From Orient Dreams to the Tradegedy in the West

Synopsis  

After graduating from the University of Teheran with a degree in literature and philosophy, Bijan realizes his long-term plan and leaves Iran. He can no longer stand the strict rules, the social and religious obligations or the political situation in his country. His family and friends do not understand his decision at all, however.

Bijan is headed west in search of his dream of living in a peaceful world where everyone enjoys life. In the West, he was told, the horizon has a different color and life has a different quality. What Bijan could not know, however was that fate has forged a special twist for his life. Perhaps he may reach part of his dreams, but he will also experience the bitter taste of reality.

At the Iranian-Turkish border, Dariush, a fellow bus passenger, asks Bijan to carry a parcel for him. Dariush is being pursued by SAVAK, the Iranian secret police. He intends to climb over the mountains that separate the two countries, walk to the next Turkish village and reunite with Bijan and the bus. But Dariush doesn’t make it into Turkey, and Bijan discovers that the parcel contains SAVAK’s secret documents, which get him into immense trouble.

Bijan gets a job in Germany working at an American military airbase during the Vietnam War. He meets a beautiful and self-assured American woman, Nancy Donahue, with whom he falls in love. Nancy persuades him to go with her to America, live in her house and study at UCLA for an advanced degree in computer science. He tries to convince her that he is a poet, loves literature and has never dealt with mathematics or data processing. He claims that he is happy with his life in Germany and doesn’t want to change his situation. But Bijan does not stand a chance—the power of love is too strong. He follows Nancy to the USA in order to reach the goal that she has already planned for him.

In America he begins a brand new life, living with the warm-hearted Donahue family. But he also gets to know his neighbor Mike, a right-wing extremist member of the “Clean American Society” (CAC), and Mike’s mother, Peggy, an intelligent but bitter woman in a wheelchair who spends most of her time reading world literature.

During his successful studies at UCLA, he experiences the first shock of his life. Nancy’s mother, Betty, commits suicide because her younger daughter, Pam, is pregnant with a black man’s child. Pam decides to quickly marry the man, Paul, in Los Vegas.

Mike wants Bijan to be his informant, to tell him more about Pam and Paul’s marriage and get him information about black, Jewish and gay students at UCLA. If Bijan provides this information, CAC members will “take care of” these undesirable people. But Bijan doesn’t agree with Mike’s views at all, tries to avoid him and refuses to cooperate in any way with his request.

When Bijan gets high marks on his fourth semester exams, Nancy decides to plan a great party for him. She wants to forget the sad days of the past and have fun with all of their friends. They will also celebrate Pam’s birthday that evening, and thus the couple invite over fifty guests to their party. Bijan has his own surprise for Nancy—a diamond engagement ring and a marriage proposal. The party starts out fabulously, and everybody is having a wonderful time. In rapid succession, however, misfortunes such as one could never even imagine in a nightmare strike.

Less than an hour after Nancy accepts Bijan’s marriage proposal, Mike unexpectedly appears, and he is completely drunk. To avoid a conflict with him, Nancy invites him to the party and asks him to take charge of the grill, a job he has performed in the past at family functions. As Mike douses the charcoal with gasoline and then throws a match in the grill, he sees Paul among the guests. He seizes the chance to settle up with him.

Mike insults Paul in a disgusting manner, and as the situation escalates, he suddenly takes his gun out of his car. Before the stunned guests can react, Mike shoots Paul and, by accident, the second bullet meant for Paul hits Nancy.

She lies in Bijan’s arms on the front lawn, bleeding profusely, and dies some hours later in the hospital. To stop Mike from shooting any other guests, Bijan’s friend Conrad hits Mike on the head. Drunk and battered, Mike wobbles back and forth and suddenly pushes against the flaming grill. The glowing charcoal slides out on the dry lawn and tips over an open canister. As gas flows out of the canister, the lawn catches fire and dancing flames race towards Peggy's house. Soon Peggy dies in the fiery inferno her home has become.

From Oriental Dreams to Tragedy in the West narrates a series of intertwined episodes in one novel. This intense story, sensitively written, makes the differences between East and West more understandable. Lurking in the background of the story is a portrait that foreshadows the fate of the protagonists.