Response to Touba and the Meaning of Night

Out of all the books I have so far read for this course or any history course thus far, this is the first novel that successfully covers an entire centuries worth of history throughout the life of one character. Unlike The Bastard of Istanbul, where the characters dwell on a single issue from their cultural past, Touba’s character lives during a century of social change. The book covers changes in government, society, culture and over all being of the country.

I found it interesting how when Touba was a young girl she was taught many things by her father. It was rare for Iranian women to learn to read and write and other educational material. When her father died she was the only one in her family with any educational experience, therefore ran the household. This was one example of Touba as an unconventional character in the story, however, although she was slightly unconventional according to traditional Iranian culture, in light of the changes in society Touba was completely normal.

The novel speaks a lot about the reform issues occurring with the constitutionalist who were seeking a change in government from the Qajar Dynasty to a constitutional monarchy. Touba’s first husband blamed her marriage to him for these issues occurring regarding changes in the government and a political upheaval of the constitutionalist. Touba during this marriage encounters Mr. Khiabani who is a revolutionary constitutionalist. From him she learns more about this new form of government that is spreading into the Iranian Parliament. This is significant in the history of Iran because it demonstrates the changes made due to the Western Influence. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East many things were changing and the Middle East, not just Iran was becoming more modernized and modernization looked towards the West for influence.

Moving further in Touba’s life she enters her second marriage without choice of her own to a prince of the Qajar dynasty. It is though him that she at first experiences many of the issues regarding these changes in Iran. At one episode in the novel, Touba is at a party where she is dressed in her traditional Iranian clothing but meanwhile notices the attire of the other people at the party. They were Russians and even Iranian’s were dressed similar to them. This was a change Touba had noticed and was almost shocked since it was something she had not expected. She did learn through out her life experiences of the changes occurring in Iran but for the majority of the history she was sheltered form the outside world because of her marriage. The book shows many examples of the changes that were occurring but Touba sees them indirectly. A history of Iran is important to have known while reading this book in order to fully understand what it is that Touba is living though. Cleveland provides a detailed history of 20^th century Iran.

In Cleveland he explains the influence of these Western powers, particularly Great Britain and Russia was due to their interest in their oil supply. With the Qajar Dynasty coming to an end, Iran was experiences some economic difficulties therefore they set up trade systems with Great Britain and Russia regarding Oil. At the onset of WWII in order to protect their Oil interests from Germany the British and the Russians set up zones of occupation and exercised leadership in these areas as their troops continued to stay there. Through this Iran was provided with western ideas and a relationship with these European Powers.

When the Qajar Dynasty ended, a new one emerged, the Pahlavi Dynasty. The novel explains the changes that arose in Iran as a result of the new shah- Reza Shah who was bent on reform. We discussed him in class which was very interesting. We talked about his attempts to reform the nation through enforcing laws to change tradition. His idea was to break away from the old influence of the Ottoman Rule and to incorporate western forms of government, education, social activity including clothing and language. It is interesting to see how all these changes were portrayed in the book. Touba noticed in one episode that women were not wearing their veils and the men were wearing European style hats rather than their traditional fezzes. She was confused by this and not used to such a sight since her whole life had been surrounded but those customs, regardless of how simple they might sound. This is a significant turning point in Iranian history and it was interesting to see how in all unfolded over the course of Touba’s life.

I enjoyed this book, although I did find it hard to keep up with because there is just so much history. Touba’s character was an interesting one as well. I found that the book stood out not only because it was a detailed account of Iranian history though a fictional tale but because it focused on a female character. This is something I find interesting. I think this novel would have a completely different effect if it were a male protagonist. I would find it interesting to reads a different novel of the same history from the point of view of an traditional Iranian like Touba’s father. Had he not died when he did and instead lived to see these changes, I wonder how he would react to them. It would also interest me to read about these political changes from a member of the declining Qajar Dynasty.