Martyr!
Chapter Nine: Bobby Sands
by Kaveh AkbarThe chapter opens with Cyrus Shams, a young Iranian-American man, confessing his preoccupation with death to artist Orkideh during an encounter at the Brooklyn Museum. He awkwardly reveals his fascination with historical figures like Bobby Sands who died for their beliefs, contrasting their meaningful deaths with his own existential uncertainty. Orkideh, a terminally ill cancer patient conducting a living exhibition called “DEATH-SPEAK,” listens intently while subtly challenging Cyrus’s romanticized notions of mortality. Their conversation establishes a tension between Cyrus’s theoretical musings and Orkideh’s lived experience of dying.
As their dialogue continues, Cyrus struggles to articulate his thoughts without offending Orkideh, frequently correcting himself when realizing the insensitivity of his words. He gestures nervously around the stark gallery space, revealing his anxiety about this long-anticipated meeting. Orkideh maintains composure, occasionally smiling or coughing, while observing Cyrus’s restless energy. The setting is carefully described — from Orkideh’s artistic presentation of her deteriorating body to the clinical museum environment that frames their intimate exchange about mortality.
The narrative provides rich physical descriptions of both characters. Orkideh appears sculptural and deliberate in her appearance, with bare feet that reflect her artistic philosophy about the body’s hidden labor. Cyrus is portrayed as disheveled and anxious, with facial features that betray his inner turmoil. Their Persian heritage becomes a point of connection as Orkideh engages Cyrus in Farsi-inflected banter about his name and background, establishing cultural familiarity amidst their philosophical discussion.
The chapter culminates with Orkideh posing a provocative question about Cyrus potentially becoming “another death-obsessed Iranian man” cliché. This challenges Cyrus’s self-perception and the authenticity of his existential crisis. The exchange highlights the chapter’s central tension between performative death-obsession and genuine mortal confrontation, with Orkideh’s terminal condition serving as a stark counterpoint to Cyrus’s abstract philosophical ponderings about meaningful death.
FAQs
1. What is the significance of the “Death-Speak” exhibition and how does it relate to Orkideh’s personal circumstances?
Answer:
The “Death-Speak” exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum is a conceptual art piece where Orkideh, a terminally ill artist with cancer, spends her final days engaging in conversations with visitors about death and dying. The exhibition’s description notes she has stopped all treatment and has approximately two months to live. This setup transforms her physical decline into an artistic performance, blurring the lines between art and mortality. The exhibition challenges viewers to confront death directly, making Orkideh’s personal experience with terminal illness both the medium and the message of her work (pages 99-100).2. How does Cyrus’s preoccupation with meaningful death contrast with Orkideh’s perspective on dying?
Answer:
Cyrus expresses anxiety about wasting his “one good death,” referencing historical figures like Bobby Sands who died for their beliefs. He seeks purpose in death, viewing it as a potential act of significance. In contrast, Orkideh, who is actually dying, demonstrates a more immediate and practical relationship with mortality. Her calm demeanor and focus on present interactions (“Let’s slow down… What’s your name?”) suggest an acceptance of death as a natural process rather than a symbolic act. Their exchange highlights the difference between theoretical contemplation of death (Cyrus) and lived experience (Orkideh) (pages 98-99).3. Analyze the symbolic importance of feet in Orkideh’s artistic philosophy as described in the chapter.
Answer:
Orkideh’s bare feet in the gallery carry deep symbolic weight. The text explains her past commentary on feet as “the body’s most intimate parts” that perform thankless labor while remaining concealed. By exposing her skeletal feet during the exhibition, she inverts this dynamic, making the typically hidden visible. The description of feet “pushing back against the world” mirrors Orkideh’s own confrontation with mortality through art. This imagery transforms feet into a metaphor for resilience—even as her body fails, her artistic presence resists oblivion (page 100).4. How does the author use physical descriptions to characterize Cyrus and Orkideh differently? What might these contrasts reveal?
Answer:
Cyrus is described with anxious, disjointed imagery: a “poorly applied” beard, “buggy” eyes, and a body that “seemed older” than his age, reflecting his internal turmoil. Orkideh, meanwhile, is compared to “a sculpture she herself might have made,” with deliberate details like her “hairless skull” and carefully cuffed slacks projecting artistic control. These contrasts emphasize Cyrus’s existential uncertainty versus Orkideh’s curated authenticity in facing death. Her composed appearance amidst decline underscores the chapter’s theme of how differently people confront mortality (pages 99-101).5. Why does Orkideh’s question about being “another death-obsessed Iranian man” unsettle Cyrus, and what does this reveal about cultural identity in the text?
Answer:
Orkideh’s question punctures Cyrus’s philosophical musings by framing his death fixation as a cultural cliché. This forces him to confront whether his preoccupation stems from genuine personal inquiry or performative ethnic stereotyping. The exchange highlights tensions within diasporic identity—Cyrus, raised in America but Iranian-born, grapples with how his heritage shapes (or overshadows) his individuality. Orkideh, as an older Iranian artist, serves as both mirror and critic, challenging his assumptions about mortality and cultural narrative (page 101).
Quotes
1. “I’ve been thinking about dying… I’ve been practicing at it. I have this job…dying. It feels like such a throwaway to just die for no reason. To waste your one good death.”
This opening confession by Cyrus introduces the chapter’s central theme of seeking meaning in death. His paradoxical “job” of dying and concept of a “good death” frames his existential struggle and fascination with martyrs like Bobby Sands.
2. “Immortal soul sick with desire and fastened to a dying animal, whatever. But you’re not wasting your dying, you know? You’re here doing this thing, and so your dying actually means something.”
Cyrus references Yeats while contrasting his abstract death fixation with Orkideh’s tangible terminal illness. The quote captures his intellectualized approach to mortality versus her embodied experience, highlighting the chapter’s meditation on meaningful versus meaningless death.
3. “Do you worry about becoming a cliché? Another death-obsessed Iranian man?”
Orkideh’s piercing question challenges Cyrus’s romanticized view of martyrdom and cultural identity. This moment represents a key turning point where Cyrus’s philosophical musings confront real-world implications and stereotypes.
4. “Feet were constantly performing thankless and often demeaning work while mostly the other parts drowsed, swaddled in nylon or cotton or lace… secretly pressing themselves into and pushing back against the world, as if to halt its ever-encroaching advance.”
This lyrical passage about Orkideh’s philosophy of feet serves as a metaphor for the chapter’s deeper themes - the unseen labor of existence and humanity’s quiet resistance against oblivion, mirroring both characters’ struggles.