Summary
This story is about an individual who was born in America, though by nationality she was Iranian. The family got quickly accustomed to American traditions, but they never forgot who they actually were. The main character felt disappointed when her relatives made fun of her, stating that she was not any more Iranian and her accent sounded strange, that was quite insulting. The Iranian-American family was about to meet newcomers from Iran, they had lived in America less than three months. The Iranian family had two children Nina and a little brother Ali. Nina, as an Iranian girl, wore a chador and covered her hair with a scarf. The main character was sure that she could be friends with Nina, but Nina’s reaction was quite strange when the girl asked her about her clothes. Common sense seems to dictate, that the girl did not want to hurt Nina’s feelings. The sun had already gone down, and the children went home to have a traditional Iranian meal. At the end of the meal, the girl wanted to know who she really was by her nationality, as she could not speak Iranian well, but looked like one, and all the American clothes had nothing in common with her nationality. Then she looked at the reflection of the tray and understood that was mainly her choice to decide whom she would like to be.
Response
The story is more than true to life and makes every individual think about the most essential thing in a life, who you actually are. The country, where you may be born, can change the way you think or affect your behavior or clothes style, but it cannot change your identity. The main character, a girl from Iranian-American family is outgoing as all Americans, and she does not see any possible reasons why Nina behaved so rude to her, as she asked a simple question about chador. To my mind, Nina overreacted, as she does not know yet that this type of behavior is quite common to Americans. Basically, the girl just wanted to get some information about her true nationality from Nina, but the girl turned out to be too shy and devoted to religion, as well as her country’s traditions. The main idea that should be taken from this short story that every individual should follow its own way, without paying attention to obstacles or problems that may appear on it.
Chador-a large piece of cloth that Muslim women wear, covers a head and upper body so that only the face can be seen.
Haunt somebody- to continue to cause problems for a long time.
Whisper- to speak very quietly to somebody so that other people cannot hear what you are saying.
Saffron- bright orange-yellow in color.
Humiliation-a feeling of being ashamed or stupid and having lost the respect of other people.
