House of Sand and Fog

“And of course we have no money to buy a house as well, but there are many auctions in my country. There it is known as the legal way to rob.”

This quote immediately follows Behrani’s discovery of the auction listing for the house in Corona. Later Behrani will attempt to obscure to the dubious morality of his purchase to his family. This quote is important because it is a clear indication, on page three of the narrative, that Behrani possesses no illusions regarding the ethical implications of his plan.

“Dats what they say of this cauntry back home, Kath: ‘America, the land of milk and honey.’ Bot they never tell you the milk’s gone bad and the honey’s stolen.” 

Kathy recalls this quote, which was spoken to her by the Irish bartender at her old restaurant job. Remembered shortly after she’s been evicted from her house, this prophetic quote foreshadows the events of the novel and frame its larger theme concerning the myth of the American dream.

“Occasionally I would look over at the young torturer and see him gazing into the fire, his eyes empty, and I wished he would leave our group early and not come back, for I did not like to be reminded of the secret police and all the people they made disappear in our land, these students and professionals, wives mothers, husbands, fathers, children, illiterate cargars living in small houses of mud and wood scraps less than a kilometer from the gran palace with all of its fine ornaments imported from around the world; I did not like to think once again that America, with whom I did close business in the purchase of fighter jets, had such a hand in this; I did not like to think this was the manner in which our king retained his throne and our way of life; but, most of all, I did not want to accept that Pourat was correct when he said the young policeman and I were colleagues”

Behrani, remembering his encounter with a member of Iran’s secret police, is disgusted by the thought that the two of them existed, and thrived, within the same regime. Although Behrani is proud of his service and dear friend, the late General Pourat, he struggles with pangs of conscience when he thinks about the true cost of his comfortable life. His reluctance to confront injustice when it benefits him is a driving factor in his refusal to show Kathy any sympathy.