Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Darius the Great Is Not Okay, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Friendship
Family
Persian Identity and Culture
Mental Health, Depression, and Connection
Bullying
Summary
Analysis
Darius wraps Sohrab’s cleats in newspaper, feeling angry and upset that they have to say goodbye soon. He heads to Sohrab’s house a bit early, but there’s a strange vehicle in front. Nobody answers the door, so he heads around the back. There’s nobody there either. Finally, Darius notices Agha Rezaei pacing in the kitchen. He lets Darius in sadly and leaves Darius to the living room, where Khanum Rezaei is sobbing wildly. Sohrab is holding his mom and sobbing too. Darius is wildly uncomfortable and doesn’t know what to do, so he asks if he can make tea. He knows he said the wrong thing immediately.
Immediately, Darius recognizes that something is off—and then it becomes clear that whatever’s going on is very bad. Darius is a good friend, but he hasn’t had a lot of practice comforting others when they’re grieving. The only thing he knows for certain that he can do is make tea, something that in his experience, people do appreciate. This highlights that Darius is still learning how to be a good friend and support person—and he’s naturally going to make mistakes along the way.
Themes
Sohrab locks eyes with Darius and tells him sharply to go away. Agha Rezaei tries to reason with Sohrab in Farsi, but he finally just leads Darius into the kitchen and fills the kettle. Darius asks what’s wrong in a whisper, and Sohrab appears in the doorway and snaps that Sohrab’s dad is dead. He says something to his uncle in Farsi, and Agha Rezaei returns to the living room. In English, Sohrab says that apparently someone stabbed his dad in prison. Then he asks what Darius’s box is.
Readers are well aware that Darius just means to help and doesn’t intend to be rude or cause Sohrab further pain. Knowing this, it seems pretty clear that Sohrab is lashing out at Darius and at Agha Rezaei out of grief: Darius hasn’t done anything objectively wrong or rude. That Sohrab’s dad was stabbed, meanwhile, leaves the possibility open that he was murdered for being Bahá’í, highlighting again that Sohrab and his family are regularly targeted in Iran.
Themes
Darius explains that they’re new shoes for Sohrab, but Sohrab smacks the box out of Darius’s hands and shoves Darius. He tells Darius to go away and that he’s selfish: Sohrab’s dad is dead, and Darius just wants to play soccer. When Darius starts to cry, Sohrab tells Darius to stop crying and complaining. He has nothing to be sad about, and nobody wants him here. Sohrab stumbles back into the living room, where he screams. Darius knows Sohrab is right. Nobody wants Darius.
Darius, readers know, is trying to do a nice thing for Sohrab by giving him the shoes—and he had no idea he was walking into this situation when he arrived. Again, Sohrab is lashing out to deal with his own grief (which is particularly evident when he screams). Still, his words matter and are capable of tearing Darius down and destroying the confidence Darius has developed over the last few weeks.
Themes
