It Ain't So Awful, Falafel

Nastaran Yousefzadeh is Zomorod’s mother. Like the rest of her family, she is from Iran, and she is the most skeptical of life in the United States. She doesn’t speak English very well and mostly relies on Zomorod to translate and engage with other adults. Because she does not work, her primary connection to the American world is through watching television. She is attached to the life, family, and traditions of Iran, which at times puts a wedge between her and her other family members.

Zomorod often butts heads with her mother because Zomorod wants to engage more with American culture, but her mother insists on foregrounding Iranian traditions. For instance, when Zomorod lobbies for something that she sees as American, like turkey on Thanksgiving or an Easy Bake Oven for Christmas, her mother will insist on making something Iranian or giving her something from Iran instead. These moments illustrate Nastaran’s connection to and longing for her homeland while also complicating her relationship with her daughter.

Nastaran misses her family greatly, and Zomorod comments several times that “[s]he’s probably thinking about her sisters in Iran” (69). This longing often reduces Nastaran to tears. Mo understands Nastaran’s struggles better than Zomorod does. For example, he tells Zomorod, “You have to be patient and understand that it will take time for your mother to adjust to living here. It’s much easier being American in Iran right now than being Iranian in America” (100). Mo’s justification that Americans in Iran can do more to engage with a like-minded community foreshadows the sort of community that Skip calls for at the end of the novel. While Nastaran will not get the same type of Iranian community in Newport Beach as she would have at home, she can find a group of people who want to support her and her family.

For Zomorod, the most critical moment with her mother appears when she discovers that her mother does not want to return to Iran under Ayatollah Khomeini’s rule. Nastaran’s statement that “I wanted to go back to the old Iran, not the Iran our relatives are now describing to me, not the country I see on TV. How can I live in such a place?” (355) demonstrates her development as a character and her desire as a mother to protect Zomorod. Even though in that moment it looks like they’ll have to return to Iran, Zomorod gets a fresh start with her mother, and it changes her mind about staying with the Williamses.

Mohsen “Mo” Yousefzadeh is Zomorod’s father. He is an engineer that works on oil refinery projects, which is what brought his family to the United States. He is a proud Iranian, but he appreciates the rights and opportunities available in America, often lauding the country as a place to “become the best version of yourself” (240). The events of the Iranian Revolution and the hostage crisis challenge Mo’s attitude positive toward the US, his pride in his country, and his pride in being able to care for his family. His character arc highlights the theme of America as a Land of Complexity and Opportunity.

Mo’s pride is on display when he allows Zomorod to pick out a bedroom set at Sears. Likewise, he is proud to talk about Iran and the oil industry, as he tries to do with several of their new neighbors in Newport Beach. While Zomorod finds this embarrassing at times, it is evidence of Mo’s happiness that he is successful in his field. However, he is also more aware of some of the challenges that Zomorod faces in coming to the United States, a fact that she appreciates when she says that Mo “understands [her] problem, because whenever someone asks his name, he starts sweating” (55). His support leads Zomorod to go to him more when she needs permission to do something.

The revolution reinforces Mo’s values, but it also challenges them. When the new regime restricts women’s rights, Mo emphasizes that “[i]f I had one son and one daughter and could only educate one of them, I would educate my daughter. […] A girl without an education has no power; she is always at the mercy of others” (218). His statement moves Zomorod as she recognizes that her father will always advocate for and protect her. The revolution also forces Mo to reconcile with his pride in his country as he watches it “go backwards” (168). He has difficulty believing that the Iran of his youth is gone. This weighs on him, and it comes to a peak when he begins swearing at Sears in Persian. This moment challenges his typically good-natured attitude, sending him into a spiral of anger that builds both because of the struggles his relatives are experiencing in Iran and because of the discrimination he faces as an Iranian looking for employment in the United States. Ultimately, his new home rallies around him, and his friendliness pays off when Skip and others work to get him first an interview and ultimately a new job.

Carolyn Williams is Zomorod’s best friend in the United States. She wants to be a journalist when she grows up. She is persistent and is often not content when something unfair or unjust happens to her or one of her friends. For Zomorod, Carolyn is the first person to show genuine interest in Zomorod’s Iranian identity, and Carolyn’s enthusiasm encourages Zomorod to share more than she ever has about Iran before. Carolyn’s family also provides a safe place in which Zomorod can discuss the Iranian Revolution; the Williamses know the Iran they see on TV is not the whole story of the country, which is especially critical as many Americans grow xenophobic.

Carolyn struggles to understand Zomorod’s perspective at times. For instance, she doesn’t understand why Zomorod doesn’t want to report bullies to the principal or report Darleen Linden after the hamster incident. Because these things do not happen to Carolyn—and she enjoys a degree of privilege as a native-born white American—she does not always see the possible consequences of such actions. Zomorod knows that she would just be bullied more and that the condo association may not protect her family because Darleen is on the board (though this ultimately proves to be untrue). However, Carolyn’s sense of justice and commitment to her friend is also what leads Zomorod to recognize that her friends are not going to abandon her when she is going through a difficult time. A critical point in their friendship occurs when Carolyn invites herself into Zomorod’s condo after Zomorod avoids her. She forces Zomorod to be a little bit vulnerable by letting her see Nastaran in her robe with the curtains drawn, and she refuses to let Zomorod isolate herself. After this moment, Zomorod becomes more open about what is going on in her family, and it is Carolyn she tells when her family believes they have to move back to Iran.