The need to conform is a vital part in an individual 's behavior. The communities in which surround everyone’s lives has a funny way of making individuals give up crucial parts of themselves to “fit in with the crowd.” Funny in Farsi is a memoir written by Firoozeh Dumas in which she talks about the experiences and challenges she faced as an Iranian American. Dumas, the author of Funny in Farsi, states that in order to fully assimilate into an unfamiliar community, sometimes one may have to give up parts of their own identity to fully achieve full integration into their newfound community. Firoozeh emigrated to America with many cultural difficulties, but one of the most inconvenient (according to Dumas) was her name. Her mother gave her the name and in Persian it means “Turquoise” , but in America Firoozeh means “Unpronounceable” (63). Most kids at her school called her “Ferocious” and mispronounced her name. Because of this Firoozeh, at the age of twelve, decided to add a basic name (Julie) to ease her burdens at the time. By adding a …show more content…
Immersing oneself in a new community can come with difficulties such as language barriers and balancing two different identities. Firoozeh may have decided to add a “simpler” name, but had to deal with the emotional turmoil that came with people not knowing her actual Iranian heritage. Firoozeh also had to help her mother adapt to American culture by translating because her mother could not speak English. Firoozeh’s father had to adapt to the language barriers because his version of English was incomprehensible to the average American. Every single member of Firoozeh’s family had to adapt to American culture by giving up parts of their original identity because they had to make a place for themselves in their newfound