What happened to Niloufar? Why? How do you know? What is Marji’s reaction? “The Dowry”

Her father tells her what happened to Niloufar, the girl that had been hiding in Khosro basement. The man that marries a girl is supposed to give the girl a dowry. If the girl dies, the family of the girl receives the dowry. This is how the family knew that Niloufar had been killed. The family received 500 Tumans, the equivalent of $5, for her life. A week later, Marjane’s parents call her into the living room to talk. They tell her that they are sending her to Austria because it has become too dangerous for her in Iran. She is unsure of this at first, but her parents assure her that one of the best French schools in Europe is in Austria. Her mother tells her, “You’re fourteen and I know how I brought you up. Above all, I trust your education.” They remind her that, when she had been younger, they had sent her to summer camp in France. That had been “real independence,” Marji remembers. Her parents tell her that they feel it is “better for you to be far away and happy than close by and miserable.”