Social-Political Chapter Summary

Chapter Two

August 1982, Venezuela

The first page is an excerpt from the night Reza will defect.

March 8, 1971

Overview:  Reza’s father, Abbas, recognizes and begins to develop Reza’s innate wrestling skills.  A scene in the family home, wherein they struggle to operate their first TV to view the Mohammad Ardeshir vs. Joe Frazier rematch, introduces both setting and family within a framework universal to “every family”.  Reza’s decision to reach over the roof for a dropped antenna wire, resulting in his falling from the rooftop, ascertains his willingness to risk himself for the greater good.  Reza is mesmerized by the American warriors in their epic boxing match.

Socio-Political References:

• Reza’s father’s concern about Reza’s 10 year old sister walking in public without her hair covered.
• A portrait of Shah hangs over the new TV.

Chapter Three

July 1975

Overview:  Now 13, Reza sneaks into a hotel and meets teenage American wrestlers who have come to Kermanshah to compete in an international tournament.   Contrary to how the government portrayed Americans, Reza finds the wrestlers to be as friendly as they are competitive.  Abbas introduces Reza to an Iranian wrestler named Ardeshir.  Like Reza, Ardeshir is a gifted wrestler and tenacious competitor.  They begin a lifelong friendship.

Socio-Political Reference:

• On the anniversary of Shah exiling Khomeini in 1964, students stage a three day protest in Qom.
• The Shah’s police shoot and arrest several of the protesting students.

Chapter Five

Spring 1976

Overview:  Reza’s mother and sisters prepare a traditional family dinner revealing the family dynamics framed in Middle Eastern traditions with specific emphasis Reza’s relationship with his mother.  Reza convinces his mom to let him cut weight to compete in his first National tournament.   He and Ardeshir train in the Tagh-e Bostan mountains by climbing along ancient carvings of the Sassanid Dynasty and King Darius.

Socio-Political Reference:

• The perception of some Iranians people that Shah is stealing oil profits.
• Shah changes the legal age of marriage for girls from 15 to 18.
• Reference to ancient dynasties revealed from carvings in the Tagh-e Bostan mountains.

Chapter Six

Spring 1976

Overview:  Reza travels to Tehran to compete in Nationals.  Due to his extreme effort to lose weight, Reza collapses on the scale and his brothers fear he will not have the strength to compete.  However, he battles his way to the Championship match.

Socio-Political Reference:

• Shah’s presumed influence from the West
• His controversial decision to change Iran from the Islamic calendar to a Secular calendar.
• He mandates the right to vote for women.
• He makes education, healthcare and owning land available to all citizens.

Chapter Eight

Spring 1976

Overview: Reza’s mother goes into a dangerous labor with her tenth child, Mariam.   Mariam survives but her twin sister does not.  Reza experiences a humiliating loss in the televised Championship match.   Days later, he and his cousin Farid consider Reza’s loss and the Mohammad Ardeshir v. Frazier fight.  They conclude the true meaning behind pahlavan warriors is in their will to never, never, quit.

Socio-Political Reference:

• Reza’s sister, Soraya is admonished by her older sister for not properly wearing a headscarf.
• Reza brings up his concern about Shah’s secret police, Savak whom he thinks he saw in Tehran.

Chapter Nine

January 10th 1978-June 1978

Overview: The political strife, previously lingering around the Abedi family, begins to have direct effects.  The rising tension in Iran between those loyal to Shah and those loyal to Khomeini escalates to cause the first palpable changes in the lives of ordinary Iranian families.  Abbas warns Reza and Hassan to be careful with whom they are seen and charges them to come directly home from school.  Reza’s older brother Mostafa, who is active in the political underground, comes home with severe facial lacerations from his participation in a protest. Reza is stopped by Savak when returning from after-school tutoring and is saved when Mostafa bribes them for his release.   Abbas begins to listen for news from the forbidden radio’s BBC.  Reza spends time with a favorite liberal teacher at school, Mr. Mehdian.  Through their conversations, Reza works to untangle events in Iran.

