It is interesting how on page 91, the mother takes pleasure in the fact that the neighbor asks, “what are those?” referring to the magazines entitled Militants on the table. Said thinks that the comrades enjoyed the story, but all of the discussion is what led to Said and his mother losing the apartment. Chapter 10 reveals a story of how Said dropped out of college. It is intriguing how he goes from talking about an incident that happened to when he was eight and then transitions to talk about something that happened when he was a young adult. Is there a significance to the way each story was placed in the memoir? Said is the only sibling who has kept his long last name. Both of his siblings changed theirs. This shows how much he truly wanted his father’s approval. On page 97 he writes, “I’ve clung to this gigantic name my whole life. It was the only connection I had to my father when I was a little boy. In many ways, it’s the only connection I have with him now. We are the last remaining Sayrafiezadehs in the United States.” This solemn tone reveals how confused Said was. He did not necessarily agree with his father and was upset by his actions. However, he still wanted his love and acceptance. Said’s father is very unreliable when it comes to dinner get togethers were Said. He eventually meets him to dinner. His words come off as things you would say regarding a young child. Said is thirty years old at this point. On page 126 his father says, “Do you hear that? The birthday boy will have a glass of chardonnay with me.” Even though they are obviously drinking alcohol and are adults, Said’s father speaks as if he has never met Said before. If Said is thirty, it means he was legally able to drink nine years prior. This shows how distant the two of them are from one another.
chagerma 
“It is interesting how on page 91, the mother takes pleasure in the fact that the neighbor asks, “what are those?” referring to the magazines entitled Militants on the table. Said thinks that the comrades enjoyed the story, but all of the discussion is what led to Said and his mother losing the apartment. Chapter 10 reveals a story of how Said dropped out of college. It is intriguing how he goes from talking about an incident that happened to when he was eight and then transitions to talk about something that happened when he was a young adult. Is there a significance to the way each story was placed in the memoir?? <— GREAT question! What do you think? Obviously there are other examples of this kind of juxtapositioning as well, such as when we go from the story of his molestation, when he was quite young, to working for Martha Stewart as a young man. So we know he's not telling us about each event in chronological order. And we know that he can't possibly tell us everything about his childhood; he's selecting specific events that he deems important. Can you guess why he might place these chapters back to back?
"He eventually meets him to dinner. His words come off as things you would say regarding a young child. Said is thirty years old at this point. On page 126 his father says, “Do you hear that? The birthday boy will have a glass of chardonnay with me.” Even though they are obviously drinking alcohol and are adults, Said’s father speaks as if he has never met Said before. If Said is thirty, it means he was legally able to drink nine years prior. This shows how distant the two of them are from one another." <– Very good.
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