The novel Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (Persepolis) by Marjane Satrapi is the account of Marjane Satrapi’s life growing up in Tehran, Iran. Satrapi opens readers’ eyes to a childhood that has been warped by war and devastation. Young Satrapi experiences many unpleasant things as a child during the Revolution. She hears stories about how children were recruited to be in the front line during battles and how her friends’ fathers were captured and tortured to death. To experience all of this chaos in one’s childhood is mentally exhausting and draining. In the book, it is evident that there are some aspects of the revolution that don’t make sense to Satrapi. She is born into a world where she is not quite sure what is happening around her, …show more content…
Throughout the story, she does things the same as people all over the world do. She goes to school, hangs with her friends, and even smokes her first cigarette. The reader sees how Satrapi’s family feels about the regime and when multiple families and friends come to either seek protection or condolences, the reader is enlightened to the effects the war is having on other ordinary citizens. On pages 52 and 53 of Persepolis, Marjane becomes sad and embarrassed that her father is not a war hero. She uses this to stimulate new ideas for games. As she proceeds, she begins to understand the intense and diabolical feeling of power, but it doesn’t last long. The fact that young Satrapi feels so overwhelmed shows the reader the emotional effect that these experiences have on the children. She has trouble understanding why people do what they do and how a moral person should go about treating these people. When her mother consoles her and tells her that the bad people will pay for what they’ve done, Satrapi expresses her understanding that one should forgive people for the things they do. Her mother responds with “Bad people are dangerous but forgiving them is too. Don’t worry, there is justice on earth” (Satrapi, …show more content…
Young Satrapi finds comfort in her friend, God. In the beginning of the novel, Satrapi insists that she is undoubtedly religious and that she is going to be a Prophet. Her own ideas about herself confuse her though, because her parents are Western and modern. When destruction and conflict pollute her childhood and she is struggling to understand what is happening in her world, she goes to God to find the answers. This choice to integrate God into the book allows readers to empathize with the victims of the violence during the revolution because often times when people go through horrific tragedies, they turn to their faith to help them cope. According to an associate professor at the Graduate School of Psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary, Alexis D. Abernathy, “those who rely on religion in an excessive way might become more vulnerable to higher levels of depression because they might neglect other coping strategies or might already be dealing with depression.” (Dittmann). In Persepolis, young Satrapi insists on participating in a demonstration, but when her parents shut down her absurd idea, she reaches out to God who does not come to her. The visual depicting this moment is Satrapi lying in her bed with tears streaming down her
result of not only her childhood as outlined in Persepolis, but also the experiences Marjane Satrapi underwent with regards to Western media during her time in Vienna, she is able to convey the humanization of the Iranian people. Upon being ostracized, engaging in self-struggle, and constantly having inner turmoil with identity as a result of the trauma of the suppression left on her by the policies of the Islamic Revolution, Satrapi emerged with Persepolis; an embodiment of not only her past and struggles
In the graphic novel “Persepolis”, Marjane Satrapi tells an autobiographical story of growing up in both revolutionary Iran and Austria. As in all coming-of-age stories, the protagonist is faced with challenges which force them to grow up, all the while struggling to find their identity. Satrapi’s story however, is complicated by the drastically contrasting and changing cultures around her and thus her character’s search of identity is not only confined to the typical pains of adolescence, but also
Unbeknownst to some people, a graphic novel can be a very powerful vehicle for communicating a message of great seriousness and importance. In France in 2003, the Iranian-born writer and illustrator, Marjane Satrapi, published her internationally acclaimed autobiographical comic, “Persepolis.” The novel chronicles her childhood in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that were overshadowed by the displacement of the Shah’s regime, the Islamic Revolution, and war with Iraq. The French contemporary
“Persepolis” By Marjane Satrapi is a book that resonates huge moral beliefs and values to me. Here we have a girl that is growing up on the middle of the pre and post revolution. This is the time where the is a growing tension between political climax, liberals, are now being detained, prosecuted, and punished at extreme measures so the government can prove their hierarchy. Marj is very big on politics as her parents are, so it isn’t a surprise that Marj felt the need to stand up for her own belief
