Option One – Theme or issue


In April 1989, Marjane meets a young man called Reza and they fall in love. However, the relationship is doomed from the start because neither really knows the other’s true identity. Reza seeks ‘a lightheartedness’ in Marjane that is obviously at odds with the darker part of her identity, and she seeks in Reza ‘a war which I had escaped.’ They study at university together and marry two years after they first meet. Marjane immediately discovers that she dislikes her identity as ‘a married woman’. She feels she has lost her sense of self and has conformed to society.


Marjane realises that her ‘identity crisis’ is a problem but she is desperate to make the relationship work after her failed relationship with Markus. She tries to please Reza by agreeing with everything he says in the hope that it will make her the kind of wife he wants, but the marriage fails. Still, Marjane tries to present herself as a happily married woman in public and to keep the truth about her marriage hidden.


Eventually, Marjane realises that she cannot be true to herself if she remains married to a man she does not love. She confides in her grandmother, who reassures her that she can leave her husband and find happiness. Marjane’s grandmother’s first marriage ended in divorce when she realised she would be ‘happier alone’ than with a man who made her miserable. Marjane bides her time and says nothing to Reza for a while. She finds a job as an illustrator at an economics magazine and is reasonably content. However, an incident at a colleague’s house brings it home forcefully to Marjane that she cannot remain a married woman in Iran and be true to herself. The colleague, a man called Behzad, speaks for his wife and does not allow her to express herself at all. Marjane realises that she cannot live in such a society any longer. She decides to go and study decorative arts in France. Her parents are supportive of her choice, even though they are heartbroken to lose her again. Marjane’s father says that she has ‘only one life’ and that it is her duty to live it well.


Marjane’s journey to realising who she really is and what she wants from life is not an easy one, but by the time she leaves to pursue her new life in France, she has come to a greater understanding of herself and seems destined to find happiness at last.


The theme of identity in The Spinning Heart


The Spinning Heart deals with a community and individuals whose public image and identity come crashing down when the financial collapse puts them all under extraordinary pressure. Many of the characters in the novel are not what they seem, and it is only as the story progresses that we learn their true identities.


The community is struggling to cope during a very difficult time. The Celtic Tiger economy has gone bust, many have lost their jobs and people are suffering greatly under extreme financial pressure. Pokey Burke, a local builder, has fled the country, leaving his workers high and dry, and the Dell factory has closed down. The people see themselves as a ‘tight-knit community’, but Triona Mahon recognises the hypocrisy of their claims that everyone will ‘pull together’ and support one another. The reality is that most people are out for themselves, and some are quite obviously delighted that others have fallen on hard times. Triona comments bitterly on the ‘Teapot Taliban’ of gossipy women who thrive on scurrilous rumours and seem to take pleasure in the problems she and Bobby are facing. The community’s true identity is very different to the one they present publicly when offering a host of comforting platitudes about the importance of helping one another.


Individuals in the text also present a false a version of themselves to others. Because each person tells his or her own story, we are given great insight into what they really think of one another and, more importantly, what they think of themselves.


Leaving Certificate English 343 Excellence in Texts


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