The Team Melli (Iranian national team) soccer jersey that Sohrab gives Darius symbolizes Darius’s relationship to his Persian identity. Prior to receiving the jersey, Darius doesn’t feel particularly Persian. On Nowruz, the Persian New Year, Darius’s uncles tease him for his weight and for not liking cucumbers, something that they suggest makes him less Persian and more like Dad (who’s white and American). Sohrab gives Darius the jersey late in the evening, and it makes Darius feel far more Persian. With the jersey, Darius feels way more comfortable traversing Yazd’s streets, playing soccer with Sohrab and other boys, and simply existing in Iran—it makes him feel at home and like he truly belongs. In fact, Darius even refers to his jersey as his “Persian camouflage.”
However, following Sohrab’s cruel behavior toward Darius a few days before he leaves Iran, Darius starts to feel like he doesn’t actually fit in; that his “Persian camouflage” is a disguise and he never should’ve tried to, in his understanding, be someone he wasn’t. Still, he decides to take the jersey home with him and save it, just in case he needs it again or wants to be the person it turns him into again. Darius’s understanding at this point isn’t particularly nuanced, but when he considers joining the school soccer team after getting home, it suggests that the jersey wasn’t actually camouflage or a disguise—it just represents one aspect of Darius’s identity, the part that’s proudly Persian and more athletic than Darius realizes. And just as Darius can choose to wear the jersey (or not) and look visibly athletic (or not), Darius can decide how much he identifies with his Persian identity and culture in any given situation.
The Jersey Quotes in Darius the Great Is Not Okay
“You are not very Persian,” he said. “Not like Laleh.”
I looked down at my Team Melli jersey, which I still had on over my button-up.
This was the most Persian I had ever been in my entire life, and it still wasn’t enough.
“You are more like your dad. He doesn’t like them either,” he said. And then he grabbed a cucumber for himself and wandered off.
I thought about Coach Henderson.
I thought about lack of discipline.
“I guess I didn’t think I was that good.”
“Well, you’ve got some skill. Why don’t you try out in the fall?”
My ears burned. I almost told Coach no.
Almost.
But that’s what Darius would have done.
Darioush would have tried out.
I thought about telling Sohrab that I had made the team. And sending him photos of me in my kit. And him squinting and congratulating me.
The Jersey Symbol Timeline in Darius the Great Is Not Okay
