Martyr!
Chapter Twenty-three
by Kaveh AkbarThe chapter depicts a pivotal moment between Roya and Leila during a visit in Tehran, August 1987. While their husbands are away camping, Leila leads Roya through the bustling Tajrish bazaar, filled with vendors and sensory details like flowers, kabobs, and perfumes. The atmosphere is lively yet ordinary until Leila abruptly pulls Roya into a secluded alley, where she kneels and presses her ear to the ground, claiming to hear angels drumming beneath the earth. Roya, confused but intrigued, follows suit, though she hears nothing at first. Leila’s whimsical insistence on hidden rhythms and unseen angels creates a surreal contrast to the mundane surroundings.
Leila’s behavior grows more intimate as she guides Roya’s finger to her closed eyelid, explaining how even a hidden eye “searches” for connection. This metaphorical gesture culminates in a sudden, passionate kiss that catches Roya off guard. Despite the risk of being seen in a conservative setting, Roya reciprocates, overwhelmed by the intensity of the moment. The kiss, though brief, becomes a transformative experience for Roya, who describes it as a revelation—a moment that reorients her understanding of herself and her feelings. Leila’s apology afterward is met with Roya’s reassurance, signaling her newfound clarity.
The encounter leaves Roya emotionally charged, comparing her life to a painting suddenly viewed “right-side up.” The alley, once a dirty backstreet, becomes a site of profound personal awakening. Roya’s sensory descriptions—the cold ground, the tapping rhythm, the rush of blood in her skull—heighten the scene’s intimacy. Leila’s mix of mysticism and boldness, from the angelic drums to the kiss, underscores her role as a catalyst for Roya’s self-discovery. The chapter captures the tension between societal norms and private desire, as the women return to the bazaar, forever changed.
In the aftermath, Roya reflects on the kiss with a sense of boundless possibility, likening her euphoria to “the first person to taste snow.” The chapter closes with her willingness to embrace the extraordinary, symbolized by her readiness to “gather feathers” from a hypothetical angel. This moment marks a turning point in Roya’s life, where Leila’s actions unlock a deeper understanding of love and freedom. The narrative blends poetic imagery with raw emotion, leaving the reader with a vivid portrait of a fleeting yet life-altering connection.
FAQs
1. How does the author use sensory details to establish the setting of the bazaar and alley?
Answer:
The author vividly paints the bazaar scene through rich sensory descriptions: the “unseasonably cold” weather, vendors selling aromatic foods like “sweet beets and fava beans,” and the chaotic sounds of men calling out “unintelligibly.” The alley contrasts sharply—dirty, with drying clothes overhead and a “blue-gray sky,” creating an intimate, secluded atmosphere. These details ground the pivotal kiss scene in a tangible reality while mirroring the characters’ emotional transition from public propriety to private vulnerability. The sensory contrast between the bustling bazaar and quiet alley underscores the significance of their moment together.2. Analyze the symbolic meaning behind Leila’s actions (listening for “angel drums” and the eyelid demonstration). How do these metaphors reveal her feelings for Roya?
Answer:
Leila’s eccentric behaviors are layered metaphors for connection. The “angel drums” represent hidden truths beneath surface reality, suggesting her belief in a deeper, almost mystical bond with Roya. By tapping the rhythm (“pum PO-POP pum”), she invites Roya to perceive this unseen harmony. The eyelid demonstration—where Roya feels the closed eye “searching”—symbolizes Leila’s persistent, instinctual longing for Roya even before conscious acknowledgment. Together, these acts convey that Leila’s love transcends logic, existing as an innate, almost fated pull that Roya only later “understands” after their kiss.3. How does Roya’s reaction to the kiss reflect her internal transformation?
Answer:
Roya’s initial shock (“I must have looked like a fish”) gives way to profound clarity. The kiss reorients her worldview—she describes her life as a painting flipped “right-side up,” with everything suddenly making sense. Her physical reactions (ringing ears, rushing blood) emphasize the moment’s visceral impact. Notably, she rejects Leila’s apology, embracing the revelation instead. The imagery of gathering “feathers” from a hypothetical angel underscores her newfound willingness to embrace chaos and beauty, marking a departure from her earlier nervousness to a state of fearless acceptance.4. What cultural and societal tensions are implied in this scene, given its 1987 Tehran setting?
Answer:
The scene subtly critiques societal constraints through the characters’ covert intimacy. Their kiss in a public alley—risking exposure in a conservative society—highlights the tension between personal desire and public expectation. The bazaar’s gendered dynamics (women sweeping, men arguing) contrast with the alley’s privacy, where two women momentarily escape surveillance. Roya’s initial fear of being seen (“I should have been afraid”) underscores the stakes, making their mutual surrender to the kiss an act of quiet rebellion. The setting amplifies the moment’s transgressive power.5. How does the author use juxtaposition to heighten the emotional impact of the kiss?
Answer:
Juxtapositions abound: the bazaar’s noise versus the alley’s silence, Leila’s poetic mysticism versus Roya’s initial skepticism, and the mundane (“garbage cans”) against the transcendent (“angels”). These contrasts make the kiss feel both inevitable and extraordinary. The abrupt shift from Leila’s whimsical metaphors to the kiss’s physical reality (“three seconds, maybe four”) creates dramatic tension. Even afterward, the return to the bazaar’s trivialities (“men arguing about nonsense”) underscores how the moment has irrevocably altered Roya’s perception of the ordinary world around her.
Quotes
1. “‘You can hear it!’ she said, smiling up at me, ear still pressed against the earth. ‘The angels playing their drums deep down in the earth!’”
This quote captures Leila’s mystical and poetic perspective, introducing the theme of hidden wonders beneath the surface of ordinary life. It sets the tone for the transformative encounter that follows.
2. “‘That,’ Leila said, ‘is how I have been searching for you.’”
A pivotal moment where Leila’s metaphorical language about closed eyes still searching transitions into a profound emotional confession. This quote bridges the whimsical imagery with the chapter’s central romantic revelation.
3. “My life was a painting I’d been staring at upside-down up until that moment, that moment when Leila wandered in and flipped it right-side up for me.”
This beautifully crafted metaphor describes the protagonist’s sudden clarity and transformation after the kiss. It represents the chapter’s core theme of perspective-shifting realizations about love and identity.
4. “I felt dizzy again from aliveness. Flush with baffle and excitement, like the first person to taste snow.”
This poetic description captures the overwhelming, primal emotions following the kiss. The simile emphasizes the novelty and purity of the experience, marking a key emotional climax in the chapter.
5. “If a great winged angel had come up from the earth and burst apart, I would have gathered its feathers.”
This closing metaphor powerfully conveys the protagonist’s newfound openness to wonder and possibility. It bookends the earlier angel imagery while showing how the encounter has fundamentally changed her worldview.