It Ain't So Awful, Falafel

“It’s not like I’m trying to pretend that I’m not Iranian. I just want people to ask questions about me when we meet, not about where I’m from. Why does that matter, anyway?”

Zomorod has to negotiate being in America and being Iranian, as Iran is not a country that many are familiar with. She knows that parts of her life, from the food that her mom makes to her own name, can automatically make her different from her peers due to a lack of familiarity with non-Westerners. This raises the issue of The Danger of Uninformed Judgments, as she must deal with people’s misconceptions or lack of knowledge about her background.

“That’s the hard part about translating. Saying what words mean is easy, but trying to make my mom understand why something is funny is much harder. Getting my mom to laugh in America is nearly impossible.”

Nastaran struggles in the United States, highlighting the theme of America as a Land of Complexity and Opportunity. She misses home and her family in Iran, and Zomorod feels that she has isolated herself from those around her because of her reluctance to learn English.

“That’s how we are. When we’re really scared about something, we don’t talk about it.”

The destruction of Cinema Rex is the first mention of potential uprising in Iran in this novel, and it foreshadows the Yousefzadehs’ tendency to not talk to one another when they’re scared. Later in the novel, Zomorod feels caught in a cycle in which they each retreat to different spaces whenever something on the news makes her and her mother sad and makes her father angry.

“For the first time ever in America, I am not dreading this moment.”

Zomorod removes a lot of her own stress by opting to go by Cindy instead of by Zomorod, knowing that she won’t have to deal with a teacher struggling to say her name. Her dad similarly chooses to go by “Mo” so that their neighbors don’t have a difficult time with his name, Mohsen, either.

“I can’t help but think how much easier it is to live in one place your whole life. I will never know that feeling.”

Zomorod is always torn between the United States and Iran because she assumes that she and her parents will go back to their home country one day. This novel emphasizes this pull as Zomorod watches Americans come to not only know where Iran is but also start to dislike Iranians in the United States just because of the new regime there.

“When you move to another country, you always depend on strangers. You’re so alone. I thought about all the kind people who had helped us in Compton and how without them, my life would be so different.”

Zomorod is always grateful for those who have shown her kindness in the United States. Throughout the novel, she mentions how her friends’ parents drive her to different places or invite her to dinner. There have also been teachers who express their concern for her, as when one teacher puts together a Halloween costume for her so that she does not feel left out around the other kids.

“During lunch one day, Howie told me the scent of oatmeal raisin cookies reminds her of home. I told her that for me, it will always be the scent of gasoline.”

Oil is always in the background of the conflict between Iran and the United States; it is such a critical resource in the world that the United States will intervene in another country’s politics to secure it. As a result, this quote symbolizes the role that gasoline has played in Zomorod’s life and how it continues to affect her in the United States.

“Isn’t it strange how you can actually miss a place, not just people?”

Her dad’s question in this quote reminds her of the Caspian Sea and its beauty, but Zomorod always feels connected to Iran. It isn’t until Carolyn suggests that Zomorod shouldn’t go back to Iran that Zomorod even considers the possibility, because Iran is part of her.

“It’s not like in America, where the president changes but everything else stays the same. No one knows what is going to happen. There is no rulebook; whoever has power makes up the rules, and it’s clear who has the power now.”

This quote embodies the uncertainty that came with the exile of the shah from Iran. Because there was no precedent for a shah leaving power without an heir, Iranians did not know what would happen politically in their country.

“She keeps telling us everyone deserves dignity. I’m not sure what she means. I’ve never really thought much about dignity in my life.”

Zomorod goes out of her way to make sure that the folks with Downs Syndrome that she encounters at Goodwill feel appreciated, recognizing that work can bring dignity with it. This foreshadows how Mo feels like he’s been robbed of his dignity by first being fired and then by being discriminated against because he is Iranian.

“If you have to wear it, it means nothing. If you choose to wear it, it means something.”

Mohsen’s statement about hijabs in this sentence speaks to the oppression that the Ayatollah’s regime forced upon women in Iran. It characterizes Mo as someone who cares about the women in his life and the conditions of Iranian women in general.

“Watching the events on TV and being able to turn off the news and go back to my own life makes it feel like they have nothing to do with me. But suddenly I realize that it is about me, and about every other Iranian whose life will never be the same.”

