What did you think of the couple's argument while on their honeymoon?

Farzad takes Amineh on a honeymoon at his sister’s insistence, but they end up arguing. She’s annoyed he’s distracted by work, while he feels she’s unappreciative of his sacrifice. What did you think of this scene? Does this dynamic play out elsewhere in the book, in your view?

Well it is their honeymoon and their relationship should be equally as important as his work because without working on a relationship couples can't grow closer and come to respect and appreciate each other - and that is shown throughout the story. Farzad was older than Amineh too and rather set in his ways so this marriage was not destined to the great love of her life thing for Amineh.

I think Farzad loves Amineh but is not really enthralled by the idea of marriage. I think he was encouraged by friends and family. They met and married within a months time so it is no surprise that they know nothing about each other. It is annoying Amineh wants to please Farzad at all costs in the beginning, but she is young and hopefully will come around to realizing its not all about the husband. Arguing on a honeymoon shows one member of the couple thinks they have made a mistake.

The argument shows the difference in their ages and temperaments and life experiences. Farzad is much more serious and devoted to his work and political views. Amineh is younger and expecting more closeness than Farzad can handle at that point in their relationship. They really don’t know each other very well yet.

At this stage of their relationship Amineh and Farzad are not communicating very well. Each makes assumptions about what the other means when they speak, and both are reluctant to speak out when they don't understand the other's reaction. Julie p is right -- they really don't know each other very well yet, and neither is trying very actively to correct the situation.

Amineh expected one thing and Farzad expected something else so an argument resulted. It was evident that Amineh wanted closeness and love in the marriage while Farzad let himself be highly involved in his personal goals. Amineh ended up alone much of the time on this honeymoon while Farzad worked. Farzad seemed oblivious to what a real husband might be. However, the argument did result in some mutual understanding. He did tell Amineh he did appreciate her value and he needed her. Interesting, this was all about Farzad. He still didn't know what Amineh needed.

Obviously , it does not bode well for the couple. I think it is difficult for us as Americans, to comment on their relationship .
Marriage expectations are culturally very different. That said, it was clear that Amineh entered marriage naively, not her fault in any way.
Farzad was a grown man in need of a wife.
I must admit that I was surprised by his letters revealed at the end of the novel. It did not ring true for me.

As an American I was shocked at this. Usually a honeymoon is an extremely happy time. Clearly they had different ideas of what a honeymoon meant.m

I thought the arguing showed that Amineh wasn't respected and would be in an unhappy difficult going forward.

To me the argument was the result of different expectations - Amineh believing that a honeymoon would be all about loving & caring, a couple focused only on themselves, and Farzad, creating the honeymoon only because his sister guilted him into it but using the time to suit his own interests. Farzad said he didn't plan to work but when Amineh gave him "permission" for a bit of work it became his main focus and she was left on her own.

I think Amineh was naive and expecting romance, not understand that her husband was practical and not romantic in the least. He obviously didn't want to be there. If they'd been better at communicating with each other they likely never would have gone on the trip. Their later travels together, which were about Farzad's work and passion, went much better for the couple since she was starting to understand his point of view.

It showed that that the couple didn't know each other. While both thought that they were being "modern" in not having an arranged marriage and not realizing that each have expectations of what to expect from marriage that were not voiced before the marriage.

They married so quickly after meeting each other.

It was heartbreaking that his sister had to be the one to speak to Farzad so Amineh could even get a honeymoon.

I thought it was not a good sign and if Aminah understood anything from this argument it is that she would need to be the one to make adjustments and we saw this cycle happen again and again in the future.

I think the differences in age and maturity level led to the arguments... I think Amineh had a very different idea of what marriage should be like, more of an equal partnership, and Farzad was just enough older that he still held a lot of the old ways in his mind and heart. His work was very important to him, but he didn't want to mix his relationship with his wife with his career.

I imagine that generations ago, even in the US and Europe a similar scenario would have been common. Their age difference had less to do with it, I think, than gender and their culture, which frowned on men and women getting to know each other outside of an arranged marriage. They were both more traditional than they realized, while imagining themselves a modern couple simply because they chose their own partners. Neither of them had romantic experience to bring to their relationship.

Farzad thought of Amineh as an educated woman with (when they met) career aspirations of her own, which he welcomed in theory, but yet he did not expect this to conflict with his traditional assumption that his own work would take priority. He did not yet know her well enough to have discovered how fragile was her self-esteem, nor in his inexperience did he realize that women tend to place a higher priority on emotional intimacy.

Amineh had romantic notions about love along with her emotional neediness, and like most women she expected from Farzad at least the kind of close friendship that she had with Ava. She did not have the confidence to assert herself or express her needs, nor to pursue her original ambitions.

It was unrealistic for them to expect that everything would fall into place on a honeymoon—relationships need much mote time.