Martyr!
Chapter Five
by Kaveh AkbarThe chapter explores the lives of Cyrus and Ali Shams, Iranian immigrants in Indiana, focusing on their struggles with insomnia and trauma. Cyrus, now an adolescent, grapples with chronic sleeplessness, obsessively replaying daily interactions and imagining social slights. His anxiety extends to fears of deportation and his family’s precarious visa status, exacerbated by his father Ali’s vague warnings about the dangers of revealing their Iranian heritage. Ali works long hours at a chicken farm, earning extra pay for early shifts, while Cyrus battles his restless mind until dawn. Their bond is underscored by small joys, like their shared love for a kitschy singing fish, a rare symbol of levity in their difficult lives.
Ali’s past and the family’s trauma are revealed through his annual Nowruz calls to Arash, Cyrus’s uncle in Iran. Arash, a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war, was tasked with posing as an angel to comfort dying soldiers, a role that left him psychologically scarred. Ali recounts how Arash’s exposure to mass death led to severe PTSD, hallucinations, and isolation. The calls to Arash are bittersweet, marked by superficial conversations that mask deep grief over the family’s fractured history. The Shams men’s connection to Arash highlights the lingering wounds of war and displacement, even as they try to build a life in America.
Ali copes with his own struggles through alcohol, drinking gin nightly to sleep, while Cyrus’s insomnia persists. Their small apartment amplifies tensions, as Cyrus’s nighttime activities risk disturbing Ali’s rest. A rare but traumatic incident—Ali slapping Cyrus and destroying a book in a sleep-deprived rage—leaves a lasting impact on Cyrus, symbolizing the fragility of their strained but loving relationship. The chapter paints a poignant picture of their isolation, with only each other to rely on in a country that feels both foreign and precarious.
The narrative underscores themes of memory, trauma, and resilience. Cyrus and Ali’s lives are shaped by unspoken fears, cultural dislocation, and the weight of familial history. Their story is one of quiet endurance, marked by small moments of connection amid larger struggles. The singing fish, a cherished relic after Ali’s death, becomes a metaphor for their ability to find humor and love despite hardship. The chapter closes with a sense of unresolved tension, as Cyrus and Ali navigate their shared loneliness and the shadows of their past.
FAQs
1. How does Cyrus’s insomnia differ from his childhood sleep terrors, and what does this reveal about his psychological development?
Answer:
Cyrus’s childhood sleep terrors were involuntary episodes that eventually disappeared, while his adolescent insomnia was a conscious, persistent condition characterized by obsessive rumination. The text reveals that Cyrus would lie awake reprocessing daily interactions, imagining slights and social missteps. This shift shows his developing self-awareness and anxiety about social perception. Unlike the passive terror of childhood nightmares, his insomnia reflects active cognitive patterns of self-doubt and hypervigilance about his immigrant identity (e.g., deportation fears) and social relationships.2. Analyze the symbolic significance of the Big Mouth Billy Bass in Cyrus and Ali’s relationship. What does its preservation after Ali’s death suggest?
Answer:
The singing fish represents a rare moment of unguarded joy between Cyrus and Ali amidst their difficult circumstances. As an “ridiculous extravagance” purchased with Ali’s hard-earned extra wages, it symbolizes their shared capacity for humor and emotional connection despite financial struggles. That Cyrus keeps it after Ali’s death indicates its value as a tangible memory of their bond—contrasting with their typically strained interactions (like Ali’s violent outburst over the spilled grapes). The fish embodies resilience and the preservation of positive memories amid trauma.3. How does Uncle Arash’s wartime role as a “false angel” reflect the psychological toll of the Iran-Iraq War, and how does this connect to Cyrus’s own experiences?
Answer:
Arash’s duty—posing as an angel to comfort dying soldiers—demonstrates the war’s psychological brutality, where theatrical illusions were used to manipulate the dying. This role left Arash with severe PTSD, hallucinating ghosts and Iraqi soldiers. The parallel to Cyrus’s insomnia is striking: both involve nighttime psychological torment (Arash’s battlefield visits, Cyrus’s rumination) and themes of performed identity (Arash as angel, Cyrus hiding his Iranian heritage). The chapter suggests intergenerational trauma, with Cyrus inheriting his uncle’s and father’s struggles with displacement and mental health.4. What contradictions exist in Ali Shams’s parenting methods, and how do they impact Cyrus?
Answer:
Ali exhibits contradictory behaviors: he buys whimsical gifts like the singing fish but reacts violently to minor disturbances (slapping Cyrus for dropping grapes). He encourages Cyrus’s academic success but demands he deny his Iranian identity (“I don’t remember”). These contradictions create an unstable environment for Cyrus, where affection coexists with fear. The chapter emphasizes how Cyrus internalizes this instability—his insomnia stems partly from anxiety about his father’s unpredictable anger and their precarious immigration status, showing how parental contradictions amplify a child’s stress.5. Evaluate how the chapter portrays immigrant identity through Cyrus’s experiences. What specific fears and coping mechanisms are highlighted?
Answer:
The chapter depicts immigrant identity as a source of constant anxiety. Cyrus fears deportation to an unfamiliar Iran and hides his heritage on Ali’s advice, showing assimilation pressures. His insomnia reflects hypervigilance about social acceptance (e.g., worrying over unnoticed sneakers). Meanwhile, Ali copes with gin and workaholism, while Arash retreats into delusions. These responses highlight how displacement fractures identity: Cyrus negotiates between cultural erasure (“where are you from” deflections) and familial trauma (war stories), with no healthy models for processing his dual belonging.
Quotes
1. “Every night he would lie awake, endlessly reprocessing the day’s events, discovering in these rehashings slights and conversational missteps that hadn’t in the moment occurred to him to worry about.”
This quote captures Cyrus’s debilitating insomnia and anxiety, illustrating how his hyper-awareness of social interactions becomes a nightly torment. It reveals the psychological toll of his immigrant experience and precarious status in America.
2. “According to Ali, the alternative—announcing his Iranianness—was to invite violence, harm. Cyrus’s father was always vague about this part, and that vagueness kept Cyrus awake too.”
This passage highlights the constant fear and ambiguity surrounding their immigrant identity. The quote powerfully conveys how the threat of xenophobia shapes their daily lives and mental health.
3. “For hundreds of dying Iranian men, Arash on horseback was the last thing they saw. Which meant Arash watched hundreds of men die.”
This haunting description of Uncle Arash’s wartime role as a “battlefield angel” reveals the profound trauma carried by Iranian veterans. The poetic yet horrific imagery underscores the lasting psychological wounds of war.
4. “The Shams men called Arash once a year just after Cyrus’s birthday to wish him happy Nowruz, and Cyrus’s uncle was always glad to hear from him. But of course there was the inescapable, unmistakable timbre of grief in his voice.”
This quote poignantly captures the family’s fractured connections across continents and the weight of their shared losses. The annual ritual underscores both their cultural roots and the isolation of their diaspora experience.
5. “This kind of violence was rare in the Shams household, but the spectre of it dominated Cyrus’s consciousness.”
This revealing statement about Ali’s rare but impactful outburst demonstrates how trauma reverberates through generations. It shows how single moments can shape a child’s entire psychological landscape.