her to someone of her own class but she refused, and so in the end
he sent her away to Tehran and then England, out of sight. And he banished Ali, without books, to the village he’d come from.” She looked at
Sara. 199
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Maryam feels that this kind of manner leads women to be more
subordinate because their movement will be controlled by the leader of the family. Sara mentions, “If only he knew the tales of my mother had told, her dark
foreboding: In Iran, women are cast out just for the suspicion of dishonor. Always prize yourself, Sara” 173. This is the reason why Maryam decides not to obey
the tradition because she assumes that women are being dishonored. She believes that this will influence women’s freedom in their life, by following the tradition
she will automatically lose her freedom. Maryam is such an independent and tough woman, she decided to do everything right by herself, although it means
that she disobeys the tradition.
4.2.2. Women’s Position in the Society
In the society, women also stand behind men. They do not have as many rights as men. There are two points that later decide Iranian women’s position in
society, they are education and laws.
4.2.2.1. Education
Education in Iran has also done the same thing to subordinate position in Iran. In school, boys are sitting in front of girls, girls only sit at back. Maryam
said, “In Iran, boys sit at the front of the class and the girls at the back” 126. This is the real example of how subordinate position in Iran has been introduced
in school, the place where they should get education. This also occurred at school where Ali teaches, when they have a game in the class, girls also sit behind boys.