Socio-Political Reference:

• An article in the widely read National Newspaper Ettela’at proclaims Khomeini to be a homosexual.  Many citizens believe this accusation was perpetrated by Shah in an attempt to discredit the cleric and demonstrations rock major cities in Iran.
• Clashes with Shah’s police become more violent as students are showing less fear in their demands for change.

Chapter Eleven

June 1978-January 1979

Overview:  Reza’s siblings are afraid to walk home from school without him.  Reza meets again with Mr. Mehdian and discusses both the political events and options to leave Iran.  Martial law is imposed due to the violent clashes in the cities.   Reza’s mother, Nimtaj, gives her gold bracelets to Abbas to sell on the black market for food and medicine.  Reza leads a raid on a market place and engages in a bloody battle with police.  Mostafa and his band of men from the underground visit the family bringing photographs, cassettes and documents.   The Abedi’s watch Shah’s TV addresses where he pledges free elections, then denounces the Revolution and finally departs from Iran.

The political turmoil in Iran permeates every aspect of daily life.  It becomes clear that leaving Iran is nearly impossible.   Families’ struggle for basic necessities as schools, markets and banks are forced to close.  Men who conduct raids are expected to bring the supplies to the Mosques to be distributed by the Mullahs to the needy families, but this soon deteriorates into a greed-based black market.  The first promises by the Mullahs are broken.  Access to information is restricted by Shah and the Abedi’s listen to the BBC at risk of being imprisoned.   Mostafa’s documents reveal Khomeini’s strategy for a return to power.  Abbas has doubts about Khomeini’s intentions to honorably serve the people of Iran.   Reza can only dream about returning to finish his last year of school and attend a university as ordinary life has been shattered.

Socio-Political Reference:

• Reference to CIA’s 1953 Operation Ajax which restored power to Shah after World War II in an attempt to both Westernize and stabilize the Middle East.
• Shah pledges free election and imposes of martial law in response to growing riots.
• The replacement of Prime Minister Jamshid Amouzegar (loyal to the Shah) with Jafar Sharif-Emani (fundamentally conservative) indicates Shah, despite his efforts, is losing his control.
• Jafar Sharif-Emani immediately imposes laws closing casinos, abolishing the secular calendar and declaring Islam as a political party with the right to rule Iran.
• September 8th, Black Friday, Shah orders tanks and helicopter gunships to battle rioting students killing thousands, including women and children.
• November 5th, Shah denounces the Revolution.
• January 16th, 1979 Shah and his wife depart for medical treatment and never return.
• The nation designates into violence and chaos.

Chapter Twelve

February 1st, 1979-Spring 1980

Overview: The Abedi’s listen to the BBC’s account of Khomeini’s return to Iran where he is greeted by the cheering of millions in Tehran.  Khomeini’s return does not immediately bring peace, but increased violence.   The Abedi’s have run out of kerosene to heat their home and Reza’s little sister, Pari, is sick.  Reza and Hassan go after curfew to get the kerosene they have hidden and are nearly caught by police.  Mr. Mehdian is taken from his home and shot in front of his family.  The news devastates Reza.   Desperate for supplies and weapons, Reza, Hassan, Farid and Ardeshir join a raid on the local prison.  Later that night, they discuss the news they have heard about the taking of the American hostages.

Socio-Political Reference:

• Hassan makes reference to a November night in 1978 when millions of Iranians cheered in the streets when they thought they could see Khomeini’s face in the full moon.
• Khomeini proclaimed a jihad against the Iranian armed forces still loyal to Shah.
• In February 1979, The Foundation of the Islamic Republican party is established by revolutionary clerics and led by Khomeini.  Potential opposition leaders are killed by Khomeini’s men.
• There is a staged election in April wherein it is reported that 98% of Iranians voted for the Islamic Republican Party.
• The national paper Ayandegan printed anti-Khomeini articles and is shut down.
• The American Embassy is stormed in Tehran and Americans are taken hostage.

