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The Borg of Herbs
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
Sohrab points in the direction of his school and says he attends with Ali-Reza and Hossein. He says he has friends, some of whom are Bahá’í, but most people aren’t as prejudiced as Ali-Reza. Then, he asks why Darius doesn’t have a girlfriend. Darius doesn’t know how to answer—people always assume so much—but Sohrab accepts Darius’s silence and says he doesn’t have one, either. Sohrab changes the subject by pointing to the park ahead. There’s a small public bathroom in the corner with a chain-link fence around it. Sohrab explains that people come here for Sizdeh Bedar, the big picnic that happens 13 days after Nowruz. This year, it falls on Darius’s birthday, so Sohrab says they can celebrate Sizdeh Bedar and Darius.
Sohrab continues to help Darius develop a more nuanced understanding of Iranian society. Yes, the government targets Bahá’ís and there are plenty of bigoted laypeople like Ali-Reza running around, but Sohrab nevertheless suggests that he has an okay time at school socially. Darius then seems to imply that people tend to assume he’s gay when they hear he doesn’t have a girlfriend, a possibility that Darius’s narration suggests he doesn’t much want to acknowledge at this point. Still, it’s uncomfortable for him, and Sohrab’s friendship makes Darius feel like he doesn’t have to address this directly. It can instead stay private, if Darius wants.
Themes
Then, Sohrab leads Darius to the bathroom, climbs the fence onto the roof, and tells Darius to follow. It’s a struggle, but Darius follows and Sohrab hauls him onto the roof. Throwing an arm over Darius’s shoulder, Sohrab nods ahead and tells Darius to look. He points out the huge, turquoise minarets of a mosque, which towers over Yazd. Sohrab points out other attractions as they sit on the roof.
From the bathroom roof, Sohrab can better introduce Darius to Yazd—but from a distance. This mirrors the way that both boys are, in a sense, outsiders (since Sohrab is Bahá’í and Darius is American). Still, the city’s beauty is compelling: they can both appreciate it, despite being a bit on the outs.
Themes
Remembering the taste of the sekanjabin, Darius asks what Sohrab meant yesterday when he said that Babou wasn’t acting like himself. Sohrab says that Babou does strange things now because of the tumor. Darius asks what Babou was like, and Sohrab says that he and Mamou helped a lot when Sohrab’s dad went to prison. Once he came over and asked Sohrab to help him set up a new phone and set a picture of Darius as the background image. He’d always talk about Darius and Laleh and how proud he was of them. This is why Sohrab knew he and Darius would be friends: he’d heard so much about Darius. Babou’s behavior makes no sense to Darius; Sohrab seems like way more of a grandson.
The picture Sohrab paints of Babou before the brain tumor developed is so far outside Darius’s lived experience—remember that Darius has said that on video chat, Babou has always seemed stern and disappointed. However, Sohrab makes it clear that Babou was wildly proud of his American grandkids and even thinks they’re great enough to put on his phone’s background. Note that although Babou’s behavior confuses Darius, he doesn’t push back on Sohrab’s assertion that Babou made befriending Darius seem like a great idea. In this sense, Babou has given Darius a great gift: his first real friend.
Themes
Just then, the azan sounds. Darius can hear it better from the roof and even though he’s not Muslim and can’t understand it, it moves Darius to tears. There’s nothing like it at home, except maybe the Super Bowl. He’s not nervous crying in front of Sohrab. Sohrab explains that he only prays twice per day, but sometimes he wishes Bahá’ís prayed to the azan. It’d make him feel connected. Then, he asks if Darius believes in God. Darius admits he doesn’t, and he can tell that bothers Sohrab. But Sohrab just asks where Darius turns when he needs “succor,” and Darius can tell Sohrab is thinking about Sohrab’s dad. Ignoring how awkward he feels, Darius puts an arm around Sohrab’s shoulder and says that’s what friends are for. They agree that they’ll always be friends.
The azan calls Muslims to prayer five times per day, so it’s not something that Darius or Sohrab necessarily have to pay attention to. Still, Darius recognizes that it’s a unifying fact of life in a Muslim country like Iran—and for all the country’s faults, he finds it touching that there’s this major unifying event to everyone’s day. As Darius and Sohrab discuss religion, Darius learns how to navigate a slightly trickier subject with a new friend. He suggests that at least for him, religion isn’t wholly necessary when one has friends (or supportive family), highlighting how much Darius is getting out of his friendship with Sohrab.
Themes
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