bexfiles's Book Journey

A lot of people are icked out by Arash pissing on Roya, but I think it's unfortunately an important part of the book.

There's a lot of general lamentation around Arash's mental state later in life; he had so much potential, he was fucked up by the Iraq-Iran war, he is a ghost of his former self, etc. What if that's the point? What if pissing on his sister is a glimpse into how he actually was before the war? What if he was already fucked up, and being forced into taking up the mantle of a false angel finally made him confront his sins a thousand times over?

It's a disproportionate punishment for a punitive transgression, but Roya was killed meaninglessly as well. Both siblings were murdered by forces beyond their control, and now that Cyrus is in that place of endless power, in America, and he has full control over his life in a way his parents did not (financially able, no threats to life), he feels he must make his mother into a martyr to make it all mean something. Cyrus is searching for his God.