Writers use characters to represent their alienation from their cultural and social values. This is seen in Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi who talks about her story of growing up in Iran during revolutions and war time. In the novel, it’s clearly seen that Marji doesn’t belong to the society she lives in. In the first chapter, ‘’The Veil’’, we can clearly notice with the first two panels that she is different. In a class photo, she is sitting on the far left and we can’t see her. This photo can be
Persepolis, is a biographical visual novel written by an Iranian woman who decided to tell her story of growing up during a war that was tearing the social structures of her country apart. The author Marjane Satrapi, gives the reader interesting commentary on how the government of Iran has brainwashed her peers, starting as early as elementary school, into becoming a sexist, manipulable, and religiously misguided generation. As told by Satrapi, for the first few years of her childhood, the citizens
and then compare it to the symbolic meaning that could be interpreted from the text. Symbolism displayed throughout the novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi portrays different views of the novel; historical, childlike views. The novel takes place in Iran during the 1980’s which marked the beginning of political and religious confusion throughout the country. Marjane Satrapi lives with a family who supports revolutionaries and attends political protests where she obtains knowledge about the world and
The memoir, in graphic novel format, Persepolis, written by Marjane Satrapi, describes and summarizes her progression from childhood to her adolescent years of life as a character named Marji. The author successfully accomplish explaining the important aspects of her life with the help of graphic images that summarizes the climaxes of her childhood. Her belief that her country’s government was disrupted and practically useless, in a sense that they do nothing to help or to better their country
Throughout The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi the idea of inequality is introduced through several examples. Marjane Satrapi uses the title to comment on inequality in all aspects of Marjane’s life, including gender, religious, economic, and racial status. Although there are several forms of inequality that the title attempts to highlight within the story, it focuses primarily on the issues of gender inequality by comparing the issues that Marjane faces due to her gender and comparing it
Persepolis is an autobiography of Marjane Satrapi’s childhood in her native Iran. She writes about being a child in Iran through the Iranian revolution and the Iran-Iraq war. As Satrapi recounts stories of her youth, one can observe that the Iran-Iraq war and the Iranian revolution are the central events driving the entire story. When the revolution and war happens, the dynamics of the book change completely. War creates a sense of unity and nationalism. Marjane shows a large contrast between her
Growing Up Satrapi It is hard to tell the story of a “typical” youth and it is hard to write a story that relates to experiences in everyone’s lives, but this is exactly what Marjane Satrapi accomplished in her memoir. Persepolis is the story of a child’s growth from preteen to adult. The specific challenges that Satrapi faces are unique to her situation, but we can ask whether they accurately portray the psychological development that children go through. Do her reactions to situations resemble
Persepolis is a graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi, this graphic novel was based on the eyes of a Ten year old that experiences all types of emotions before and after the Islamic revolution, the oppression from the leaders. This novel gives us a brief on the history of Iran and their leaders, to the Embassy being taken over, via how they weren’t allowed to party. They also experience prohibition just like the United States in the 1920-1933 and like many countries they didn’t have any freedom. In the
hardship of growing up in an environment where one feels choked out of one’s own skin is prevalent in the graphic novel, Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi. Persepolis is an autobiographical graphic novel depicting Marjane’s life from the time she was a child up to her early adult years in Iran
The Iranian author of Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi, narrates a Bildungsroman showing her growth and development in Iran, as well as a memoir, showing the historical events in Iran. She discusses historical events like the Islamic revolution in 1979, which made it compulsory for the Iranian females to wear veils. Satrapi’s life story is mainly set in Iran, where she shows readers the strict, controlling and oppressive government the Iranians live under as well as the importance of clothing and body
Persepolis Research – Marjane Satrapi Notations: 1. Satrapi was born in Tehran, Iran (the nation’s capital) in the year 1969. The time in which Satrapi was born is critical to the events in her life due to the political turmoil that was occurring in her country. In 1979, at the age of 10, Satrapi witness firsthand the persecution and horrific consequences of the Islamic Revolution. The Islamic Revolution occurred due to the growing opposition lead by Ayatollah Khomeini against Mohammad Reza Shah