Marjane’s parents call her into the living room to talk. They tell her that they are sending her to Austria because it has become too dangerous for her in Iran. She is unsure of this at first, but her parents assure her that one of the best French schools in Europe is in Austria. Her mother tells her, “You’re fourteen and I know how I brought you up. Above all, I trust your education.” They remind her that, when she had been younger, they had sent her to summer camp in France. That had been “real independence,” Marji remembers. Her parents tell her that they feel it is “better for you to be far away and happy than close by and miserable.” Marjane hates to leave her family but knows it is for the best.
