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Magnetic Containment
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 left his shoes at Sohrab’s, but he can’t go back for them or go to Mamou’s. He runs, certain Sohrab is right. He’s a coward. Darius wants to go home to Portland, and he hates himself for wanting to see less of Dad when Sohrab will never get to see Sohrab’s dad again. When he climbs on top of the bathroom at the park, he slices his heel. The sound of the afternoon azan makes Darius cry, and he wipes his face on the jersey from Sohrab. Nobody’s ever made him feel understood and like he belonged, but Sohrab is right about Darius. Darius wishes he was invisible or could disappear forever.
Again, though Sohrab said cruel things, that reflects more on Sohrab’s own pain. Darius has seen firsthand that people want him around and love him: Mamou feeds him qottab, and his cousins taught him to play Rook. But because Darius loves and trusted Sohrab so much, Sohrab has outstanding power to tear Darius down. It’s significant that Darius is wearing the jersey right now: while it made him feel like he fit in earlier, now, it seems to have lost that magic power.
Themes
Sometime later, Dad shocks Darius by climbing up on top of the bathroom. He says Agha Rezaei told them what happened, and Darius starts to cry again. Dad tries to hug Darius and tells him not to cry—but Darius is angry. He stands, pushes Dad away, and says he can’t help crying. Sometimes people are mean to him, and he's sorry for crying and being so disappointing. Dad says he’s not disappointed and just wants to make sure Darius is healthy. But Darius says Dad just wants Darius to be like him, emotionless and normal—and Dad won’t even watch Star Trek with Darius anymore, so clearly, Darius will never be good enough.
It’s only now, when Darius is in such a low state, that he’s finally willing to speak up and tell Dad how he really feels about Dad’s behavior. But as Darius and Dad argue, it starts to look like there is a misunderstanding between them. Dad doesn’t want Darius to be emotionless—he wants Darius to be healthy. However noble this might be, though, the fact remains that Dad hasn’t been able to get his point across, and so he’s been unwittingly hurting Darius.
Themes
His face blotchy, Dad stands and says Darius has always been good enough, and he’s loved Darius from the first time he saw Darius on an ultrasound. He loves being Darius’s dad. This doesn’t seem possible, so Darius asks if Dad remembers the stories they used to tell—and why Dad stopped telling them. Dad sits down and pats the spot next to him. After a moment, Dad says he wants Darius to feel things, but it’s terrifying to consider that Darius’s depression might get bad enough to convince him to hurt himself. Darius assures Dad he doesn’t want to hurt himself—but Dad says that he almost hurt himself. Darius is shocked.
For much of this passage, Darius remains convinced that he’s right: that Dad doesn’t love him, and that he’ll never be good enough. As far as he’s concerned, the fact that Dad stopped telling him stories—something Darius loved—almost a decade ago is proof of that. However, Dad ultimately opens up to Darius and, it seems, will go on to explain why he’s so concerned with “protecting” Darius. Again, Dad’s actions might leave a lot to be desired, but based on his own experiences, he thinks he’s doing something important for Darius.
Themes
Dad explains that when Darius was seven, his meds stopped working and he spent all his time thinking that Darius and Mom would be better without him. Dr. Howell eventually put him on a tranquilizer, which made him a zombie. He couldn’t tell stories because he could barely tell what time it was. But, Dad continues, those pills saved his life. When he finally stopped taking them, though, Laleh was born, and he didn’t know if Darius wanted stories anymore. Suicide, he says, isn’t the only way to lose someone to depression—and he hates that he gave depression to Darius.
With this story, Dad asks Darius to recognize that lots of different things can be true at once. It can be true that the tranquilizers saved Dad’s life and so were an objectively good thing. But it’s also true that they damaged Dad’s relationship with Darius and started them on the path to where they are now. But, as Dad opens up to Darius, he also gives his son the information he needs to see that Dad has never stopped loving him—and that Dad has been working hard to stay alive, healthy, and present for his family for years.
Themes
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Dad is crying. Darius has never seen him cry before, and he starts crying, too. He lets Dad pull him down (somehow, he’s taller than Dad now) and hold him. It’s nice to be held like baby Darius in the photo album. Dad tells Darius he loves him, and that it’s okay to not be okay. They sit and watch the sunset, and Dad listens to Darius tell him about Sohrab and what Sohrab said. Darius says that Sohrab is the best friend he’s had—and Dad seems to know there’s more, but he doesn’t ask.
It’s significant that Darius likens the experience of Dad holding him here to the photo of Dad holding baby Darius. Finally, Darius feels like he can relax into his dad and let his dad care for him; a wall has come down between them. This is particularly evident when Darius tells Dad about Sohrab, and Dad seems to infer that Darius might like Sohrab as more than a friend. This is left ambiguous for now, though, which helps Dad show Darius that he respects him and what he chooses to share.
Themes
