The Vegetable
- It's puberty time, but Marjane blows through her awkward teen growth spurt and adopts a new punk-rock hairstyle.
- She's still trying to find herself, though. Her friends smoke a lot of hash, but Marjane only pretends to.
- She feels like she's betraying her parents, who sent her away to give her the freedom to be herself.
- When she tells someone she's French, she feels extra guilty for betraying her Iranian heritage.
- It all comes to a head when she overhears people talking about how weird and ugly she is. They see through her lies.
- She stands up and yells at them, "I AM IRANIAN AND PROUD OF IT" (24.47). You go, girl.
- Embarrassed, she cries at first, but then she feels good because she just stood up for herself. "If I wasn't comfortable with myself, I would never be comfortable" (24.52), she says, which is a really good point.