Nafisi’s story of Daisy Miller to her
class is one of a woman of courage and strength who is not afraid to stand up
and defy societal norms. Nafisi reveals how Daisy presents herself as a puzzle
to Winterbourne in the story , “a dazzling mystery at once too difficult and
too easy to solve” (Nafisi 195). Nafisi’s interpretation of Daisy Miller and
her students’ interpretation were both different from my original
interpretation and polar opposites from one another themselves. I think that
Nafisi idolizes Daisy because she is exactly what society and the government
forces women not to be like. Daisy is glamorous and strong to Nafisi and she
admires her character for being able to defy societal norms and standards. She
tried to emphasize hoe Daisy defied the conventions of her time and “radically
transformed basic concepts about the relationships between individuals, thereby
changing traditional attitudes towards people’s relationship to society, their
tasks and duties” (Nafisi 194).
Her students however thought differently. One student, Mr. Ghomi, stated
his opinion, “we live in a revolutionary society and our revolutionary women
are those who defy the decadence of Western culture by being modest” (Nafisi
195). He continued on to blurt out that “Daisy is evil and deserves to die”
(Nafisi 195). Another one of her student’s states “It was good to know that
even in a decadent society like America there were still norms, some standards
to which people were judged” (Nafisi 199). Nafisi’s students and many of her
peers saw Daisy as immoral and one compared the writer James to Satan because
he created sympathy from the readers for the sinner Daisy.
The extreme interpretations of the
students are driven by what they are taught by society to be right or wrong. My
interpretation of Daisy Miller was closer to Nafisi’s than her students, but
not as far to say that she was a type of defiant hero. To me, possibly because
I grew up in a society much different than the one in Reading Lolita In Tehran, was just a girl attempting to live a
glamorous lifestyle and be someone who she is not, relating back to comparing
Daisy to the Mimis. As I read the story of Daisy Miller I understood Daisy as a
type of Mimi whose beauty and mystery both confused and fascinated Winterbourne
causing him to become more attached to her.
My new understanding of the truth of
Daisy is that in a society that does not allow women to stand up and out and
defy the societal and cultural norms, Daisy can be a heroic figure that emanates
these qualities they long to be able to have. Daisy Miller was important to
Nafisi and her students because she changed people’s idea and attitude of
traditional relationships and duties to society. It gave Nafisi strength while
reading Daisy’s story and living vicariously through her in a society of war
and strict regulations for women. To Nafisi and her students’ stories like
Daisy Millers were a way to escape the regulations and explore a life that to
them is opposite of how they were taught to act. It allows them to see a
revolutionary character in a way they would not normally think possible forcing
them out of the dangers of only knowing a “single story”.
Daisy Miller has the power to force
Nafisi and her students to forget everything they are taught in their society
and analyze a story for what it is and not what their society is telling them
it is. The “single story” told by society would only allow the students and
Nafisi to see the story on Daisy Miller in one way when there is deeper meaning
and more to be analyze. The danger of a “single story” forces people to have a
closed mind and only see in black and white. Narratives like Daisy Miller that defy the norm allow
people to see in a new light and analyze all sides of a particular story or
behavior.
over achiever :P
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