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Taji is Marji’s mother and a strong, intelligent, fiercely protective woman. Her protectiveness of Marji and her perspective as a woman causes her to take the disciplinarian’s role in Marji’s upbringing. Taji is a modern woman who sees right through the regime’s patriarchal attitudes and policies. She understands that these policies, which the regime claims are in place to protect women, actually serve to control women and justify their mistreatment. After Taji is threatened with rape, she goes through a period of depression. From this point forward, Taji sees the regime as an existential threat to both her and her daughter, and her actions are often an attempt to keep Marji safe. Thus, Taji frequently reprimands Marji for her outspokenness and rebelliousness. She prizes Marji’s education above all and treats any threat to it as a severe one. It is Taji who is most clear-eyed about the dangers a fourteen-year-old Marji faces in Iran. As Marji grows up and begins to assert her independence, it becomes clear to Taji that she can no longer protect her daughter. After Marji’s run-in with the Guardians of the Revolution, Taji and her husband together conclude that Marji must be sent to Europe. The last panel of the book shows that Taji has collapsed into her husband’s arms and illustrates the heartbreak she feels at having to send her only daughter away.