Chapter Fourteen

March 1980-Sept 22nd 1980

Overview:  The Abedis try to return to a ‘normal’ life, but the influence of Khomeini’s fundamentalist ideas are apparent in their everyday routines.  Reza is denied admission to the universities which must be ‘pure in their Islamic teachings’.  Later that night, Ardeshir finds Reza alone on their mountain top. Ardeshir says that he must join The Revolutionary Guard, like his father.  The young men realize they have no other options if they remain in Iran but to become Khomeini’s soldiers.  Reza and Farid view a public hanging of three men accused of being homosexual and question the intentions of the new regime.  Reza, like his older brother Amir, joins the Air Force.  Reza takes Nimtaj to the holy city of Qom and there they hear that Iraq has declared war on Iran.  A border town with oil refineries, Kermanshah is a ripe target for Iraq throughout the conflict.  While training for the Air Force in Tehran, Reza stays with his aunt.  She shares with him an event she witnessed wherein the Basiji (a police force charged with enforcing Islamic rules) threw acid in a young girl’s face for walking unescorted. .

Socio-Political Reference:

• In Ayatollah Khomeini’s New Year’s speech, he declares all universities must be pure in their Islamic teaching.
• There is additional discussion regarding velayat-e faqih: the law Ayatollah Khomeini added to the Iranian constitution after it was ratified which imposes strict Islamic laws.
• Suppression and control through violence and fear permeates every aspect of life for Reza and millions of Iranians.
• Kermanshah becomes a prime target for Iraqi bombing raids.

Chapter Fifteen

March 1982

Overview: Reza earns his place on the Air Force’s wrestling team.  His official military assignment is to drive pilots to their planes.  He feels like a coward in this assignment and convinces Amir to change his assignment to driving an ambulance to the front lines.  Kahn, the slightly unbalanced ambulance driver, enjoys Reza as a captive audience for his colorful diatribe about the history of Iran.  Kahn uses soft sexual references as a metaphor for Iranian history.  Reza’s stint with the ambulance driver provides a historical framework regarding Iran.

Socio-Political Reference:

• Post revolution Iran exhibits excessive control over the choices available to the Iranian citizens.
• Throughout the ambulance drive, Kahn gives a unique historical overview making reference from Achaemenes, Cyrus and Darius, to the Ottomans and Persians of the 16th Century, through middle ages, both World Wars and the current Iran-Iraq War.

Chapter Seventeen

March 1982

Overview: Although Reza dislocates his shoulder during the match, he makes the Air Force’s National Wrestling Team and will travel to Venezuela for the upcoming World Championship.  He returns home on leave and discovers Hassan has been imprisoned for bringing food to their Kurdish cousins.  The family is in deep despair; Nimtaj has torn flesh from her face.  Reza accompanies Nimtaj on her weekly visit to the prison. Reza’s decision to defect at the upcoming World Championship is complicated by Hassan’s imprisonment for Reza understands Hassan may be hung in revenge.

Political Reference:

• The political, cultural and spiritual suppression of Iranians in post revolution Iran, 1982.

Chapter Eighteen

Reza battles Mashida Aghee for the place on the National Iranian wrestling team.   Since Mashida Aghee is a personal bodyguard for Ayatollah Khomeini, he is declared the winner despite Reza’s clear victories.  Reza must beat him three times before he is declared a winner.  Nimtaj visits Hassan in prison and gives him strength.

Chapter Twenty  (Part II)

Reza and Ardeshir leave Iran to compete on the national wrestling team in Venezuela.  Reza notices the reaction of fear in the people in the airport as the Iranian wrestling team walks through the airport.  Reza also shows distaste for the Mullah and Muslim traditions.  Reza connects with teammate Saam and commits to defect with him on the last night.  On the second the last night, Reza goes to a local night club in Caracas with a local when misunderstands the time.  He returns to the barracks and faces a severe punishment for his absence.  However, Reza knows he must return because he cannot defect without the help of Saam and the Americans.  Ardeshir is questioned extensively regarding Reza’s absence and is therein forced to also defect.  Although Reza struggles with the possibility of Hassan’s death in prison as a revenge for his defection, he chooses to defect.  At the last minute, Ardeshir joins him.

