37 pages • 1 hour read
Firoozeh DumasFunny In Farsi
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2003A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 18-22Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 18 Summary: “I Ran and I Ran and I Ran”
The chapter begins with the Shah’s 1977 visit to Washington. Dumas’s parents, supporters of the Shah, decide to make the trip from California to go see him. While at the hotel in Washington, the family receives threatening letters. Also, the environment surrounding the Shah’s appearance is highly politically charged, and there are outbreaks of violence. Led by Kazem, the family escapes the fighting and accidentally winds up on a tour bus. They pay the fare and, by happenstance, are taken to see the many sights in and around the capital. When they return to the hotel, another letter is shoved under their door, this one involving a bomb threat. Kazem immediately removes his family from the hotel, and they return to California.
Chapter 19 Summary: “I-raynians Need Not Apply”
Dumas chronicles her father’s 33-year employment history at the National Iranian Oil Company and the subsequent challenges he faced in the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution. He was granted early retirement from the company, confident that he could secure comparable work in the US. Things did not work out the way he planned: Iran’s currency devaluation means that, at best, his “monthly pension” can buy a few meals out in America, and he faces discrimination in the US as retaliation against his Iranian nationality. This is guilt by association because of the Iranian hostage crisis; many other Iranians in the US at the time suffer similar discrimination. Kazem finally lands a promising job, but it turns out to be part of a scam. As things become increasingly bleak, Kazem perseveres and still holds fast to his idealistic view of America.
Chapter 20 Summary: “Girls Just Wanna Have Funds”
Dumas chronicles her history of adolescent odd-jobs that include babysitting, house-sitting, and pet-sitting. She also works at a movie theater. None of the experiences is well-paid, and they do not really allow her to save money in preparation for college. Ultimately, she writes an essay in response to a scholarship prompt. Describing the injustice of her Aunt Sedigeh’s not being allowed to attend college, her essay is awarded the scholarship.
Chapter 21 Summary: “Joyeuse Noelle”
As a junior in high school, Dumas wins a French language contest offered by the University of Berkeley. The prize is a trip to France. She experiences some hassles while entering France because of her Iranian passport. She meets her host family, who promptly leaves her alone in Paris. She befriends an older woman named Noelle who takes her to the Bastille Day celebration. Dumas describes some of the evening with Noelle before moving on to a discussion of her experience at the school she attends as part of her summer exchange. Her experience in France is not especially exciting, but she does become fluent in French.
Chapter 22 Summary: “The Wedding”
Dumas describes her marriage to Francois and his mother’s initial reaction to their engagement: Because she is Muslim, Firoozeh represents everything her future mother-in-law dislikes. Dumas then details how modern Western dating is entirely different from the traditions practiced in Iran, where arranged marriages are common. As for Francois, he meets Firoozeh’s two requirements in a suitor: he is not fat, and he does not like to watch sports on television. Dumas describes the wedding preparations; since Francois is from a Catholic family, this includes finding a Catholic priest willing to marry the couple. The wedding represents a blending of cultures and takes place at 10 pm. Because of the late hour, the list of places where the wedding can be held is limited. It takes place at an Indian restaurant that gradually added Chinese food to its menu. The chapter concludes as Dumas explains the bouquet-throwing ritual; the bouquet is caught by a woman she doesn’t even know.
Chapters 18-22 Analysis
The book takes a turn toward the more serious at the outset of Chapter 18. Dumas returns to a discussion of the effects of the Iranian Revolution on her family. First, her father’s career is jeopardized. He loses his job with the National Iranian Oil Company, and when he tries to find work in America, his Iranian nationality becomes a source of discrimination. After the taking of American hostages at the embassy in Tehran, overt prejudice prevails as Americans allow their baser xenophobic instincts to dominate. Dumas once again recalls the bumper-sticker slogans from that era: “Iranians Go Home” and “Wanted: Iranians for Target Practice” (117). There is a corresponding increase of violence directed at Iranians (117). For a man like her father, who loves America and always considers himself fortunate to have the chance to bring his family there, the flagrant discrimination is hurtful. He obviously does nothing to deserve or provoke the treatment that he receives. Instead, as Dumas makes clear, he is precisely the kind of person whose ideals were shaped in part by his love of America. Even as he struggles to find work, which is made much more difficult by his Iranian heritage, he still holds to his idealized view of the US. Dumas once tells her father that she isn’t sure if she will vote in the next election. Generally a lighthearted and kind man, he tells her that she does not deserve to be a citizen if she does not vote. That this kind of man suffers discrimination because of the acts of his government demonstrates the consequences and injustice of stereotyping and racism.
It is important to note that Dumas does not portray Kazem as simply a victim. In some ways, that would undermine the impressive strength of character he exhibits during the tumultuous times following the Iranian Revolution and the hostage crisis. Her father never complains during the challenges and frustrations of his job search: “He remained an Iranian who loved his native country but who also believed in American ideals” (120). In spite of the discrimination he suffers, he does not allow himself to become that which causes his own suffering. In other words, he does not see all Americans as racist and prejudiced because of the actions of some. Instead, “he only said how sad it was that people so easily hate an entire population because of the actions of a few” (120-21). Despite all the cruelty and suffering that Kazem experiences, he avoids developing a self-justifying righteous anger. Rather, he sees racism and discrimination against himself and other Iranians in the US as tragic, and it reinforces to him “what a waste it is to hate” (121).
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