我们生活在一种文化中，否认文学作品的任何优点，只有当他们是看似紧迫的意识形态的事物时，才考虑它们很重要。在这个国家，所有手势，甚至是最私人的手势都以政治术语来解释。我的头巾或父亲的领带的颜色是西方decade废和帝国主义倾向的象征。在公开会议上不戴胡须，与异性成员握手，鼓掌或吹口哨，因此被认为是西方的，因此decade废，这是帝国主义者降低我们的文化的一部分。
(We lived in a culture that denied any merit to literary works, considering them important only when they were handmaidens to something seemingly more urgent-namely ideology. This was a country where all gestures, even the most private, were interpreted in political terms. The colors of my head scarf or my father's tie were symbols of Western decadence and imperialist tendencies. Not wearing a beard, shaking hands with members of the opposite sex, clapping or whistling in public meetings, were likewise considered Western and therefore decadent, part of the plot by imperialists to bring down our culture.)