In The September’s of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer, a man named Isaac becomes imprisoned essentially for his religion and for his “living well under the shah.” Revolutionaries come and take him from his place of work. However, the situation not only affects him but it is an ordeal for his whole family. He has a wife named Farnaz, a daughter named Shirin, who both live with him and a son, Parviz, who lives in America. Although things affect them all differently, Parviz, Isaac’s son, has the most similarities to his father. These two characters through the traits they possess, the situations in which they are placed, and the language used to describe them, share a lot of things in common and it is conceivable that a parallel was meant to be drawn between the two.
Both Parviz and Isaac share feelings of abandonment and feel that “the world is going on without them” (Chapter 5). Isaac in jail feels this way because he is all alone and is the subject of suspicion, violence, and torture. He feels that his wife and his children will go on without him there and will go through life’s hurtles on their own. He is obviously disheartened by this notion. Parviz is equally disheartened by the notion of the world going by without him but for different reasons. While he too, feels alone and isolated in New York, he is not in so much of a physical prison like his father but a mental one. He is extremely lethargic and watches static on TV and cannot even muster the energy to turn on the light. He is almost penniless and is desperate for money but lacks the initiative to get a job. In both cases, the men seem static and almost paralyzed by the situations they are in.
In the novel the two men share certain indelible traits that are similar in unique ways. One example of this is when the story of Parviz’s departure to America is recounted and a woman says to him after asking if he is being sent away because of the war, that this is “good, you’re the wrong age for this country now. These mullahs will use the last one of you” (Chapter 5). But Parviz reflects that his father, with his stooped back and bloodshot eye, is also the wrong age for the country. Neither generation of men will be able to survive in the land that is being created in what was once their home. Both men are Jews but do not practice. They share certain criticism because of this fact. Parviz, living with a family of very devout Hassidic Jews, has to endure their offers of celebrating the Sabbath and the fact that because of his aversion to religiosity he can never be with the daughter of his landlord, for whom he nurses a soft spot. Isaac too, endures criticism at his being Jewish but not practicing, but instead of urging him to become more Jewish his captors indirectly encourage him to become Muslim. In this way Isaac essentially gains nothing from being Jewish because he neither devoutly believes nor receives comfort from that, nor does he wish to relinquish his religious background and become Muslim. So he basically gains nothing from being Jewish but refuses to change, just like Parviz.
In conclusion these two characters are very similar in their manners and the language used in describing them and their habits is similar in both characters. They both share certain characteristic like their age and their religion that are indelible and contribute to who they are as people. They are very similar even though they are so far away and it is this that irrevocably connects them and makes their relationship unique.