The Vast Bias in Reading

I feel that I often do not judge characters in books as harshly as if I were to meet them in person. Daisy Miller definitely acted in questionable ways for the time and place she was in, but all-together, I did not think of her as evil or a horrible person, just naive, immature, and ignorant. I saw her as a young, flirtatious, possibly overly confident American girl. While these traits can be looked at in negative light, I think that she was, in a way acting as she had been socialized, and also rebelling in her young age to explore and make decisions as she wanted. Nafisi definitely sees Daisy is more a positive light than some of her students, and although I do not wish to speak as if I know what living in Iran is like, I feel a certain connection and guidance by Nafisi and respect her ideas about Daisy, especially considering the times and place she was in. To Nafisi, Daisy “defies the conventions of her time…and refuses to dictated to” (p.194). It was even more insightful when Nafisi said that Daisy was “more complicated than the later, more obviously revolutionary…because [she] made no claims to be radical” (p.195). This totally contrasts with one of her male students perspectives in which he thinks “Daisy Miller is a bad girl…reactionary and decadent…our own revolutionary women are those who defy the decadence of Western culture by being modest” (p.195). This is interesting to consider. On one hand, this student is entitled to his opinion, and the other, it is that of a male-- a voice, which in Iran, generally dictates so much of what people think is popular opinion. However, Nafisi also provides the journal entry of one of her female students, who seems to dislike Daisy and thinks of James like Satan, in that he “creates sympathy for a sinner like Daisy…” (p.199). But, then again, one student Mitra writes that “she envied Daisy’s courage” (p. 200).Nafisi also points to the idea that some readers may change opinions, possibly as part of the narration or goal of the book. “My former students went back to there ‘mistakes’ about Daisy Miller in their writing and conversations” (198). Like her students, I think all of us may judge or feel a certain way about the characters, until we are possibly shocked by the death at the end and then we reconsider our harshness in feeling guilty or ashamed to have judged now that it’s all over. Some of Nafisi’s students had to go through this. This touches on the idea of a believing a single story.

In various sections, Nafisi regards the idea of stories, narratives (and other art features like film) as being a way for her people to escape, use their imagination, and discover truth. Nafisi suggests that James’s writings are always around a struggle for power. “The struggle for power is rooted in the central’s characters resistance to socially acceptable norms…” (p. 213). In one conversation with a student, Nafisi discovers her students really do care about the “trials and tribulations of a plain, rich American girl…They care even more” (p.221). I think this is touching on the idea that Daisy’s character is much more explorative and significant of larger themes that the reader does not realize until later. James makes his heroes and heroines to “all make mistakes, harmful mostly to themselves. Their mistakes become essential to their development and maturity” (p.223).  All these ideas of exploration are important to students in war-stricken Iran. It acknowledges human nature- good and bad—but also explores the idea of societal/cultural norms and how they can or cannot be successfully challenged or undermined. I would guess, that especially the female students, gained a new perspective not otherwise accessible through the literature and conversations. I would hope that they were also inspired to feel comfortable, courageous, or just okay with exploring their own opinions, biases, wants/needs inside their societal norms and within their true selves.