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In what ways can fiction/imagination influence reality, and to what degree…

- - - - As mentioned prior, the Islamic Republic had "coarsened" Manna's taste in colors to the point where she only attributes value to extreme colors such as "shocking pink". Manna's imagination of colors, therefore, shape her tangible, observable qualities as well. As Nafisi describes Manna while talking to her about her poetry, she said that "Manna was one of those people who would experience ecstasy but not happiness." Her appeal for extreme colors, therefore, affects her real-world characteristics. Manna tends to have extreme emotions, as Nafisi describes as "ecstasy", rather than stable ones, showing that imagination has the power to influence an individual's real-world behavior directly.
  - - - Manna, while explaining to Nafisi her taste for colors, conveys that "The Islamic Republic coarsened my taste in colors...I want to wear outrageous colors, like shocking pink or tomato red." This attests that real-world entities such as the Islamic Republic, shaped the imagination of Manna as she only found value in outrageously vibrant colors. Nafisi observes that Manna was "fingering the discarded leaves of her roses". This indicates that Manna did, at some point, see value in mediocre colors like rose. Therefore, the Islamic Republic was responsible for altering Manna's imagination for colors, as her tastes shifted to the extremes during the reign of the Islamic Republic.
    - - Nafisi, explaining the reason Manna wore her traditional scarf, states that "Before the revolution, she could in a sense take pride in her isolation. At that time she had worn the scarf as a testament to her faith...When the revolution forced the scarf on others, her action became meaningless." Manna, before the Islamic Republic's hard-line rule, dominated Iran, would wear her traditional scarf to show her faithfulness to Islam. However, as the mandatory and involuntary wearing of customary Islamic attire was enforced by the Islamic Republic, Manna's perceived value of wearing the scarf was diluted among a mass of people, as every woman in Iran now brandishes the same scarf.
  - - - Nafisi, conveying her motives for creating her underground class, states that "I had dreamt of creating a special class, one that would give me the freedoms denied me in the classes I taught in the Islamic Republic." This quote shows that Nafisi's underground class exists because of her imagination. Since fiction is unfettered by bounds of the real world, Nafisi was able to conceive of the idea of her western literature class, something that would otherwise be shattered in reality by the Islamic Republic. The fact that Nafisi's class came to fruition exhibits the power fiction has in birthing novel ideas that, according to the beliefs and institutions of reality, cannot possibly be carried to completion. Through this, fiction influences reality by generating new and innovative ideas that can shake up the present state of the real world.
  - - - Nafisi, communicating the cultural taboo of her imagination, describes, "Against the tyranny of time and politics, imagine us the way we sometimes didn't dare to imagine ourselves: in our most private and secret moments, in the most extraordinary instances of life, listening to music, falling in love, walking down the shady streets, or reading Lolita in Tehran". Nafisi's imagination profoundly values activities like "listening to music, falling in love, walking down shady streets, and reading Lolita". These are all things that are considered very taboo in the Islamic Republic, which leads to Nafisi valuing such activities greatly. Meanwhile the perceived value of what Nafisi lists as her "most extraordinary instances of life" is comparatively lower for us today, as we are fortunate to have unfettered access to such things. This disparity in perceived value is a testament to the potency of the ability of fiction to influence real-world values.
- - - - Nafisi, describing the environment of her apartment, portrays that "The small street was crowded with hospital visitors...From our second story apartment...the street, the hospital, and its visitors were censored out of sight." This quote clearly depicts the hectic and stressful environment that Nafasi's apartment is surrounded by. However, the scenery of a large tree and the Elburz mountains overlooking the crowded city below allowed Nafisi's imagination to "counter-censor" the stressful intrusions from the noises of the war that birthed the Islamic Republic. This use of fiction is an act of rebellion, as Nafisi, by finding beauty in the natural scenery rather than the noises below, censors her oppressors by escaping them through her imagination.