The Garden

Forough's childhood garden is the first place where Forough experiences Persian poetry, igniting her love for writing which "hook[s] into [her] and wouldn't let [her] go" (25). The garden also symbolically represents the good aspects of the Iranian tradition, for in the garden Forough learns about the "Persian masters" (25) and builds relationships with her mother and her sister. The garden, however, is eventually destroyed by the Colonel and replaced by a "modern, Western-style" garden (27), symbolizing the increasingly powerful influence of foreign countries on Iran.

Ahwaz

Ahwaz is a city in the southwest of Iran. It is where Parviz and Forough live during their marriage. Ahwaz is much smaller than Forough's original home, Tehran, and its inhabitants are much more conservative. The inhabitants of Ahwaz disapprove of Borough, calling her "shameless" and "wayward" (123), while Forough's step-mother disapproves of Forough for her inability to be a good wife to...