Prisoner of Tehran Conflict/Control (chapters 14-16)

There have been many minor conflicts in the memoir so far but one major one is known as the ‘decision’. The decision is whether or not Marina will accept the marriage proposal from Ali. Ali is a guard at Evin prison and has decided he wants to marry Marina. Marina will either accept the marriage, be taken out of prison and live with Ali for the rest of her life and forget about her other love Andre back home or reject it and be kept in prison on a life sentence.

            One day Ali pulled Marina into a room and stated his feelings for her. “I have feelings for you since the moment we first met. I tried to ignore them, but they had only become stronger. The night I walked you to the bathroom, I felt as though I had to save you at any cost, and this terrified me.” (pg.135) After Ali had this discussion with Marina she started to think about Andre. “When I was with him, I felt a strong sense of belonging, of being home, of having arrived after a treacherous journey. I was falling in love.”(pg.150) She had done so much for Andre and was planning on falling in love with him and getting married to him. Would she rather spend her life with Ali the person who killed her friend Taraneh while she was in prison or stay in prison for life?

            Marina would have to give up her culture, religion and Andre for Ali if they got married. “My father has told me that if you convert to Islam, he’ll have nothing against our marriage” said Ali.(pg.164) She even had to give her self a new name becoming an Islamic woman. “I was even going to have a new name. It was as if he were taking me apart piece by piece; I was being dissected alive.” (pg.174)

            Marina had to give everything up for this marriage to happen. She would live a new life away from prison not having to worry about death, harassment and living in jail but she also had to give everything up. There would be many positives but also negatives on her final decision. By the third day Ali brought Marina into a room and asked, “What’s your decision?” Marina answered, “…I’ll marry you.” (pg.154)

            Ali expressed his true love for Marina everyday and told her he would do anything to live the rest of his life with her. He had already bought them a home and made sure everything would go smoothly for Marina as it was a tough decision. Ali then promised Marina she could go say her goodbyes to her mother and Andre who were meeting her at the church the next day.

            The idea of control holds a huge factor in this novel as if it was not for Ali’s family connections with the Khomeini regime pleading for her life, Ali would not have been able to marry Marina and she would have been stuck in prison for life. The power Ali was able to stand by made him eligible to do what he wanted as his family’s power along with his, made the life of Marina become a happier one. The idea of power took a major role in the eligibility of the marriage which would make or break Marina’s future.