In Funny in Farsi, Firoozeh Dumas explains that her father, Kazem, had studied and worked in America and “often spoke of America with eloquence and wonder normally reserved for a first love. For him, America was a place where anyone, no matter how humble their background, could become someone important” (3). Listening to his father's wonderful stories about clean bathrooms and always friendly citizens, Dumas had foreseen a warm and welcoming country. For the most part, this is what he initially received during his immigration to America. After the Iranian Revolution, however, many opinions had changed regarding people of Iranian descent, but in a way that perhaps highlighted a form of American myopia. As Dumas indicates in one of the most important ironies of his book, Americans have gone from never having heard of Iran to assuming they know everything about its people and culture. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Funny in Farsi explores the different biases associated with being an immigrant in America and the tendencies many Americans have in judging other countries and cultures. Dumas says, “I was fortunate to have come to America years before the political upheaval in Iran. The Americans we met were kind and curious, unafraid to ask questions and willing to listen” (31). When Dumas and his family first arrived in America, they faced no particular enemies. In fact, the people they met had never heard of Iran or the surrounding countries, so they had no reason to dislike an Iranian. The Americans may have seemed a little ignorant about geography and anthropology, but at least they didn't make assumptions about Iranian ethics. Dumas recalls: “Our relatives who immigrated to this country after the Iranian revolution did not encounter the same America.” During the hostage situation in the American embassy in Tehran, Dumas met many Americans who both knew and hated Iran and Iranians. He noted that most Americans seemed to think that any Iranian could take hostages at any time. Americans began to be very afraid of her and her family because of their appearance or the way they speak (39), so that Dumas' relatives faced difficulties with their appearance and names due to the hostage situation . They were oppressed by a state of fear and ignorance in a situation they could not control and did not support. Dumas' name, Firoozeh, which means "turquoise" in Persian, became a daily struggle for her and other people. He jokes: “In America it means 'unpronounceable'” (63). Her classmates teased her about her name and gave her unwanted nicknames. Although most people experience some sort of ridicule from classmates during their youth, Dumas insinuates that her name was much easier to mock than others and made her the target of a lot of unwarranted attention. Since she was new to her school and already the center of attention of many other children, the additional scrutiny of her unusual name only increased the pressure she felt to blend in with the general population. Dumas felt that there was no easier way to escape this fate of mispronunciations and hostile jokes than to change his name altogether. Dumas decided to adopt a more American name. The name she chose was "Julie". With that name his school life became “infinitely simpler” (65). His desire to.