In the chapter "The Jewels" the main THEME appears to be expressing the IRONY of how people in a society criticize what's right and wrong for others to do, but don't always stand up to those same morals and beliefs for themselves. The THEME also shows us how people in most societies only really think about themselves and their close family and friends, and not as a greater whole, not as a society. The beginning part of the chapter shows the main CHARACTER Marjane and her mother shopping at a local grocery store, where it has nearly been cleaned out from all their neighbors stocking up on supplies due to their fear of running out during the hard times. During their visit to the store, Marjane and her mom run into some neighbors fighting over a box of food. Marjane's mother interjects their CONFLICT with her own argument of "if everyone took only what they needed, there would be enough to go around", which is very true, but later on in the parking lot she notices that they only got 2 boxes of rice and tells Marjane that they need to get some more just in case. That scene clearly depicts the relevant THEME of this chapter, the IRONY of societies indifference of others actions compared to their own.

Another ironic part of this chapter is the next scene, where Marjane's father panics for gas and expresses his concern about the shortage due to the bombing of Abadan a nearby oil refinery town. In this piece Marjane's dad visits a couple gas stations in search of precious fuel, where he learns of the shortage. What's ironic about this scene is what happens next, where the story depicts heavy traffic jams and hours of drive time just to get a few miles to home. The IRONY is how concerned Marjane's father was about getting enough fuel for his family and how much he actually got (which was only just enough), compared to how much he wasted in effort to find more and drive his family home. This scene also depicted the same message the Marjane's mother was portraying earlier "if everyone took only what they needed, there would be enough to go around", and yet Marjane's father still tries to stock up for his family, with no concern or regards to other needy families.

After their discovery of the attack on Abadan, the CLIMAX, Marjane's mother becomes stricken with worry for Mali, her childhood friend that resided in Abadan with her husband and two young boys. When they arrive home she tries to call the family, but to no avail, and she goes to bed worried. A knock on their door in the middle of the night sounds the arrival of Mali and her family. With only the clothes on their backs and a hand full of family jewels, Marjane's family invites them in with hospitality. Mali depicts the devastation and loss of her home and material objects, her husband expresses even more concern on the matter. This scene is a SYMBOL and representation of how people in a society view situations differently. Many families would be happy to have escaped with their lives, others are more concerned about the materialistic objects that were lost. A SYMBOL of the main THEME, where people only really think about their hardships and losses, and don't consider the fact that there are many other families facing the same fate, that don't have hand fulls of jewels to restart their lives.

Mali and her family stay with Marjane's family for a week to get back on their feet and recover the money they needed to start over. Mali and her families fate is RESOLVED after they manage to sell all the jewels and return to their lives, but, not before one last trip to the local grocery store again. During one last trip to gather more food, Mali, her two boys, Marjane and her mother run into two neighbors talking about the attack on Abadan and the influx of population due to the refugees from nearby attacked towns. The family over hears the women talking about the overabundance of people in their town, and reference the shortage of food. The two women reference the refugee's as "southern women/men" and gossip about some refugee women that were using prostitution as a means to get food and other necessities. This moment also captures a part of the main THEME of the chapter, where people in a society are only concerned for themselves and close family and friends. The gossiping women deliberately remarked horribly upon the refugee's and even went as far as segregating them compared to their own citizens and classified all "southern women" as whores. This scene shows societies indifference to "outsiders" and how not very many people considered the fact of all the hardships that the refugees have already faced, and being discriminated against for something that was out of their control is uncalled for.

The AUTHOR portrayed a lot of different messages in this short chapter, and she used IRONY to help the readers understand those underlying messages better. The main THEME, or message, was how selfish and uncaring people in a society can be toward outsiders and other people, especially in reference to the SETTING. Due to the war times, and even just the hard times before and after, many people lose their underlying morals and humanity towards other individuals, and become selfish to their own needs and desires. This chapter adequately depicts how individuals set standards on others but fail to uphold those same standards on themselves due to selfish tendencies.