My Thoughts on the Traitor

I thought this was an interesting read on several fronts, and the length fit well into my schedule. Thanks Jesse for picking it out. My book's already back at the library, so you'll forgive me for doing this from memory...

Did she Suffer? So for me, the most shocking part of the book was not any part about smelly guards, being beaten, isolated, or convicted without a trial. I was genuinely surprised when her sentence was pronounced at... 30 days in prison. The desert of despair she seems to have traversed, the heights of her pain, the depths of her introspection, her professed insight into human nature and the response to torture... all of this had me thinking in terms of months at least, possbly more. 30 days seems, well, short.

Don't get me wrong; I am not condoning what was done to her, and she did certainly teach me a lot about living in an Islamist state.

But I'm wondering what she would have made of the 35 days I spent as a Surgery intern last October. It was all there... sleep deprivation, verbal abuse, mental anguish, one's convictions called into question nearly with every moment. There was even a room barely large enough for a bed, with blankets stained by previous users, where you were relieved to be - if only for a 15-minute period before being dragged back to the Emergency Room by your pager. There's a great guy in my program who did surgery this month, and it's amazing the transformation in his countenance. This is the most trying month of his life, and it shows.

The thing is, it was still only 5 weeks and I left that month with 1)gratitude that I'm not one of these guys living that life for 5-7 years, and 2)an appreciation of how short 5 weeks really is. I had the same experience this January in the Intensive Care Unit - minus the verbal abuse.

After hearing the 30-day number, I began to reconsider whether Zarah is the one who really suffered that much. I was like "Wait a minute! It really isn't that big of a deal to have your head shaved, is it?" I thought mostly about all of the other people in the prison who don't have rich friends, those who probably suffered the torture Zarah only feared. Those are the people I would like to liberate.

Who is the Hero? I am intrigued by Peter's comments about the boyfriend (Benham?) being perhaps the most laudable of the characters. He certainly seems to have spared our protagonist the worst of what could have been. Benham and his peers probably do have the only course to lasting reform in a country like Iran; it seems a revolt/revolution would only lead to the next oppressive and dogmatic regime. Zarah clearly outlines the history of this very dynamic in Iran. Zarah also makes something of a hero (if not an effective reformer) for her willingness to do what she believes, no matter the obvious consequences which await.

I don't know what this says about me, but my hero became the prisoner upstairs - Sohrab. Assuming his story is completely true (wrongfully accused prior to the murder etc.) I find myself sympathetic with his plight. Well not the part where he goes out and kills a man, but right up to that. He was going to prison for no reason other than trying to do the right thing. Now here's a guy who has been in the prison far, far longer than Zarah's -- wait for it... -- 30 days, and he does still have enough humanity to help the inexperienced girl downstairs get through it all. Plus he's a doctor. Somehow for me, the most emotional part of the book was when she was leaving and she promised she would never forget him. I'm sure he's still in there, periodically shouting at the guards so he can change life's pace with a beating or two. He is also the character that leaves me wondering about what we do in America with killers, but perhaps that's a topic for another day.

I learned a lot about Iran, whatever else you might say about the story. This is mostly because I am starting from no understanding at all.

Zarah's Morality has already been eloquently described by previous posts. I can only say Amen. I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt and say that pink shoes and pretty hair are really just symbolic of the hidden wishes of an oppressed people who have seen nothing but tyranny and war. But her "let's all be friends and stop pretending there's a God" attitude does fail to resonate with me. I also don't sympathise with her desire to sleep with the professor any more than I do with Americans who want to have fun getting pregnant but keep babies out of it (also a topic for another day). I'm not going to impose any "laws against a man's beliefs," but Zarah's moral agenda in this book didn't change my belief that there is joy in living according to Christ's teaching - joy that can be enjoyed by anyone who will partake. I'm sure if I told her about this joy, she would answer as did so many French people who told me happiness (and spirituality) is a many-sided mountain, with many routes to the top.

Overall, I had a great time reading this book and am glad it was chosen. I guess my comments are mostly negative, but you don't need me to point out all of Zarah's good points - she already made them herself.