In the text, Azar Nafisi illustrates the struggle of fundamentalists who find it challenging to comprehend complex narratives that deviate from their black-and-white worldview. Their inability to accept shades of gray leads them to enforce simplistic interpretations, notably targeting works that lack overt political messages. This reaction reflects a broader issue with intolerance toward nuanced storytelling, which they view as a threat to their rigid ideologies.

Nafisi highlights the irony of this persecution, noting how it inadvertently elevates certain authors, like Jane Austen, whose seemingly innocuous works become dangerous in an oppressive literary climate. The fundamentalists, in their quest to eliminate any form of interiority or complexity, paradoxically reveal their own ideological fragility and the power of literature to challenge simplistic narratives.