Quote 19
While people were dying in our country, she was talking to me about trivial things. (20.13)
Well, you can take the girl out of Iran but you can't take Iran out of the girl. Marji believes that all Iranians should be concerned about the war in Iran, and gets mad when Shirin, Zozo's daughter, is not. Does she have a point? Should Shirin shut up about gloves and be more politically active? What can she do all the way in Vienna?
Quote 20
"Dad […] are you going to war? Are you going to fight? We have to teach those Iraqis a lesson!" (11.11)
Marji gets a little wrapped up in Iranian nationalism, which isn't exactly a bad thing. She also has to grapple with the fact that her father can be a hero without going to war. In fact, fighting wouldn't even be the best place for her father since he's an intellectual. He shows us that there's room for more than just brute force even when a country is at war.
Quote 21
We had demonstrated on the very day we shouldn't have: on "Black Friday." That day there were so many killed in one of the neighborhoods that a rumor spread that Israeli soldiers were responsible for the slaughter. But in fact it was really our own who had attacked us. (5.46-5.47)
This is a complicated quote to unpack. When Marji says it was their own who attacked them, she's referring to two things: (1) The scandal surrounding the attack that was blamed on Israeli soldiers, and (2) the people who slapped them for protesting on that day. Politically, Iran is still conflicted, and plagued by people attacking their own.