Armelle is Julie’s mother. She works for the United Nations and is divorced, so she often leaves Julie home by herself. After Marjane moves in with Julie, she quickly comes to adore Armelle. Armelle is fairly knowledgeable about Iran, and so she is the one person Marjane can talk to about her home country without explaining everything. Because of this, Marjane often sits and listens to Armelle talk about her favorite psychoanalyst, Lacan, out of politeness. In Julie’s estimation, though, her mother is controlling and sad. Julie insists that Armelle is annoying because she’s not sexually active.