Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis Essay

Adolescence is an age where children began to find themselves or, in some cases, lose themselves, an idea clearly developed by Satrapi in her graphic novel “Persepolis”. Satrapi explores the challenges and difficulties experienced by a sheltered and naive girl during the tumultuous and uncertain years of the Iranian revolution and attempts to solve the oppression she witnesses by the Islamicist government. This is important to the whole text as it identifies the religious conservatism and Islamisation of the state causes distress and confusion in Marjane who consequently had to redefine herself, given that her freedom and personal liberties were denied them in schools, public places, and even her own home.

As American singer-song writer Duncan Sheik once said, “It’s inevitable your environment will influence what you do.” It is not a secret that the environment a person grows up in helps shape their views of the world and how he or she perceives different issues. The United State of America are known as the melting pot. We have many cultures and races all living within the same cities working together peacefully for the most part. To outsiders America is the place to come to achieve the “American Dream”, and it is the place where fresh starts, entrepreneurship, and individualism are highly encouraged. There are freedoms in American that many other people across the world are not as lucky to have.

Throughout the Iranian Revolution, many events and changes took place that largely affected the views of Iranians by other nations. The graphic novel, The Complete Persepolis, written by Marjane Satrapi (Satrapi, 2003), conveys many of these events and changes through the eyes of a child growing up in the 1980s in Iran. Satrapi’s main purpose for this book is to describe how the Iranian government was corrupt, causing foreign nations to have a tainted view of all Iranian citizens. The Complete Persepolis does so by presenting major events and changes in a manner that is directed towards audiences that are willing to have an open mind about ethnicity and false stereotypes, and an audience that is young and can relate to the “coming of age” aspect of this novel. By exhibiting a credible first hand account of how Satrapi and many others were affected by the events that took place during the Iranian Revolution, The Complete Persepolis can effectively persuade a reader to eliminate the “Islamic extremist” stereotype that the corrupt Islamic Republic gave all Iranian citizens.

At least once in your life, you will encounter someone with a different opinion than you. You will hit a wall with ideas. Someone will voice their opinion against what you believe, and it will hurt. Everyone can remember an experience where they felt this, and everyone knows how it feels when your opinion is rejected.

Samuel P. Huntington once said, “In the emerging world of ethnic conflict and civilizational clash, Western belief in the universality of Western culture suffers three problems: it is false; it is immoral; and it is dangerous.” Two contrasting beliefs have a tendency to cause conflicts. When groups of people have opposing views, dangerous confrontations will occur to see which view is dominant. The Islamic Revolution was blood ridden, violent, and incessant; the conservative sect of the population, which viewed religion as the proper and only reasonable way for society to operate, and the more liberal side of the population, which had far more westernized views clashed with each other. In Marjane’s Strapi’s graphic novel Persepolis, the

Persepolis is a book about new experiences written using styles and pictures that most people are not accustomed to. I believe this book being structurally similar to a graphic novel helps convey the emotions that words cannot always express. The images from this book have been the most compelling part of the novel. The author, as we learned during the last couple of chapters in Persepolis 2, is an artist. Therefore, the pictures in the book are Marjane Satrapi’s best way of communication with the reader. The actual writing is exceptional, but most of the writing are quotes from people or the thoughts of Satrapi. It is reasonable to suggest that the words compliment the images and are not entirely necessary. Several frames in Persepolis 2

Marjane Satrapi’s early experiences have helped to form a unique perspective acknowledged throughout Persepolis. Throughout the novel, Satrapi uses graphic images to allow her readers to visualize various dramatic events that she (once) witnessed. Informal diction and simple graphics force her audience to perceive Persepolis from the same child-like perspective the author (once) had. More so, special attention is drawn to contrasting colors as a symbol of (internal) conflict. The clash between black and white graphics represents a much deeper meaning regarding Satrapi’s faith and understanding. Such a symbol of conflict enables the readers to empathize

Amazing, intriguing, and unimaginable are just a few words to describe how I felt about Persepolis while I read this true life story of Marjane Satrapi. This book has helped me to see all the life struggles, good times, and adversities that Marji faced between the ages of nine to thirteen. The Islamic Revolution had such a daunting effect in the Middle East, especially in the county of Iran where Marji and her family resided.

Western culture has often misperceived the east and the way that their society functions. In Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, Satrapi uses graphic novels as a way to demonstrate to the western culture how the east has been misrepresented. The use of media helps to depict to the west how their views of the east may have been unfairly formed in the past. The media has only revealed limited knowledge that only shows partial perspectives because it is difficult to get perspectives of the minorities although they are the ones who hold the most truth. In other words the use of graphic novels and a child’s perspective give the west a new idea on how it is that society in the east functions. This style of writing brings the connection between the two

Generally texts create a fine line between freedom and captivity, but Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi distinguishes itself by avoiding this cliche. Freedom often represents positive connotation while captivity implies a negative response. Within Persepolis freedom and captivity run dangerously close, showing the true emotional turmoil of a torn country. taking place during the Iranian Revolution, Persepolis explores both perspectives and sheds light on why freedom and captivity cannot exist independently. Through religious reform, war, and familial turmoil Persepolis gives the reader an opportunity to experience these gruesome events and how they define captivity and freedom in modern Iran.

Perspective is very important when one is describing an event or a time period. Perspective is based on many different things such as one’s religious views, background, and personal experiences. The graphic novel, Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, is a story told from Marjane's perspective about what is was like growing up in Iran during the Iranian Revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini’s regime, and the Iran-Iraq War. Perspective in Persepolis can be shown through five different themes; revolution, imperialism, nationalism, religion, and social classes. Revolution can be defined as “an overthrow or repudiation and the thorough replacement of an established government or political system by the people governed,” (Dictionary).

In the 1970's a great power struggle began in Iran, leading to a profusion of civil unrest

Satrapi’s graphic memoir, Persepolis focuses hugely on the loss of innocence of Marjane, which she illustrates by using several techniques such as the sizes of figures and the contrast of shades, as well as the of details, or lack thereof she includes in her drawings.

When we think about Iran, numerous people often associate the country with nothing but negativity. The main reason people feel this way about Iran is because Iran has had a long history of violent tension with countries like our own. We tend to generalize that all of Iran is evil because of what the media tells us. We will rarely listen or read something that the media puts out that portrays a positive image of any Iran citizen. The truth is that there are many citizens of Iran that could be similar to us, and are not the villains the media shows.

In her autobiographical comic Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi, within the first five pages of the book, tells the reader that she was born with religion. She immediately explains (in regards to the Islamic practice of veiling) that “I really didn’t know what to think about the veil. Deep down I was very religious but as a family we were very modern and avant-garde” (Persepolis, 2003, pg. 6). For western feminists, this ambivalence towards the veil has been a common topic of discourse. In secularized western countries, the veil is often viewed as a symbol of patriarchal oppression. In France (where Satrapi currently lives), for example, there have been numerous laws banning different forms of the veil (such as the burka and the niqab) with many critics, such as former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, arguing that they are “oppressive” and “not welcome” in France (“The Islamic veil across Europe,” 2014, pg. 1). This is the western view of the veil, but what do Muslim women think of the veil and the fundamentalist values that westerners often associate with it?