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How Does Satrapi Use Symbols In Persepolis

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Symbolism is the use of words to give a deeper, symbolic meaning rather than in a literal sense. Author, Marjane Satrapi, uses many aspects of symbolism in her graphic novel, Persepolis: Story of a Murderer. Symbolism is a common literary device that brings out a deeper meaning to the story and sometimes, the reader might even develop a new appreciation for the novel itself. In the introduction of the novel, the Islamic Revolution was at its very beginning and many changes were being made by the new regime. One of these changes included “Sharia Law”. There were many aspects of this law but one in particular enforced women of all ages to wear a hijab over their head and clothing that covered them from head to toe. In the early 1980’s of Iran, …show more content…

Some friends of the Satrapi family suffered through a tragic event and lost their home and the only items they were able to salvage were a few pieces of jewelry. “Look at this! That’s all I could save” (Satrapi 94). These small jewels had the ability to help the family start all over again and buy a new house. The jewels symbolized wealth and being able to find the good in all of the bad. Another object in the novel that represented some of the same values existed, as well as the jewels. This item was a small swan made out of bread. Swans are usually associated with love, and most often represent beauty and grace. Satrapi’s Uncle Anoosh states “Here, take this swan I made in prison. Out of bread” (Satrapi 65). When he was released, Anoosh returned to his family and gave the bread swan to Satrapi. He created this little piece of art while he served his time in jail. The swan represented the ways that people can find something good even when they are surrounded with so much bad. Anoosh was able to maintain his humanity through all of the horrible events that he had been put through and create a treasure that his niece could possibly keep forever. A neighbor of the family visited Satrapi’s home one afternoon. The mother brought a small plastic key painted gold. She states, “They gave this to my son today at school. They told the boys that if they went to war and were lucky enough to die, this key would get them into heaven” …show more content…

Because the protagonist was a child, the story is told from an immature point of view. Therefore, leaders and people of authority were often considered mean or evil. These people scared Satrapi because she did not know enough about everything that was going on in the revolution, although she thought she knew everything. Satrapi thought the authority of Iran was mean because she blamed them for the death of the martyrs of the Revolution and she believed that they were at fault for placing her Uncle Anoosh in jail and killing

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