The Septembers Of Shiraz

A major theme of the novel is the loss of material wealth and all that it represents to its owners. The novel’s main characters are deeply connected to their material goods, though these connections have different valences, some more positive and others negative. Isaac has spent his life moving from poverty to wealth and position, and the gemstones he trades in are the symbol of his success. He has subjugated his family life and marriage to his business. Farnaz loves her souvenirs for their memories, their beauty, and the social status they convey. The antiques dealer acknowledges his passion for his objects: “I am a slave to my relics, you see” (215). Isaac’s sister Shahla is portrayed as shallow and greedy for her attachment to wealth, property, and title. When her husband Keyvan suggests leaving for Switzerland, she cannot fathom the idea of going empty-handed: “If we leave this country without taking care of our belongings, who in Geneva or Paris or Timbuktu will understand who we once were?” (56).

The novel considers what it means for a Jewish family to be materialistic, as their interest in wealth always skirts some of the worst anti-Semitic slurs and stereotypes. In prison, resorting to bigotry to win an argument, a fellow prisoner accuses Isaac of having “no beliefs. As long as you can buy your Italian shoes and your villas by the sea, you are happy” (100). As a guard ransacks Farnaz’s belongings, he invokes the same anti-Semitic tropes: “Look at how happy a piece of silver makes you […] there is no cure for your kind” (137). Somewhat different from this is the judgment that Jewish people have for each other, which is inflected with some internalized anti-Semitism, but also features aspects of self-recognition. Farnaz has mixed feelings towards her sister-in-law: “Farnaz feels a deep pain, not just for Shahla but for the loss of what she had come to represent—shameless extravagance, which others both enjoyed and ridiculed” (234).

However, after the Islamic Revolution, the Amins, their extended families, and their friends fear losing their money, property, and possessions—the Revolution is not simply an ideological and cultural upheaval, but brings with it dispossession. When all his savings from the bank are thrown into the guards’ truck, he thinks: “There it goes, his life’s hard work, his long hours at the office, the missed school plays, the late dinners, the promise to his children that they will never know the meaning of envy, the promises to himself that he would never become like his father” (257). The transformation that Isaac goes through shifts his priorities: He grows closer to his family, but he does not lose everything he previously valued, having been to save some money outside the country as a fallback.