Part 1: Chapter 4 Summary

Nafisi describes each student as she arrives at her door on that first day. One student, Mahshid, was jailed for five years for association with a dissident organization. For Mahshid, everyday life held an equal number of terrors as did prison. Other students arrive, carrying bouquets of flowers. Discussion turns to color. All the students had a longing for vibrant color in the seemingly gray world of post-revolutionary Iran.

Nafisi tells the students that she worried about getting them in trouble with their families. But the students invented clever means for evading trouble. One told her parents that the purpose of the study group was to translate Islamic texts into English.

The students and Nafisi settle into chairs and onto the couch for the first class.

Part 1: Chapter 4 Analysis

Nafisi begins fleshing out the individual traits of each student as she...