Culture is tied to identity in many ways. Culture is the lifestyle for a whole society, while identity is the individual characteristics by which something is known. Occasionally they intertwine, although they more frequently clash. Because of the prejudice perspectives these two terms generate, they often cause massive conflict between different nationalities and genders. In the novel The House of Sand and Fog these issues are most evident.
Masoud Amir Behrani discriminates others more than any character in the novel. This is closely tied to his nationality and his identity with a bias Iranian Culture. The author reveals his cultural expectations very early in the novel with his negative view of homosexuals. On a daily basis Behrani encounters a homosexual man in the hotel lobby. “…the diamond man, the kunee, the one who gives ass, who in my country would be hanged…” (pg. 22). The author is trying to reveal the distinct differences of what is accepted in America with gender and what would be forbidden in Iran. Another example of this freedom is shown while Behrani is waiting in the Connie Walsh’s office. “On the walls are advertisements for parades of women who love women and kunees who love kunees. This sort of freedom I will never understand” (pg. 103). Behrani’s view on the freedom of sexual preference in America is closely linked to those on the freedoms of women in America.
Behrani’s view of women is rooted through the bigotry of the Iranian culture. The freedoms of men and the freedoms of women are very different between the Iranian culture and American culture. When Behrani first meets Connie Walsh at her office he thinks she is a secretary, not a lawyer. He wanted to speak to “Mr. Walsh” (pg. 103). Behrani is surprised that a woman could hold a position of power as opposed to the Middle East where women would not have a chance to have a job like that. He also believes that men are superior to women. He tells Kathy “In my country, you... [continues]
Masoud Amir Behrani discriminates others more than any character in the novel. This is closely tied to his nationality and his identity with a bias Iranian Culture. The author reveals his cultural expectations very early in the novel with his negative view of homosexuals. On a daily basis Behrani encounters a homosexual man in the hotel lobby. “…the diamond man, the kunee, the one who gives ass, who in my country would be hanged…” (pg. 22). The author is trying to reveal the distinct differences of what is accepted in America with gender and what would be forbidden in Iran. Another example of this freedom is shown while Behrani is waiting in the Connie Walsh’s office. “On the walls are advertisements for parades of women who love women and kunees who love kunees. This sort of freedom I will never understand” (pg. 103). Behrani’s view on the freedom of sexual preference in America is closely linked to those on the freedoms of women in America.
Behrani’s view of women is rooted through the bigotry of the Iranian culture. The freedoms of men and the freedoms of women are very different between the Iranian culture and American culture. When Behrani first meets Connie Walsh at her office he thinks she is a secretary, not a lawyer. He wanted to speak to “Mr. Walsh” (pg. 103). Behrani is surprised that a woman could hold a position of power as opposed to the Middle East where women would not have a chance to have a job like that. He also believes that men are superior to women. He tells Kathy “In my country, you... [continues]
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