Imagine you are walking down a leafy path... The sun is receding, and you are walking alone, caressed by the breezy light of the late afternoon. Then suddenly, you feel a large drop on your right arm. Is it raining? You look up. The sky is deceptively sunny... seconds later another drop. Then, with the sun still perched in the sky, you are drenched in a shower of rain. This is how memories invade me, abruptly and unexpectedly. (Nafisi, 59) One memory curls itself wantonly and imperceptibly around me, teasing me seductively (Nafisi 90). Nafisi uses a metaphor and imagery to show how these memories from Tehran will always be in her mind
|
It is very noticeable to see Nafisi using metaphors with a lot of imagery in order to describe how memories from Tehran affect her. In addition, this allows her readers to tour these memories. In the quote to the left, Nafisi compares her memories to rainfall which shows how her memories come back very suddenly and how they can change her state of mind.
At the start of part II, "Gatsby," Nafisi used a lot of imagery to take her readers from the memories of part I to part II. She starts by describing her memory of seeing a woman who had just arrived at the Tehran airport. Nafisi begins by describing the woman. She states, "A young woman stands alone in the midst of a crowd at the Tehran airport, backpack on her back... She stands in the customs area, teary-eyed" (Nafisi 81). She then goes on to say in the second paragraph, "Not having registered as yet that the home she had left seventeen years before, at the age thirteen (Nafisi 81). Then she merges the description of this woman with her own experience stating, "The dream had finally come true. I was home, but the mood of the airport was not welcoming. It was somber and slightly menacing" (Nafisi 82). This makes the readers wonder if Nafisi was describing herself or just describing the idea of returning to a place that no longer feels like home.
|
Header image borrowed from Irish Times
https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/health-family/the-memories-i-hold-of-my-mother-are-not-vast-1.2850860
https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/health-family/the-memories-i-hold-of-my-mother-are-not-vast-1.2850860