Shirin’s Development in A Very Large Expanse of Sea and Comparison with Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice In A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi, Shirin, the Iranian-American narrator.
Faglig kvalitetssikret av lærere og toppstudenter · Følger læreplanen (LK20) · Sist oppdatert 2026-10-03
In the course of your studies, you may have worked with literary texts, films or television series about characters developing when facing challenges.
Read the excerpt from A Very Large Expanse of Sea (2018) by Tahereh Mafi below.
Write a text in which you reflect on how Shirin, the narrator in the excerpt, has changed and developed during the course of the story. Compare this to how another character develops in a text, film or television series of your choice.
Background: Shirin is the Iranian-American narrator who has recently moved yet again. She tries to fit in, but as a Muslim girl wearing a headscarf in America, she struggles. She has an older brother called Navid. In the course of the story, Shirin starts a relationship with Ocean, the all-American basketball star of the high school.
In the end, the thing that broke us apart wasn't all the hatred. It wasn't the racists or the assholes.
I was moving again.
Ocean and I had two and a half months of perfect happiness before my dad broke the news, at the beginning of May, that we'd be leaving town as soon as Navid graduated. We'd be gone by July.
We were always acutely aware of our fast-approaching expiration date, and we spent as much time together as we could. My social status had changed so dramatically—climbing only higher after news broke that Ocean had punched his coach in the face because of me—that no one even blinked at us anymore, and we were both stunned and confused, all the time, at the perfect ridiculousness of high school. Still, we took what we could get. We were wrapped up in each other, feeling happy and sad all at once, pretty much all the time.
Ocean's mom realized that pushing me out of her son's life had only fractured her own relationship with him, so she let me back in. She tried to get to know me and did a mediocre job of it. It was fine. She was still kind of weird, but for the first time in a long time, she was actively involved in Ocean's life again. His near-expulsion actually seemed to shake something loose in her brain; she was maybe more surprised than anyone that Ocean had voluntarily broken someone's nose, and, suddenly, she was asking him questions. She wanted to know what was happening in his head. She started showing up for dinner and staying home on weekends and it made him so happy. He loved having his mom around.
So I smiled. I ate her potato salad.
School was always weird. It never really settled into anything normal. Slowly, after a great deal of soul-searching, my classmates dug deep and found the intestinal fortitude to speak to me about things besides break dancing and that thing on my head, the results of which turned out to be both entertaining and illuminating. The more I got to know people, the more I realized we were all just a bunch of frightened idiots walking around in the dark, bumping into each other and panicking for no reason at all.
So I started turning on a light.
I stopped thinking of people as mobs. Hordes. Faceless masses. I tried, really hard, to stop assuming I had people figured out, especially before I'd ever even spoken to them. I wasn't great at this—and I'd probably have to work at it for the rest of my life—but I tried. I really did. It scared me to realize that I'd done to others exactly what I hadn't wanted them to do to me: I made sweeping statements about who I thought they were and how they lived their lives; and I made broad generalizations about what I thought they were thinking, all the time.
I didn't want to be that person anymore.
I was tired of focusing on my own anger. I was tired of focusing only on my memories of terrible people and the terrible things they'd said and done to me. I was tired of it. The darkness took up too much valuable real estate in my head. Besides, I'd moved enough times now to know that time was a fleeting, exhaustible thing.
I didn't want to waste it.
I'd wasted so many months pushing Ocean away and I wished so much, every day, that I hadn't. I wished I'd trusted him sooner. I wished I'd savored every hour we had together. I wished for so much. For so many things with him. Ocean had made me want to find all the other good people in the world and hold them close.
Reference:
Mafi, T. (2018). A Very Large Expanse of Sea. HarperCollins Children’s Books, New York.
Shirin’s Development in A Very Large Expanse of Sea and Comparison with Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice
In A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi, Shirin, the Iranian-American narrator, undergoes a profound personal transformation as she navigates the challenges of fitting in as a Muslim girl wearing a headscarf in a post-9/11 America. Throughout the story, Shirin's emotional growth and the development of her relationships, particularly with Ocean, the all-American basketball star, are central to her journey. By the end of the novel, Shirin learns to let go of her anger, confront her preconceived notions, and embrace vulnerability, making her a more self-aware and open person.
Shirin’s Journey of Growth
At the beginning of the story, Shirin is deeply mistrustful of others, largely due to the discrimination and prejudice she has faced throughout her life. She has moved several times, each time forced to adapt to a new environment where she is often misunderstood or ostracized. The events leading up to her relationship with Ocean mark a turning point. Despite her initial resistance, Shirin begins to realize that by pushing others away and holding onto her anger, she is only perpetuating the cycle of isolation and bitterness. The moment when Ocean’s mother reconciles with him and allows Shirin back into his life symbolizes the theme of growth and acceptance in the novel. Shirin learns to acknowledge the flaws in her own behavior — particularly her tendency to generalize others and assume the worst about them without truly getting to know them.
Shirin’s journey is marked by a shift from seeing people as "faceless masses" to recognizing their individual complexity. In the end, she is no longer consumed by anger or the memory of past wrongs. Instead, she decides to "turn on a light" — to see people for who they are, not based on the prejudices she has internalized. Her reflection on time and the fleeting nature of life leads her to prioritize meaningful relationships and personal growth, exemplified by her deepening connection with Ocean. Her development is evident when she expresses regret for pushing Ocean away and wishes she had trusted him sooner.
Comparison with Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice
Shirin’s journey of self-discovery and emotional growth can be compared to the development of Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Like Shirin, Elizabeth initially harbors a strong sense of pride and prejudice — she makes quick judgments about people based on first impressions and societal expectations. Elizabeth’s initial disdain for Mr. Darcy is based on his aloof behavior and the rumors she hears about him, much like how Shirin’s preconceived notions about others shape her perception of them. However, as both characters spend more time with the people they initially misjudged, they come to recognize the complexity and humanity in others.
For Elizabeth, this development is most clearly seen in her changing view of Mr. Darcy. As she learns more about his character, especially his actions towards her sister Lydia, Elizabeth realizes how wrong she had been about him. Similarly, Shirin's relationship with Ocean challenges her assumptions about the people around her and leads her to open up emotionally, something she had previously resisted.
Both characters also come to understand that their own flaws were contributing to the problems in their relationships. Elizabeth’s acknowledgment of her own prejudice and her willingness to listen to Darcy’s side of the story mirror Shirin’s realization that she had been too focused on her anger and had made sweeping judgments about others. Both characters learn to embrace vulnerability and, as a result, grow emotionally and relationally.
Conclusion
Shirin’s development in A Very Large Expanse of Sea reflects a significant transformation from a defensive and isolated teenager to a more open and self-aware young woman. This growth mirrors the character arc of Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, as both characters learn to confront their prejudices and assumptions, ultimately leading to personal and relational growth. Shirin’s journey is a powerful reminder of the importance of self-reflection, empathy, and the willingness to let go of past hurts in order to embrace the present and the potential for connection with others. Both Shirin and Elizabeth Bennet demonstrate that true growth often comes from the ability to see beyond surface-level judgments and embrace the complexity of human relationships.