Persepolis By Marjane Satrapi: An Analysis

“Persepolis” is a story about a young girl growing up in Iran during the Iranian Revolution. She has a tough time accustoming to these new rules that have been set in place by their leader. Her parents were prominent activists against these new rules that were set in place. At a young age, Satrapi wanted to be a prophet, but women were not allowed to become a prophet. An example of this is in the illustration done on page twenty-six. She wanted to learn about the revolution and who lead the revolt against the leader of Iran and other revolutionists in different countries. She soon realized she no longer wanted to be a prophet

The book, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, was written by Marjane Satrapi; it is the story of her life in Iran from birth to fourteen years old. The perspective of Marjane, in her novel, affects the overall presentation of revolution, religion, and social classes. Consequently, with no background knowledge, we only have her perspective which affects our own opinion about the events of the book.

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.

Satrapi’s family background is very rich in history and in wealth. The ancestry that Satrapi knew and understood gave her a response of support for the 1979 Revolution. As time went on, however, her options began to change. Her heritage is told in little stories throughout the whole beginning half of the book. The first story Satrapi learns about that changes her option and viewpoint is the story about her great grandfather. This story is promoted with young Satrapi

“People say you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. Truth is, you knew what you had, you just never thought you’d lose it – Anonymous” (Quotes). Marjane Satrapi was born to a wealthy family and had parents who adored her. She seemed to have everything, and even as the war raged on, her family still managed to have something more than the next family. In spite of their good fortune, the war was taking a toll on the family and it was decided that Marjane would be sent to Austria. Thus leaving everything Marjane loved behind, leaving her to fend in the darkness of the unknown. In Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, Marjane starts off as a rebel, though naïve at the same time, to an attentive but scared girl in order to show how the war has triggered Marjane's reality to crash down, clarifying the world around her.

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.

By allowing the reader to form their own perspective it “makes the reader reconsider the assumptions…[of the] so-called other” by giving the reader the freedom to perceive the events of the revolution as they wish and not reconsider the way that they once understood the people of the east to be (Darda 34). Satrapi is using her experience and graphic novels to show what her experience as a child was, she does not claim at any point to be telling the entire story of the revolution she is merely introducing a new perspective which up until that point had not been seen in the western countries.

For Satrapi, the Islamic faith was a source of comfort for her when she was a child. In fact, she was so enraptured by her faith that she told her school teacher she wanted to be a prophet when she grew up (Persepolis, 2003, pg. 8). However, this sentiment quickly changes when her uncle Anoosh is executed as a result of the Iranian revolution. She confronts God and shouts “Shut up you! Get out of my life! I never want to

From the beginning of the novel, Satrapi conveys the predominant theme of oppression. She initially does this through the use of the veil that the girls are forced to wear during the beginning of the Islamic revolution, throughout the 1980s. On page 3 of Persepolis, the novel begins with an illustration of Satrapi

The panel shows Marx on the left and God on the right both light against a dark background. The two men are facing each other with solemn faces that have long hair and beards covering their mouths and look very similar to each other in Marji’s mind. Satrapi grew up reading books on Marx and communism

In the graphic novel, Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi describes her experience growing up in Iran following the Islamic revolution. The attached scrap, titled “the veil,” illustrates Satrapi, age 10, in the year 1980, when the veil became mandatory. Satrapi illustrates that the Islamic Revolution forced certain beliefs, including the veil, onto children (and, contextually, on the rest of Iran) that they did not necessarily understand. In his essay, On Liberty, John Stuart Mill addresses the idea of freedom and the role of government in protecting that freedom. Furthermore, he expresses the importance of doubting and questioning social norms.

Persepolis was written by Marjane Satrapi and was published in 2004. Marjane wrote this book to tell the life that she was living and the difficulties she faced. Persepolis takes place at the same time as the Islamic Revolution. The Islamic Revolution is seen to be one of the most important events to take place in Iranian history. This is significant to know while reading the book because it shows how the revolution affected the people of Iran. The girls were forced to wear veils to school; boys and girls were separated from their schools, which caused the people of Iran to begin protesting against the Shah. They wanted a democracy and to overthrow the king. The protest became more dangerous everyday; people were being killed for standing up for what they believed in. One day while Marjane’s mother was protesting, her picture was taken and published in the newspaper. She was terrified, so she dyed her hair and wore dark sunglasses. She felt as if someone recognized her then they would try to kill her for being a demonstrator. The story is told from the eyes of a young, determined Satrapi. At first she believed that the Shah was a great leader because her teacher told her that he was chosen by God. However, her father informs her that he wasn’t chosen by God. She also learns that her grandfather was a prince and a prime minister who was imprisoned for behaving as a communist. At

Given that western clothes and icons were outlawed in conservative Iran, Marjane’s dressing up in jeans, denim jacket, and Nike shoes is an attempt to express her modern outlooks, Satrapi conveys the importance throughout the text reinforcing the conflict between Eastern values and Western values. In this scene, Satrapi embraces both cultures. She wears modern with a Michael Jackson button and Nike, and says ‘of course, my headscarf’. This displays Satrapi’s multiple personal identities: following middle eastern customs while sharing western values. A portrait image of Marjane is illustrated to show that she is proud of who she is and her posture and body language of her standing tall like she wants to show off her personality. But this doesn’t last long when she meets two guardians of the revolution that arrest women who are improperly arrested. When Marjane is caught, expressionism is used when Marjane is bawling her eyes out. The eyes look ghost-like representing the whole idea swapping personalities so that she could fit the government's likings. Marjane is not being able to fully express herself by wearing the clothes she wanted, doing her hair how she wanted, or listening to the music she wanted. From a young age is prevented Marjane from finding her identity and making her feel trapped. The revolution brought back Islamic ideals and customs, which were welcomed initially but soon became overbearing and restrictive and eventually totalitarian.

Marjane Satrapi’s memoir Persepolis is considered a “coming of age” story based on her experiences growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. This graphic novel explores the life she lead in Tehran which encompassed the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. Undergoing life with such a chaotic environment, it took Satrapi courage to act and live as her “authentic self” and explore what it meant to her to be authentic. Similar to Aristotle, May and Medinas Persepolis examines the concept of courage, through the view of innocence; through Satrapi’s childhood.

There are many elements that contribute to the effectiveness of a piece of writing. One element in particular that adds to how effective a piece of writing can be is point of view, which can determine what the reader knows and understands, and how the information given is interpreted. As a result, point of view contributes to character development and the emotional impact of a piece of writing. Marjane Satrapi utilizes the impact that point of view has in her graphic novel Persepolis. The story, which is written as a memoir, includes Marjane herself in the images, which makes the text seem to be told from more of a limited third person point of view, while the narration of the story is told in the first person. By including herself in the