Part I: Section 17 Summary

Saturday, after dressing in his old work clothes and trimming the hedges, Behrani drives Nadi to San Francisco to get her hair done. Because of his appearance, he waits outside and observes the passersby, thinking Americans don't deserve what they have-how, additionally, before coming here, he'd expected to see the same "caliber" of people he dealt with in Tehran, disciplined ladies and gentlemen. He had noticed the difference within a week of arriving: perhaps it was the continual TV watching that gave Americans the scurrying eyes of small children looking for their next amusement (it is obvious, he thinks, why American success stories are immigrant stories). Upon his wife's return, he thinks her beautiful but too thin. Since, in less than two hours, their daughter will return from her honeymoon, Behrani and Nadi stop at a florists. The flowers...