Chapter Twenty-one

The Abedi family waits in the airport in Tehran for Reza’s gold medal return.  They learn of his defection and their lives immediately become more difficult.  The wrestlers are misrepresented by the translator and are granted religious, not political asylum.  They are granted a six month visa and given a minimal amount of money to survive.  Nimtaj, Soraya and Pari go to visit Hassan in prison and are afraid of his reaction to the news of Reza.  But Hassan is authentically excited for Reza.

Chapter Twenty-three

With the help of Emilo’s contacts, the wrestlers are able to call home.  Hassan is released from prison, but must leave Iran immediately.  Ardeshir’s father denies he has a son named Ardeshir and Ardeshir tries to kill himself.  Reza comes to the hospital bed and tells Ardeshir that he cannot die without honor.  After six months in Venezuela, the wrestlers are desperate for a plane ticket to Europe.  They devise a scheme where they pretend to want to return to Iran so the Iranian Embassy will buy them a plane ticket knowing the plane must stop first in Madrid.  In the layover in Madrid, they escape with the help of people who are a part of a Anti-Khomeini underground political.  In exchange for their help, the wrestlers agree to do an international press conference where they expose the terrors of Ayatollah Khomeini.   The Abedis move to a small town to get away from the constant bombs of the Iraq War, but Nimtaj is still too weak.  She dies in Pari’s arms.

Chapter Twenty-four

Embarrassed and angry, the Revolutionary Guard bring Abbas and Mostafa in for questioning as to Reza’s location.  The guard threatens to arrange marriage of Reza’s sisters.  Ardeshir’s father stops the marriages and gives Mostafa six months to smuggle the girls out.  Reza’s aunt provide the money to help them.  Saam and Ramin get Visas to go to Canada.  Reza and Ardeshir get Visas to come to America and they find an apartment in Southern California.

Chapter Twenty-six

Hassan comes to live with Ardeshir and Reza and Reza is accepted on a full wrestling scholarship to attend Cal State Fullerton University.  Mostafa calls with the news that Nimtaj died and Reza and Hassan take it very hard.  Mostafa smuggles Abbas, Soraya, Pari and Mariam into Istanbul, Turkey but a smuggler steals their money.  Soraya places a desperate call to Reza who secures false paperwork and flied to Belgium.  He is met by Meri and Rasha in Belgium and the come up with a plan for Reza to get the family from Turkey to Germany where they can drive easily into Belgium.

Chapter Twenty-seven

Reza finds them in Turkey and he and Mostafa hire smugglers to Abbas and the sisters to Germany.  However, they only make it to Austria and Reza drives from Belgium to get them.  They are busted at a checkpoint going from Austria to Germany.  Reza is sent to prison and Abbas and the sisters are sent to a processing camp.  Reza’s false paperwork is cleared but he cannot find a road from Austria to Germany without a checkpoint.  He befriends a drug smuggler who shows him a map with a path through the mountains.  Since it is December, the ground is covered in ice and snow.  Pari is sick with a fever and Mariam has a broken foot.  Abbas is ill from years of smoking.   Through a broken window, Reza gets his family out of the camp and to the edge of the frozen path they must take to Germany.

Chapter Twenty-nine

Ardeshir shares with Hassan about Reza’s final match at Internationals championships.   Reza and the family struggle across the frozen trails.   Abbas collapses and Reza must carry him the final part of the trail.  Although the family makes it to the car, Pari’s fever forces Reza to beg a motel manager to allow  them to use a room so Pari can be placed in a cool bath.  The motel manager, a Holocaust survivor, takes pity on the exhausted family and allows them to use a room.  Pari’s fever breaks, Baba and Mariam rest together on the bed, and Soraya calls Rasha in Belgium.  In the final scene, Reza is in the shower remembering his mother and wishing he could see her one more time.

Against the dramatic landscape of world altering events, Reza’s heroric journey unfolds.

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