Serena Diaz

03/06/18

Period: 2

The author feels that one’s development changes by making one’s decisions to

experience new things. Making new decisions can help change who you are and how you grow.

Experiencing things makes you see who you are as an independent person. Making decisions

helps show how you are growing as a person. Marjane coming of age is shown throughout the

ten (10) chapters that we have read.

Coming of age shows you experienced things to become independent. The first chapter

“The Soup” on page 5 it states, “Now I had a real independent adult life. I was going to feed

myself , Do my own Laundry…” Leaving her uncle's house and moving in to a boarding school

helped marjane realize that becoming independent is something she has to do in order to survive.

Marjane has to do her own shopping and growing herself since she is basically an orphan and has

to learn to do these things for the future.

Coming of age shows that Marjane is growing as a person and changes. The ninth chapter

“The veil” on page 90 it says, “ I think that I preferred to put myself in serious danger rather than

confront my shame at having become someone, the shame of not having made my parents proud

after all the sacrifices they made for me.” Marjane has to find herself even though she is going

through a tough time and she is homeless. Marjane is sick but the only that will help her is

smoking and smoking makes her realize that she really does need to go back to iran and be with

her family to better herself. Marjane would rather hurt herself by smoking cigs than to hurt her

parents that did so much to make sure she was away from war.
 Marjane learns how to become independent. Marjane grows and changes as a person.

Over the course of time Marjane changes and is coming of age by herself and with the people

that come in and out of her life. Experiencing new things makes someone change is what the

author feels Marjane has done so far.