A clashing of cultural values story centered around the ownership of a house. To begin with, it belongs to a youngish American woman who inherited it from her father, but she is a rather self- absorbed narcissist whose fantasy world does not include attending to trivial details. As a result, she ignores a tax lean against the property until it is confiscated by the county, and she is forcibly evicted. The property is then sold at auction. In the meantime, a disenfranchised Iranian family, forced to emigrate to America after the fall of the Shah, and struggling to make ends meet, bids and wins the property. They are decent people just trying to survive. They know nothing about the American or her problems. The father had been a high ranking officer under the Shah, but in America he was reduced to road work and clerking at a convenience store nights.
The ultimate tragedy results from the clash of cultural values. To the American, the Iranian is just a greedy opportunist that stole her property, even though she would have had no problem if she had just attended to the tax problem responsibly. To them, she brought the loss of her property on herself. They acquired it legally, and as a needed investment. In their world, survival and preparing a future for their son meant everything, where in her world, trying to get her house back was her only goal. The Iranian plays no games with his life or the welfare of his family. In contrast, the American is weak and superficial, employing dramatic and impulsive actions to get attention. Her life doesn't matter without the house. To the Iranian, his life doesn't matter without his son. In the bargain, a local law-enforcement officer gets involved, and by the time the fog clears, who owns the house no longer matters.
The ultimate tragedy results from the clash of cultural values. To the American, the Iranian is just a greedy opportunist that stole her property, even though she would have had no problem if she had just attended to the tax problem responsibly. To them, she brought the loss of her property on herself. They acquired it legally, and as a needed investment. In their world, survival and preparing a future for their son meant everything, where in her world, trying to get her house back was her only goal. The Iranian plays no games with his life or the welfare of his family. In contrast, the American is weak and superficial, employing dramatic and impulsive actions to get attention. Her life doesn't matter without the house. To the Iranian, his life doesn't matter without his son. In the bargain, a local law-enforcement officer gets involved, and by the time the fog clears, who owns the house no longer matters.