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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
The next morning, Dad shakes Darius awake and wishes him a happy Nowruz. The same special rules for Star Trek apply on Nowruz, except on Nowruz, Dad and Darius have an audience. But Dad says Dayi Soheil will be here soon, so Darius should get breakfast before the kitchen gets taken over. Darius’s traditional breakfast of feta and sangak bread makes him feel very Persian, just like Darius the First. Mom comes into the kitchen a bit later with her hair in curlers. She says she’s only dressing up a little bit, but Darius doesn’t have to. She and Dad discuss that Laleh is watching soap operas with Babou to improve her Farsi, and they joke that Babou might kidnap her. Darius kind of wants to watch and improve his Farsi.
Nowruz offers Dad and Darius another opportunity to pretend like everything is okay between them. Once again, Darius feels like he’s caught between being too American and appropriately Persian: he’s eating the right foods to make him Persian, but Babou continues to reject Darius’s company in favor of Laleh’s due to the language barrier. And despite Babou being offended that Darius doesn’t know much Farsi, he’s not going out of his way to help his grandson learn. Though this connects Darius to Dad in a way—they’re the only non-Farsi speakers here—Nowruz’s magic isn’t enough to make Darius feel entirely secure in this fact.
Themes
Once Mom is out of earshot, Dad and Darius agree that the dress code is Persian Casual. This encompasses anything from nicer than business casual to almost black tie, and the point is to look fancier than anyone else. Darius and Dad are at a disadvantage, as neither of them brought a suit jacket. Mom always insists Persian Casual as Dad and Darius understand it is all in their heads. But still, Darius puts on dress pants and a turquoise button-up that is slimming and makes him feel almost handsome. Dayi Soheil and his wife, Zandayi Simin, arrive around noon. As they hug Darius and exchange the traditional greetings, Dayi Soheil pats Darius’s stomach and asks if all the medicines caused it. Dad doesn’t even point out Darius’s stomach. Darius is ashamed.
Persian Casual might not officially exist. But Dad and Darius, as outsiders to Persian culture, nevertheless recognize that it is indeed a thing, no matter what Mom says. This highlights how important perspective is: Darius and Dad have this perspective exactly because they’re not entirely Persian. Then, it’s mortifying for Darius when Dayi Soheil essentially suggests that Darius is overweight, while also acknowledging that he knows Darius takes medication. He, interestingly, doesn’t seem to mean to hurt Darius’s feelings, but the effect is the same in any case: Darius feels awful about himself.
Themes
Sohrab arrives a bit later, also dressed in Persian Casual in a textured white button-up. Darius uses a greeting reserved for close friends, and then Sohrab introduces his mom, Khanum Rezaei. She kisses Darius and then flies across the room toward Mamou. Darius asks if Sohrab’s dad is coming, but Sohrab shifts nervously and says it’s just him and his mom.
It’s a sign of how close Darius and Sohrab are growing that Darius chooses to use a greeting for close friends. This is Darius’s way of telling Sohrab how much he cares about him. Then, Sohrab’s behavior is a bit odd when Darius asks about his dad. It suggests that Sohrab’s family situation is, perhaps, not as rosy as Darius might assume.
Themes
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For readers, Darius explains that Persians probably invented the “ancient and noble art of the awkward family photo.” Non-Fractional Persians refuse to smile in photos, so Mom just purses her lips. Dad and Laleh smile, while Darius just looks constipated. The photos go on forever, and Darius is pulled into a lot of them. Eventually, he’s smiling for real. Dayi Jamsheed finally pulls everyone together for a group photo, and Darius starts to tear up. He loves his family and how they’re just like him in so many ways. Dad rubs Darius’s back and says he’s lucky to have this big family.
Initially, the photos are hard for Darius because of his body image issues and because he’s not entirely sold on the value of taking all these photos. However, he can’t ignore that the photos, awkward or not, make him feel connected to his extended family and like he belongs here. Indeed, it seems like a rare moment of agreement and understanding when Dad suggests Darius is lucky. These photos will commemorate that Darius has this family, thereby making it feel more real to him when he’s thousands of miles away, at home in Portland.
Themes
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Just as Sohrab snaps the photo, Babou stands and says something to Mamou in Farsi that causes the entire house to go silent. Then, Babou starts shouting angrily. Other people look shocked, but Mamou keeps smiling, though it doesn’t reach her eyes. Finally, Babou storms away and Mamou starts sobbing into Darius’s shoulder. Mamou excuses herself and Sohrab explains to Darius that Babou sometimes gets mad for no reason now, but he’s not really like that. Babou has always seemed stern and severe to Darius, but it’s nice to believe that some version of Babou doesn’t make Mamou cry. Not knowing what else to do, Darius suggests they make tea.
The happy, connected moment ends when Babou says something presumably cruel or otherwise inappropriate to Mamou. While it’s nice to hear that Babou isn’t really a mean person, Darius sees again that intentions don’t matter much: Babou can still bring Mamou to tears, even if the brain tumor is to blame. This further complicates Darius’s relationship with Babou, as it’s hard to love someone who makes Mamou so unhappy for seemingly no reason.
Themes
As Darius and Sohrab wait for the tea, Darius confirms that Sohrab’s fast ends at sunset tonight. Soon, Zandayi Simin comes in and says something to Sohrab in Farsi. It makes Sohrab blush. Then, Zandayi Simin tells Darius she loves him, her English is poor, and Sohrab is going to help translate—she’ll answer any of Darius’s questions. Darius has so many questions. He wants to know his family’s stories and what it’s like to grow up in Iran. This is a huge gift, but he’s too nervous to ask a question. Sohrab tells Zandayi Simin to tell the story about Babou and the aftabeh, which makes them both blush and laugh. She asks if Darius knows what an aftabeh is.
Zandayi Simin seems to pick up on the fact that Darius desperately wants to know everything there is to know about the Iranian contingency of his family. However, Darius remains unable to voice his questions, something the novel attributes to his difficulty trusting that people are going to take what he has to say seriously. Sohrab saves the day by bringing up what seems to be a funny story: an aftabeh looks like a watering can, but it’s used like a bidet after using the toilet. This breaks up the tension and, presumably, helps Darius see that Babou is human, just like he is.
Themes
