71 pages • 2 hours read
Firoozeh DumasIt Ain't So Awful, Falafel
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2016A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Watching TV
Zomorod and her family spend much of their time together watching television, even before the revolution and the hostage crisis begin. Because watching TV is one of the few activities the whole family does together, it comes to symbolize their emotional bond, even when things become difficult.
They enjoy watching sitcoms together, and Zomorod uses this as a way to understand American humor, often looking up unfamiliar words or phrases in the dictionary. The humor is sometimes lost on the Yousefzadehs, as when “turkey” is used in a sitcom. Mo says, “But why is it hilarious if someone calls you a turkey? In Iran, if you want to make fun of someone, you call him a donkey. Now, that’s funny!” (13). This moment shows the nuances of cultural humor and the difficulty of having to learn the colloquialisms commonly used in a foreign language.
When the news begins to focus on Iran, the family’s relationship with the television changes. It becomes their source of updates about what is happening in Iran, and therefore, the television becomes the bearer of bad news. Once Mo loses his job, the television becomes the focus of the family’s difficult emotions. They fixate on the TV even though it makes them both sad and angry to see how the new regime is acting unjustly, treating women poorly, and holding onto the American hostages—events that effect both the Yousefzadehs in the United States and their relatives in Iran. Zomorod points out how a cycle develops: “We watch the news. My mom and I cry. My dad swears. The TV is turned off. We all go to separate rooms” (342). Especially after the curtains are lowered, the light of the TV screen remains on, showing how the news has overtaken their lives.
Holidays
This novel spans two years, and in that time, the Yousefzadeh family celebrates different holidays, both Iranian and American. These holidays symbolize the complex cultural identities Zomorod and her family share. Zomorod is fascinated by the American holidays and sees them as an opportunity to take part in American culture. She also tries to tell her friends about Iranian holidays and culture in an attempt to share her traditions with them.
In Zomorod’s first year in the United States, she knows little about American holidays, and they become another mark of difference between her and the other children. On her first Halloween, for example, she does not wear a costume to school, and her teacher ultimately comes to the rescue. Zomorod looks back on this moment as “what Tennessee meant when he wrote about the kindness of strangers” (117); the teacher saved Zomorod from seeming like the “sad kid from foreign country” (117). From then on, Zomorod celebrates Halloween by dressing up and loves being able to trick-or-treat with her friends because it makes her feel like she fits in.
Holidays take on a sadder tone after the revolution in Iran. Nowruz is Iranian New Year, and it is often spent with Zomorod and her father eating alone while her mother cries in her room because she misses her family. Likewise, both Thanksgiving and Christmas pass without much celebration after the hostage crisis, accentuating how difficult life is for the Yousefzadeh family. Their apathy about the holidays symbolizes their feeling of disconnection from America during a time when Iranians are being targeted for hate crimes.
Extra Credit Reports
Zomorod is frequently asked by her teachers at school to give extra credit reports about what is going on in Iran. They don’t recognize that, in asking her to do such reports, they are drawing further attention to Zomorod as someone who is foreign. These reports symbolize the extra work Zomorod has to do to fit in, and the otherness American society forces on her as an immigrant.
The first time this happens, she is reluctant but ultimately agrees. Zomorod does not like the attention and wonders, “Why do I have to be from a country that is suddenly all over the news?” (147). Part of this novel’s goal is to illustrate how large-scale foreign policy and treatment of non-Western folks can trickle down into someone’s day-to-day life. For Zomorod, the events of the hostage crisis become very real and pose a threat to her and her family’s safety. The teachers believe the extra credit reports serve a pedagogical purpose in using someone that they see as an expert—even though Zomorod is an 11-year-old living in the United States—to teach the rest of the class about a difficult topic. However, their expectation that Zomorod is the right person to ask about such foreign affairs fails to recognize that the revolution and hostage crisis isn’t just news to her; it is something that is difficult for her family.
Zomorod eventually finds a way to put off giving two reports until after the hostage crisis ends, and the novel does not reveal whether she ever gives them in the future. Delaying the reports requires her to advocate for herself without offending her teachers and without having to admit how difficult things are as anti-Iranian sentiment rises.
One positive aspect of the extra credit report in the novel is Carolyn’s interview with Mo about the history of Iran and oil. It provides an opportunity for Mo to show how much he cares about his daughter and that he respects that women are not provided with the same opportunities as men in life. Carolyn’s interview provides a counterpoint to the teachers’ assignments. Firstly, Carolyn is interviewing an adult who is an expert on his subject. Secondly, she is asking him specific questions rather than asking for a general overview. Thirdly, the power dynamic is reversed: Mo does not face repercussions if he declines the interview, whereas Zomorod risks angering her teachers, getting a bad grade, and suffering social consequences.
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By Firoozeh Dumas
