Mahvesh is a 22-year-old Iranian-American female who came to the United States with her parents when she was three. Mahvesh, who attended public schools and is now a senior in college, describes herself as "very American." Her parents, however, hold many of the cultural values with which they grew up in their small village in Iran. Mahvesh says she often feels "caught between two worlds" as she attempts to honor her parents' traditions while also trying to live her own life.

Recently, this struggle intensified and Mahvesh entered therapy. She tells her therapist, "My parents want me to marry a man from their village in Iran, a man that I hardly know, but I am in love with a man I met in college. We have been dating for more than a year and I want to marry him. When I try to talk with my parents, my father becomes angry and says that I do not respect him. My mother is more understanding but basically agrees with my father. I try to tell them that arranged marriages are rare even in Iran today but my parents grew up in a rural area and hold a lot of conservative ideas. I love my parents but I want to make my own decisions, especially about the man I marry."

Mahvesh's situation highlights the existential theme of taking responsibility for one's own life and, at the same time, shows how difficult this can be. Mahvesh wants to take responsibility for her life, but she also loves her parents and does not want to alienate them. Mahvesh wants to be her true self, but the self is not created in isolation. It is created in the context of family, culture, and history.

Mahvesh has many concerns about what might happen were she to tell her parents that not only did she not want to marry the man they had selected for her, but also she wanted to marry a man she had found for herself and had dated. She fears their disappointment and anger, she fears their loss of respect for her, and she fears they will believe she has brought dishonor to the family.

1. Heidegger's phenomenological existentialism reminds us that we exist "in the world" and should not try to think of ourselves as beings apart from the world into which we are thrown. Discuss in detail how would Heidegger likely characterize Mahvesh's current unhappiness?

Jean-Paul Sartre, an existentialist, noted that we are free to choose what we will. Our values are what we choose. The failure to acknowledge our freedom and choices results in emotional problems. This freedom is hard to face, so we tend to invent excuses. Based on Sartre's approach, what excuses will Mahavesh come up with and why?

Martin Buber, an existentialist, said that there is never just an "I," but always an "other." The "I," the person who is the agent, changes depending on who the "other" (the Thou) is. How do you explain Mahvesh's situation based on Buber's theory?

I'm not sure what the questions mean, can you explain please?