Yassi和我都知道我们一直在失去信仰。我们一直在一举一动。在沙阿的时代，情况有所不同。我觉得自己是少数派，我必须守护自己的信仰。现在，我的宗教掌权，我比以往任何时候都更加无助，并且更加疏远。她写道，自从她记得以来，她就一直被告知，在异教徒土地上的生活纯粹是地狱。她被保证，在公正的伊斯兰统治下，一切都会有所不同。伊斯兰统治！这是虚伪和羞耻的选美大赛。
(Both Yassi and I know that we have been losing our faith. We have been questioning it with every move. During the Shah's time, it was different. I felt I was in the minority and I had to guard my faith against all odds. Now that my religion is in power, I feel more helpless than ever before, and more alienated.' She wrote about how ever since she could remember, she had been told that life in the land of infidels was pure hell. She had been promised that all would be different under a just Islamic rule. Islamic rule! It was a pageant of hypocrisy and shame.)
在她的回忆录中，阿扎尔·纳菲西（Azar Nafisi）反思了对不断变化的政治格局的信仰和个人信仰的挑战。她和她的朋友Yassi都经历了信仰的危机，感到越来越与信仰脱节。在沙阿的政权期间，他们在压迫性的情况下努力保持信仰。但是，随着伊斯兰统治的出现，他们发现自己感到更加孤立和无助，经历了深刻的疏远感，而不是应许的救济。
纳菲西（Nafisi）描述了她一生的灌输，灌输了生活在她伊斯兰文化之外的危险，西方被描绘成一种黯淡的存在。她被认为是在伊斯兰政府下的生活会改善生活，但相反，她遇到了一个充满伪善和失望的鲜明现实。这种幻灭强调了她一生中信仰和政治力量的复杂性，揭示了期望与现实之间的深刻冲突。