When Skateboards Will Be Free Chapters 1-4

It is clear that this is a memoir because the cover says so, and the first paragraph talks about the author’s father with the use of the word “my.” The first page reveals that the memoir has a lot to do with politics. It is later revealed that SaÏd’s father is a part of the Socialist Workers Party. He acts like he is not in support of his anti-capitalist ways. The author did not see his father that much growing up. His tone is very honest and he does not seem very upset about this. It seems like he contradicts his actions because he says “Then for my nineteenth birthday I stayed an entire week with him and his wife–his second wife–taking photographs, watching movies on the VCR, and playing scrabble into the late night, where, even though my father is Iranian and English is his third language, he beat me nearly every time” (sayrafiezadeh 4). The way he writes “second wife” gives off a sense of judgment because of the long dash. The reason this comes off as a contradiction is because the author takes his girlfriend to watch a documentary on Che Guevara and his father is outside of the theatre behind a table with books, some having to do with Che Guevara. The reaction the father had when the girlfriend and author did not say much about the movie, was not pleasant. The author reflects upon how he knew that his father was not pleased. The author all of a sudden is not as into his girlfriend anymore and breaks up with her (after a year). This shows that even though he may not want to be like his father, he gets brainwashed by his political opinions. Most men want to be like their fathers and please them. It seems like the author was torn between pleasing him, and being on his own.