Unlike her friends, Zomorod has to wrestle with what is happening in her home country, pulling her between her life in the United Stats and her relatives back home in Iran, as well as the stress she feels from her parents. She also knows that although she does not live in Iran right now, she is also affected by what happens there.

“‘I can’t see myself there either.’ This is the first time I’ve really thought about going back, and what it might mean for me. I feel shaky and my heart speeds up. I do not want to wear a headscarf. I’ll be afraid every time I leave my house. All that meanness toward girls! That’s not religion!”

Zomorod has a hard time with the new restrictions placed upon women and girls, especially given the freedom that she is used to in the United States. Going back to Iran would affect her in real, tangible ways. The statement also denotes that Islam itself is not a religion that oppresses women; leaders who distort Islam are to blame.

“Here I am, spending the summer in my bathing suit and shorts while some poor girl in Iran—maybe even one of my friends or relatives—is getting punished for showing a strand of hair.”

One of the major themes of this novel is America as a Land of Complexity and Opportunity, and in this instance, Zomorod is referring to the opportunities to be free and wear whatever she wants, especially in comparison with her relatives back home in Iran. She is always grateful for this ability and does not take it for granted.

“I am far away from the daily bad news about Iran, and from my mother’s sadness. I close my eyes for just a few seconds and try to hold on to that feeling.”

Zomorod enjoys sailing, an activity that she tries for the first time at summer camp. In it, she finds a release from the challenges she faces in her life as she and her family navigate the crises in Iran.

“There are rules for living in America and they need to be followed.”

This statement from Darleen Linden foreshadows that she is the one who places a dead hamster on the Yousefzadehs’ doorstep. It is blatantly xenophobic, suggesting that they as Iranians do not belong in America and are lucky to be there.

“Things were so much better before, when no one knew where Iran was and everyone asked us if we rode camels.”

At the start of the novel, Zomorod would never have expected to wish for someone to suggest that she rode a camel. However, as violence and anti-Iranian sentiment increase and her father faces discrimination in looking for jobs, such teasing seems minor in comparison.

“He is the most generous and kind person I have ever known. But his life has been ruined now. And it’s not his fault.”

Zomorod’s father wants nothing but his daughter and his wife’s happiness and is proud to have provided for them. However, when he loses his job, he is robbed of that ability to provide, which challenges his sense of self at the same time that real danger threatens his family in Iran.

“We are alike in so many more ways than we are different.”

Many people in the novel focus on the differences between Zomorod and her peers or between Zomorod’s family and the typical American family, neglecting their commonalities. However, Zomorod comes to realize that she has much in common with her friends, and they are able to both bond over similarities and value differences.

“I am so angry […] But I’m afraid that if I start saying all this, I won’t be able to stop and I’ll end up like my dad in the Sears showroom.”

Zomorod is rightfully angry, having experienced more difficult things than many other kids her age. However, she is afraid of feeling this anger because it so isolated her father as he swore alone in Persian at Sears while others watched.

“A part of me feels relieved that we’re talking about something else. Another part of me knows I’m running away from something.”

Zomorod calls herself a turtle early in the novel, foreshadowing the way that she withdraws into herself when she needs to. It highlights the theme of Being Yourself and Making Friends, something with which Zomorod struggles. Being a “turtle” isolates her from her friends who care about her, and she works to avoid talking about what she is feeling as a form of self-protection. At the same time, she realizes that allowing herself to be vulnerable would help her make the friendships she so desires.

“If you’re going to show bad news, show the good stuff, too. It’s just as important—actually, more important.”

Zomorod watches as the bad news coming out of Iran ruins her family’s life, and in this statement, she emphasizes to Carolyn as a future journalist that those difficult stories need to be balanced with positive ones so as to provide a buffer against the negative stereotypes that accompany the one-sided reporting of that era.

“Our life is like a rubber band that has been stretched too many times. It can no longer snap back to normal.”

Zomorod had hoped that her family’s life would return to normal once the hostage crisis was over, but even as it ends, her father is still out of work. Normal is so far away that they are left with a whole new life, for better or for worse. This emphasizes the novel’s theme of America as a Land of Complexity and Opportunity.