Gatsby Vs. Tehran

Gatsby vs. Tehran

Nafisi’s memoir Reading Lolita in Tehran is an amazing book that elicits much thought and even more controversy. The book is about the life of an English teacher during the revolution of Iran. Nafisi was born in Iran but then left for America. She later returned to teach at Tehran University. The place she once called home is sadly and horrifically changed. The theme is anti-American. The job she has so eagerly accepted and come to love has tossed her aside all because she refuses to wear a veil. Even the expression of oneself through forms of art is being censored. Some books are even being banned. Nafisi thinks that this is wrong and that books teach people valuable lessons about life. Not wanting to give up so easily she begins teaching a group of students in secret. She allows them to come to her home to go over some Western authors that she has selected and told them to read in their spare time. Some of those authors include: Jane Austin, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, and Vladimir Nabokov. The memoir talks of her meetings with the girls and her discussions about the books assigned to them. She is trying to educate the students about reading. Out of all of those books I believe that F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is one which should be looked at the closest. This book is ideal for showing the students the importance of and reasons behind reading literature. The book has many controversial issues that deal with human nature and human emotions. It has situations and emotions that show that it is highly possible and probable that people will interpret those said situations or emotions in different ways. Love, jealousy, desire, security, and happiness are all interpreted in different ways by the different characters. Adultery and marriage are also shown to be more complicated than they outwardly appear. This shows the students that life is not just black and white. There are areas of gray as well. It also shows that despite rules and what is right or wrong people won’t always do the “right” thing because of these areas of gray. And, this complexity can be shown and understood through reading The Great Gatsby.

In Reading Lolita in Tehran Gatsby’s book becomes an incredible source of controversy for Nafisi’s students. She decides to hold a mock trial for the book after one of her students, Nyazi, approaches Nafisi saying that he has an objection to the book and it shouldn’t be taught or read in the class. Being involved in the Iranian revolution, the boy believes that the book is filling the minds of the revolutionary youth with lies and false values. Nyazi says, “The one good thing about this book is that it exposes the immorality and decadence of the American society, but we have fought to rid ourselves of this trash and it is high time that such books be banned” (Nafisi 127). His objection to the book seems to be that it has no morals or values and condones or at least demonstrates immoral acts, such as adultery, that go on without consequence. He is so enraged by the actions of the characters in the book that he doesn’t even think it should be read let alone enjoyed. To him the book’s content is contrary to his own beliefs making it worthless, highly offensive, and wrong.

Another student, Zarrin, defends the novel. Her defense is not for the content of the book or to support any of Gatsby’s actions. It’s to defend the book, or any other, from being banned. The defense is for literature and the importance of reading all different types of books, whether you agree with them or not. It is also to demonstrate that things in life like marriage are not as simple as they seem. She says that the prosecutor’s problem is, “He can no longer distinguish fiction from reality” (Nafisi 128). Books are written by all different types of people. The cultural situations of the reader vs. the author may not be the same. The books can’t be read literally. One has to be able to understand the book’s reality and read the story in terms of that reality. Just because this book discusses adultery it doesn’t mean that it supports it. It doesn’t mean to alter the reality of the reader and make them conform to the standards in the book. The author isn’t including adultery to get people to think it’s appropriate either. As Nafisi says, “Gatsby is a work of fiction and not a how-to manual” (Nafisi 120). It means to simply open their eyes to other possibilities and ways of life. People need to be aware that there are problems in the world. They can’t be blind to the plight of others. It’s purpose is to delve deep into human life and action to show that there is much more to life than what should be or what shows on the outside.

Nafisi thinks books are important for the lessons they teach. The lesson taught by Gatsby is not that adultery or lying is right but that such things are done everyday