Reading Lolita in Tehran Lesson Plan

Azar says, “It took us a while to understand what the war really meant, although the radio, television, and papers were filled with it.” What does she mean by this?

When the war with Iraq begins, it is almost an abstraction, rather than an undeniable part of her reality. She is surrounded by the news of it, and she’s even affected by the blackouts. But it does not work its way into her consciousness at first. This abstraction is reinforced by the calls that the alarm voice says, “please go to your shelters.” They did not have shelters, so this call was, in some ways, meaningless. It seemed to add to the fact that the reality of war did not sink in. Azar could no longer...