War and Politics

With the novel’s historical setting, Azar demonstrates how national and global politics affect the individual, which is highlighted by the devastation of war. Azar is not overly concerned with historical details on the Iranian Revolution and the Iran-Iraq war, and instead focuses on everyday life and the ordinary citizens who become victims to the war. The only historical lesson provided is when a revolutionary guard comes to visit Razan and must explain that there is a war to the unaware citizens of Razan. He explains that the Holy Islamic Republic is the new regime, relations with America have been cut off, and that Iraq has invaded Iran. Azar suggest that these details are insignificant to the narrative, as the townspeople ask, “Where is Iraq, anyway? And who is America?” (89). Azar identifies just how uninvolved every day people are in the grand political scheme...