Simin Daneshvar’s Savushun (in farsi it’s called Suvashun) is mourning for the state of women in Iran and Iran itself disjointed from its history as number of foreigners came through and changed the course of its development into a mixed hybrid of cultures yet longing for its roots. In Savushun the authoress tried to explore the sensibilities of a woman (Zari) who though happily married suffers the heroic stance of her husband who takes on himself to stand against the corrupt Iranian regime and its foreign occupiers. Daneshvar’s presentation of Zari creates an uneasiness in the reader and quite rightly it makes one think that beneath the depictions of straightforward and explicit inner feelings that Zari expresses there is some deep layer of emotion that has not surfaced. There is a deep resentment that wants to float above the visible level and almost mock Zari’s loyalties towards her husband (Yousaf). What is perhaps more striking is that Daneshvar does not dwell on these hidden and disturbing aspects of Zari’s thoughts. At the end of the novel when Yousaf is killed, Zari takes on the political cause loyally and with conviction. Daneshvar has made very powerful social commentary through her characters. She has simplified her protagonist’s real suffering, her agony over having to choose between a husband she loves and an independence of mind that she so desperately needs. She has followed the need for ‘committed prose’ instead of writing fiction for ideological purposes that is common in the east. Some aspects of the story which were particularly note worthy are mentioned below in the order or their appearance: Zari suspects Zinger on being a spy at the Governor daughter’s wedding (pg 23). At this point we do not know the history of Zinger and find this preposterous based only on the fact that Zinger is European. As we understand the role of Zinger in the life of young Iranian girls we find Zari’s view of his as a spy more than appropriate. The comparison of the foreign officers as “villains of the passion play” (25) that is characters from popular dramas enacting the martyrdom of Imam Hoseyn in 680 at Karbala. The strong presence of Indian soldiers (26) as a part of the British army of occupation was interesting. It put things in perspective of both history and dominance of the British. The reference to Jalaloddin Menkoberni (55) whose father Muhammad Khwarazmshah antagonized Cheghiz Khan and the son fought a heroic rearguard action against the Mongols the rest of his life. Also a reference to BP’s presence in Iraq at that time and now also hints at the fact that people were not that naïve.
The picture of the British Missionary who could only speak broken Persian but still were able to brainwash children to such an extent that the picture of Hoseyn was mistaken by Zari for John the Baptist. Hitler’s claim to be not only Aryan but also “Imam of the Age”. The government’s settlement plan for the nomads and nomadic flirtation with Russians and Germans. Again the reference to Nakir and Monkar who were the angels that in Islamic tradition will interrogate the dead as to their religion. There is so much that we learn in the novel or are invited to go learn about because of the references to such Islamic traditions. Bibi, the mother of Sohrab who was the follower of Mirza Muhammad the Bab (Gate), predecessor of the Baha’I movement. 111, 117. The unveiling ordinance: the veil was outlawed in 1934 by the Shah, in imitation of Ataturk in Turkey which we know by few references to it during aunty’s talks. The lunatic asylum as a metaphor for Iran. The man who “spoke a language that no one understood”. The sarcastic comment about fake aristocratic names (ending in –oddowleh). The tuba tree is the blessed tree of paradise, also can be taken as a reference to the tree under which The Buddha seated. The colonial education method is referenced to when Zari talks about , “The headmistress kept humiliating us in order to civilize us” and the beating of the girl who fasts during Ramadan. The reference to prevalent Sufi culture (a dervish chanting names of God and Ali). Walazzalin : and not of those who go astray is the last phrase in Sura 1 (al-Fatiha, the Opening) of the Qur’an. Zari’s recital of Milton’s Samson Agonistes instead of the New Testament, in protest such as comparing Iran under British rule to Samson in captivity among the Philistines. Mac Mahon’s story about the myth of Chariot Keeper that breaks the tablets of destiny and the idea of religious competition between Iblis (angel of fire), Buddha, Jesus, etc. Zari is then unable to tell Siyavash from John the Baptist. The hint on the mystical qualities of Shiraz (the city the novel is based in).Zari think about Savushun when she is real mourning at the death of Yousaf. The imagery of the Hair tree with braided hair of young women whose men had died young is beautiful. The reference to Qasem wedding chamber: the betrothed son of Imam Hasn who died after the wedding but before consummation and reminder of her holiness Zaynab, the sister of Imam Hasan in Yousaf’s sister. These and other references in the novel inspire us to learn much from the Islamic world. For once there is a novel talking about people in Iran, talking about the feelings of an insider in a way that it envelops us in the psychological introspection of the historical, political and philosophical questions that surround the society even today in a unique and powerful way. ps: