Unable to decipher or understand everything that was complicated or outside the box, infuriated with those who considered snakes within, the fundamentalists were forced to impose their rudimentary formulas also to the narrative. And just as the colors of reality persecuted, trying to adapt it to their world in black and white, they fierce - like their ideological antagonists - against any form of interiority in narrative, ending up persecuting precisely the novels without political content. Like those of the very dangerous Jane Austen, for example.
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...