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Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Darius the Great Is Not Okay, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Friendship
Family
Persian Identity and Culture
Mental Health, Depression, and Connection
Bullying
Summary
Analysis
Darius spends every day the next week playing soccer with Sohrab, except for Friday. This is the day Mamou is making chelo kabob, which is a huge treat. At home, Darius and Laleh only get it on birthdays and holidays, and on report card days if Darius gets a B average. Dad, as a Teutonic Übermensch, is perfect at packing the ground beef onto skewers, and even Mamou lets him help. Darius washes dishes when he’s allowed to, but Babou asks for his help setting up tables in the garden. Noticing how Babou shuffles, Darius remembers Mom’s story of Babou carrying her. Did he carry Mom home from the same park Darius and Sohrab have been visiting? What else has Darius missed? He doesn’t understand Babou, but he doesn’t want him to die.
Humorously, Darius implies that being really into meat and grilling is part of being a perfect man. So, even though chelo kabob is Mamou’s thing, Dad is so good with kabobs that he’s even able to infiltrate Mamou’s kitchen and help. Darius’s eye roll is palpable; it’s annoying to him that Dad is so wildly perfect. Darius, on the other hand, is preoccupied with thinking about Babou and how little Darius knows about how his family has lived their day-to-day lives in Yazd. He suggests that this kind of intimate knowledge is what will make him feel like he really belongs—and so pessimistically, the novel suggests that if Darius isn't willing to ask his family members questions and learn this information, Darius will continue to feel like an outsider.
Themes
Babou then sends Darius to Khanum Rezaei to bring sabzi (herbs) when she comes. When Khanum Rezaei opens the door, Darius returns her Bahá’í greeting, which makes her smile. She says Mamou makes the best chelo kabob and sends Darius to the backyard to find Sohrab, who’s kicking a soccer ball around. He says he’s also doing push-ups and other drills. They discuss the chelo kabob later, and then Sohrab invites Darius to play soccer for a while.
It’s subtle, but Darius is once again reminded that his grandparents are a beloved part of their community. Khanum Rezaei, for instance, knows that Mamou is an exceptional cook, while Babou knows which neighbor to ask for more herbs. This continues to develop them as real people in Darius’s mind, not just floating heads on a video chat.
Themes
Mamou’s chelo kabob is indeed the best chelo kabob in the world. Everyone overeats, and Nazgul tries to push a radish flower into Darius’s mouth. Sohrab tells her to leave Darius alone, so she gives the flower to Laleh, who gags. Darius takes his and Sohrab’s plates to get more in the kitchen. Dad is there, and he says nothing when Darius serves himself more rice instead of vegetables. This is maybe because Dad is engrossed in arguments about proper kabob prep with Dayi Jamsheed, Dayi Soheil, and Babou. Darius almost feels bad for him, but Dad seems to be holding his own and enjoying himself. Maybe Dad’s place used to be empty, too.
Dad is, perhaps, beginning to relax and give Darius the freedom to make his own choices. And as Dad loosens up, Darius finds that it’s easier to give Dad the benefit of the doubt and wonder if Dad might struggle with some of the same lonely feelings Darius does. It’s possible, after all, that Dad feels just as lost and like an outsider here in Yazd as Darius does. However, just as Darius is befriending Sohrab and feeling more at home, Dad seems to be finding his place among Darius’s male relatives just fine—his circle is also expanding.
Themes
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