Movie Assignment – A Separation
• Why does Simin decide to sue Nader for divorce?
• Did she have other options?
Simin decides to sue Nader for divorce because they finally have the opportunity to leave
Iran on with a Visa that expires in 40 days, but Nader refuses to leave. Simin was stuck at home
doing motherly duties for their daughter and her husband’s sick father. Simin is a smart woman
and wanted for her and her daughter to have more opportunities in a country that doesn’t
suppress women. Her decision to leave primarily revolves around her daughter since she is
young and has a bright future in a different country as an educated Iranian woman.
Simin doesn’t really have any other options that would give her exactly what she wants. She
wants her entire family to move, but as it was expressed in the court discussion, the lawyer will
always side with the male in the relationship. She doesn’t have the option to leave her husband
and take her daughter with her because the husband must agree, and he said that he will not.
Her only other options are to stay in Iran with her family, leave Iran by herself, or move out of
her house and hope her husband will change his mind. As a woman in Iran, she does not have
much freedom of choice in the household or law.
• How does religion, gender, education, generation and economic class play a role in the
Separation? How does it impact their version of the truth? (Provide a response for all
five categories)
Religion plays a role in many parts of this movie, but the part that stood out to me was
when Razieh refuses to take Nadar’s money because she is unsure of whether it was his fault or
