A Very Large Expanse of Sea

Shirin has no resentment toward her parents, who are “proud Iranian immigrants who worked hard, all day” (12). Having seen the horrors of war and revolution before settling in America, her parents do not sympathize with Shirin’s social conflicts. Consequently, she tells them little. After so many moves, memories of the few friends she made in other places painfully fade; now Shirin does not care to make more: “Anyway, I was usually on my own” (14). Three unremarkable weeks go by at the new “panopticon” (her derogatory word for the high school, suggesting she thinks everyone there is alike). One afternoon at home, preparing to watch a Matlock rerun (a 1990’s TV show with an older detective solving local crimes), she removes her headscarf. Navid arrives with several new friends: Carlos, Jacobi, and Bijan. Shirin flees upstairs to replace her headscarf. When she rejoins them, Navid invites Shirin to join the breakdancing club he wants to start. Breakin’, a 1980’s breakdancing movie, is one of Shirin’s favorites. She accepts, excited to have an activity to join. Navid plans to instruct the group himself.

In biology class, the teacher assigns Shirin and Ocean, the boy who knows she listens to music under her headscarf, as lab partners. Their first task is to skin a dead cat. They do not talk much, but Ocean asks Shirin about finishing their lab write-up after school. She tells him she cannot, and he assumes that her parents will not allow her out beyond school hours. Shirin pounces on him verbally: “Listen, I don’t know what you’ve already decided about what you think my life is like, but I’m not about to be sold off by my parents for a pile of goats, okay?” (24). She tells him she is busy after school with her breakdancing group and he can text her later. She also tells him too many texts will indebt him to marry her. Ocean fumbles his words, uncertain when Shirin is kidding.

Shirin respects Navid for starting the breakdancing club. She likes the power of girls who breakdance in competitions. At their first practice, she admits she does not know many skills, but Navid says “her uprock isn’t bad and she does a decent six-step” (27). These are introductory and basic moves; Shirin cannot do power moves, but Navid says he will teach her. Navid may be repaying her for tutoring him over the years as he struggled with dyslexia. Carlos, Bijan, and Jacobi have some experience with breakdancing already; Carlos questions Shirin’s ability to perform moves in her headscarf. Shirin tells him that is a ridiculous thing to think. He apologizes, and the boys laugh good-naturedly. Shirin practices simple moves; the others comment that her moves are adequate but “uninspired.” Navid tells Shirin she will learn the crab walk as her signature move, a high-level skill.

That night, Shirin ignores Ocean’s texts until after the obligatory family dinner; her parents insist on mealtime together each night and prepare multiple dishes to symbolize its importance. Her father reads up on pickling cucumbers, typical of his tendency to analyze new topics. He taught her to sew, fix a flat tire, and appreciate a hardware store. After dinner, Shirin responds to Ocean’s texts; they switch to chatting via America Online’s Instant Messenger because texting is expensive. Shirin erases her favorite songs from her AOL profile so Ocean cannot see them. Chatting with a boy from her bedroom is something she has never done. The conversation turns awkward when she tries to release him from being partners. He insists he wants to remain partners. They get to the homework, and Shirin senses the importance of their chat.

Navid comments the next morning on the tightness of Shirin’s jeans, which she bought for fifty cents in a thrift store and altered herself. His point is that sometimes her chosen clothing “doesn’t really match” (48), referring to her headscarf, which many associate with modesty. Shirin does not wear the headscarf in modesty, although she does not fault any Muslim woman for any reason to wear the scarf; in fact, she thinks women are beautiful no matter how they dress. Shirin chooses to wear the headscarf because she likes how she feels in it: “[…] it felt good, and because it made me feel less vulnerable in general, like I wore a kind of armor every day” (49). She knows, though, that many assume wrongly that she wears the headscarf for modesty, a very frustrating misunderstanding representative of bigger issues: “[…] people struggled to believe women in general” (49).

Ocean tries over the next several weeks to make small talk with Shirin. She is convinced any development of a relationship would be disastrous. Ocean asks her one day if she plans to attend Homecoming. She laughs and explains, “I don’t really do school stuff” (51). Later that day, Shirin finally accomplishes a new move with the crew, realizing that breakdancing is like martial arts. She sees Ocean watching her. They have a brief, awkward conversation which leaves her confused; he mentions he “spend[s] a lot of time in the gym” (54).

Shirin’s spends her days on school, breakdancing practice, and training. The history of breakdancing fascinates her; as it stemmed from hip-hop in the 1970s and spread across the country, urban gangs often used breakdancing battles instead of violence or fighting to decide territory. Ocean stops his small talk after he sees Shirin in the gym. She wonders if her assumption of him as an “extremely ordinary boy raised by extremely ordinary parents” (60) is correct. She knows they differ in race (Ocean is white) and religion, but Shirin also believes her upbringing is different from Ocean’s in other ways: no processed foods, no Christmas celebration, a more realistic and harsh instruction of historical events.

One day, Ocean asks about the bandage on Shirin’s hand. She says she cut herself sewing. Fashion interests Shirin; recently she began drawing graffiti-like patterns on her shoes and backpack that remind her of Persian calligraphy. Ocean stumbles over his words in mentioning he saw her shoes when he “stare[s]” at Shirin daily.