Firoozeh Dumas Influence On Iranian Culture

Firoozeh Dumas’ home country of Iran was, both prior and during the Iranian Revolution, vastly different than the capitalistic and also increasingly xenophobic United States, which had both its benefits and drawbacks. During each period of time that Dumas lived in the U.S. she faced hatred on the basis of her nationality and religion, most notably during the Shah’s visit to Washington, D.C. where her entire family and other Iranian families were threatened and many even violently beaten (113). Although she faced no physical trauma, Dumas was reminded of the negative attitudes towards Iranians that were even further inflamed during the hostage crisis in Tehran, leading to her hiding her heritage and her father struggling to find a job (117). On one occasion, her father was fired from a position after his employer realized that Kazem was Iranian, proving that for some ethnicity was more important than merit or skill level. One would think that this incessant discrimination and the everyday struggle of

Sandberg, she had virtually no experience with Americans or the English language, thus creating an extremely difficult communication barrier. However, as Dumas later confesses, Mrs. Sandberg became her “favorite American” and encouraged this young Iranian girl, who in her home country would have been denied the privilege of any kind of extensive formal education, to work hard and later write about her hardships and memories about being an immigrant in the U.S (190). Although there were most certainly anti-Iranian sentiments present during her time in America, there were also a few people like Mrs. Sandberg that improved her experience. Remembering these accepting people while also living her life looking for the humor in a situation is what lets Dumas overlook the bad and remember the positives of being an American. Nevertheless, these are not the only factors that created Dumas’ view on the American people and