Funny in Farsi: Chapter 26 Summary & Analysis

During his time in Abadan, Kazem and his family live in a nice house, and the NIOC takes care of most of their financial needs. When Kazem and his family move to California, however, their financial status changes—they have to pay for their own food, entertainment, and plumbing. As a result, Kazem learns to do things himself—the only problem is that he’s not very good at any of the tasks he teaches himself. As a result, Firoozeh grows up learning to expect that nothing in her house works properly.

Once, Kazem goes to visit his son Farshid, who’s living in a high-rise apartment at the time. While Farshid is at work, Kazem does his son a “favor”—he buys white paint from the store and paints over all the “cracks” in the walls in Farshid’s apartment. The problem is that Kazem uses a different color of white, and the walls of Farshid’s apartment now look as if they’ve been covered in strange blotches. On another occasion, Kazem decides that François and Firoozeh need a medicine cabinet in their bathroom, and builds it himself. Kazem installs a medicine cabinet that hangs crookedly from the wall. Now, whenever Kazem visits, François hides the screwdrivers.

When Kazem goes back to Iran, he’s a millionaire—the country’s currency has become so weak since the Iranian Revolution that Kazem can live like a king whenever he returns from America. He’s also extremely generous with his money—he donates his monthly pension from NIOC to the poor, and pays for many people’s surgeries and operations. Kazem’s arrival is always a major event in Abadan, and he’s one of the most popular people in town. Kazem likes to tell Firoozeh, “I’m a rich man in America, too. I just don’t have a lot of money.”