Humor often serves as a cocoon, shielding one from the harsh realities of violence, death, torture, and other atrocities against which the individual is powerless. Humor is used to cope with wartime and the horrors taking place as a result of political turmoil. In one instance, the character Siamak details the torture of political prisoners, telling Marji that dissenters were burned with household items, such as irons. Marji responds, ““I never imagined that you could use that appliance for torture.” (Satrapi, 51). The author’s use of a dumbfounded response shows the reader that Marji’s innocence still acts to shield herself from the ugly realities of her world, showing not only an acceptance, but moreover, an operative response so as to maintain