Rooftops of Tehran

Ahmed is Pasha’s best friend. Ahmed, a 17-year-old boy, is tall and skinny with a brilliant smile and hazel eyes. He is an integral part of Pasha’s life, and the two of them often refer to each other as brothers. Unlike Pasha, who takes life very seriously, Ahmed loves to joke around and be mischievous. However, like Pasha, Ahmed is very loyal to his loved ones and is very courageous. At the beginning of the novel, he has a crush on Faheemeh, and her brothers beat him up for bravely declaring his love for her. However, this doesn’t stop the two of them from getting together and falling deeply in love. Eventually, they get engaged.

While Pasha is convalescing at the psychiatric hospital, Ahmed is arrested and tortured by the SAVAK. While Ahmed was always irreverent with authority figures, he becomes even more so after his time in prison. Talking back to oppressive authoritarian figures and taking a stand against them is Ahmed’s way of coping with his trauma and anger over losing Doctor and being imprisoned. His defiance allows him to hold onto his self-respect and sense of freedom.

Ahmed is an excellent friend and is always there to guide and support Pasha. He convinces Pasha to spend time with Zari to get to know her so that she may realize his deep love for her. Ahmed continually emphasizes that Pasha is not responsible for Doctor’s death when Pasha blames himself. He is also protective and saves Pasha from trouble whenever he can, including by helping Pasha avoid expulsion after Pasha assaults a teacher. The friendship between Pasha and Ahmed is a parallel to the friendship between Pasha’s father and Mr. Mehrbaan.

Ramin Sobhi, who is called Doctor by everyone in the neighborhood, is a political science major at the University of Tehran. Doctor is an archetypal character, occupying the roles of mentor and tragic hero in the novel. He is a kind, idealistic, and passionate young man who is deeply invested in the sociopolitical state of Iran. Doctor despises the Shah and the West, accusing both powers of colluding to destroy Iran’s democracy and to oppress the working- and middle-class people in the country. He speaks to Pasha frequently about Marx and other communist thinkers and philosophies, sharing books, ideas, and his dreams for the future of Iran. Doctor, who took Pasha under his wing, is a source of inspiration and knowledge for Pasha.

As a tragic hero, Doctor is unjustly killed for his revolutionary and idealistic activities and becomes an inspirational figure for all the youth in the neighborhood. Doctor’s execution encourages the people of the neighborhood to open their eyes to the cruelties of the Shah’s regime and to take a stand against the SAVAK. Pasha plants a rosebush in Doctor’s memory, and when Pasha in in the hospital, the neighborhood comes together to keep the rosebush healthy. Also, when Pasha visits Doctor’s grave, people from the neighborhood join him and each of them brings a red rose to lay on his grave, despite the SAVAK’s orders to not mourn Doctor. Therefore, Doctor becomes a figure who influences the community toward rebellion and sacrifice.

Doctor’s feelings for Zari are conflicting. On the one hand, he prioritizes his political ideals and activities above Zari; he, alongside other students, gets involved in communist political activities, which aren’t allowed under the Shah’s regime. As a result, he puts the whole neighborhood at risk, especially Zari, who is his betrothed. On the other hand, he tells Pasha that he loves Zari and needs her in his life. However, although Zari admires Doctor, she does not love him like she loves Pasha.

Zari is Pasha’s neighbor and his love interest. Zari is slightly older than Pasha, loves to read, has distinctive blue eyes, and is a romantic at heart. Like Pasha and Doctor, Zari also has conflicting desires and is stuck between her personal and political choices.

On the one hand, Zari loves Pasha and wants a future with him. At the end of the novel, she mentions that she took Pasha with her on the day of the Shah’s birthday because she hoped that having him near her would convince her to not self-immolate. She tells him: “I was hoping that your being there would change my mind. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, darling” (339).

On the other hand, Zari is also passionate about making a political statement. She is angry about how Doctor was unjustly executed by the Shah’s regime and about the fact that his loved ones were not allowed to mourn him after his death. Zari says: “Someone had to make a statement, in public, loudly and defiantly. Doctor used to say that the regime doesn’t understand that killing people doesn’t scare the activists and that death is a small price to pay for freedom” (341). Therefore, despite loving Pasha and her family, Zari decides to make a political statement by self-immolating and throwing herself at the Shah’s car. With this action, she puts herself in grave danger and compromises her loved ones’ safety. Like Pasha, Ahmed, and Doctor, Zari also stands against oppression, compromising herself for the sake of the greater good.

Zari feels conflicted about her love for Pasha. The conflict arises because she is engaged to Doctor, whom she respects and admires. However, later in the novel, unbeknownst to Pasha, she becomes even more conflicted about her feelings since she intends to self-immolate on the Shah’s birthday. Zari worries that Pasha will be traumatized by her actions and attempts to distance herself from him, telling him, “You can’t plan your life around me. You have to go [to America]. I want you to. I want you away from this hellhole. You should stay in America forever” (210). However, he loves her deeply and is adamant about planning his life around Zari.

Faheemeh is Ahmed’s love interest and a loyal and courageous friend to Pasha and Zari. She also champions Pasha and Zari’s love. Faheemeh encourages Pasha to spend time with Zari and guides his understanding of Zari’s emotions. After Doctor’s death, Faheemeh updates Pasha about Zari’s health since Zari refuses to leave her house.

While Faheemeh was initially supposed to marry a man her parents chose for her, she is impressed by Ahmed’s courage in declaring his love for her and bravely tells her parents that she won’t marry her intended. Her steadfastness and stubbornness eventually forces her parents to accept Ahmed as her future husband, and the two become engaged toward the end of the novel.

Pasha’s father is a source of guidance and support for Pasha. He used to be a forest ranger and now manages an entire team of rangers. Pasha’s family is considered a middle-class family in Iran. Pasha’s father also used to be an ex-heavyweight boxing champion, and he teaches Ahmed and Pasha how to fight to defend themselves against bullies. In order to avoid bloodshed and to discourage Ahmed and Pasha from becoming bullies themselves, he also swears them into “the fraternity of athletes” (7), a code of conduct that Pasha and Ahmed must follow. Pasha’s father is a kind, supportive, and loving parent, who is empathetic toward Pasha’s pain. In many ways, Pasha’s father shares Pasha’s ideas and ideals. Like Pasha, who lost Doctor due to political activism, and almost lost Ahmed to imprisonment, Pasha’s father lost his best friend, Mr. Mehrbaan, due to political activism as well.