Persepolis Character Analysis

Throughout Persepolis, Marji chooses to do many things that aren’t very logical, although in her own eyes, she thinks otherwise. This  reflects onto her personality, and shows how she has the tendency to rebel. From the beginning of the book to the very end, Marji has a very rebellious nature, and there are a variety of sources that she could’ve gotten this trait from.  Due to Marji’s rebellious nature, she makes a variety of illogical choices, involving religion, appearance, and her aptitude to always focus on herself.

Marji was just a small child when she began rebelling. Throughout Persepolis Marji makes quite a few questionable decisions in her attempt to rebel. Although what she does may seem unnecessary, her decisions make sense to her considering the circumstances. She rebelled very frequently, but she eventually realized that she needed to change for the better. The rebellious choices she made throughout her early life caused her to be ashamed of herself, so she decided to be a more compassionate and kind person.

Marji asked her parents if she could go, but they declined every time;however, Marji still snuck out and went. Marji and her maid Mehri proceed on with their plans and go. When they arrive, Marji sees first-hand how people are really being treated, and she does not like it. A little while after the demonstration, Marji decides she is going to wear her new jean jacket and new nike shoes. She gets caught and makes up a lie so she will not get into too much trouble. She wanted to express herself a little bit, and show her own style. She comprehends now that she cannot wear what she wants, and she becomes angry and disappointed. Marji is tired of having to be who someone else wants her to be, and always having someone holding her back. Because of everything going on, Marji starts to do everything her parents ask her to, and she starts rebelling. Marji’s school teacher started being rude, so Marji decided she had enough and stands up for herself. She accidently hits the teacher and gets herself expelled. This promotes a big change in Marji, because she seems as if she really does not care. The final event that changes Marji is the bombing in her neighborhood. She thought her house was her safe place, but the bomb was an eye opener to her that she really was not safe anywhere. Some of the events that change Marji are: Uncle Anoosh’s death, the demonstration, the Nike shoes, getting expelled, and the bomb going off.

The fight for justice is not always unequivocal or favorable, sometimes justice is given by means that do not seem fair at all. William Styron says in a novel that life “is a search for justice.” It is blatant that throughout Khaled Hosseini's novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, female characters are continuously battered with injustices. Hosseini hones into the oppression of women and the fight for women empowerment through the life of one of his main characters, Mariam. Her journey is shown throughout the novel where she struggles to search for and understand justice.

Taji says this because she also believes strongly in what she has taught her daughter and to her, Ramin is too young to fully understand the meaning behind his words. Although she criticizes Ramin’s parents for this, she does the same thing with Marji. Marji’s opinions on the revolution are shaped by the stories her father tells, what her teachers tell her in class, and what she hears from her friends. As Marji grows and gains her own experience and knowledge about the world, she is able to use it to form her own opinions about the Iranian Revolution. However, as a child, she is too young and inexperienced to form a well-thought opinion.

“Although I sometimes enjoy writing from an adult's perspective, I feel dedicated to the coming of age story - that part of a young person's life where he must make a decision that will change his life forever. I still remember what it is like to be twelve years old.” This quote by Kimberly Willis Holt mirrors the main idea of the novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi as Marjane, the main character of the novel, has to make decisions that change her life forever. While Marjane’s world rapidly changes around her, she has to decide whether she should conform to the ideas of the revolution in Iran or whether she should stay true to herself and develop as a woman. Ultimately, Marjane chooses to follow her beliefs, which allows her to mature and move

For example on page 143 and 144, she starts to develop a rebellious personality after seeing the death of Neda Baba-Levy which made her not afraid of anything anymore. No matter how many times the principle yells at her, she still refuses to take the bracelet off and end up hitting the principal and getting expelled from the school. Then, even after her mom sent her to a new school, she still expose the truth out loud and disagrees with what the teacher is informing the students. These events shows how Marjane really became a rebel like she said and a bolder teenager who wants to have her own freedom. As the fourteen year-old Marjane slowly becoming a more serious rebel, Marjane’s parents made a few important decisions. First, they decided to tell Marjane about the other side of the society that she didn’t knew about. On pages 145-146, Marjane’s parents informed her about how the regimes treats the young girls that they arrest and prove to her that it was what happened to Niloufar. Although Marjane’s parents told her about the results that might occur if Marjane continues to act that way, her parents seems still doesn’t have the reassurance that they need. Therefore, they made another decision to send Marjane to Austria in order

Since she is a young child, Marji believes almost every word she hears. She does not question what is being asked of her, but only goes along with what is being told. Marji’s view on the government is positive at this point, she has no reason to believe otherwise as opposed to what her parents think. With time and research, Marji’s view does change.

(7). Her grandmother also buys her books to help educate her on what is going on in their country (28). Both of these actions display that her grandmother wants her to be educated and also wants Marji to do whatever she desires and teaches her that she truly can be whatever she wishes. Before Marji leaves to go to Austria, her grandmother tells her “always keep your dignity and be true to yourself” (150). This is something that continually goes through Marji’s mind as she begins to make mistakes, being true to herself is something Marji is constantly struggling for and becomes a major theme throughout the novel. In the end of the novel Marji learns how to be true to herself and her ambitions as she divorces Reza and moves to Paris, which was an action heavily based on the ethics and teachings of her grandmother.

and she says, “Sure, Sure! When it's all over.” Marji was not accepting her parents answers because she knew they didn’t want her to go. This is significant because Marji tried and tried asking her parents, but she was still to ignorant and young to understand what was going on in the demonstrations. So Marji continued to be ignorant, though her parents tried

The Satrapi family were really good people who always did what they supposed to do if they knew that it was the right thing to do. They believed that you should have the liberty to make your own decisions, which is why Marjane was so independent, brave, rebellious, generous, understanding. Marjane believed that you should always do what is right because every one is considered equal. Well even though Marji was taught that by her parents she soon learned that not everyone is considered equal according to what socio-economic class that they were a part of. When Marjane's family maid fell in love with the teenage boy next door, she did not see anything wrong with them both wanting to be together and get married. It's only when Marjane's parents found out about the maid's relationship that it was soon ended because her father told the young man that she was their

Over the following four years, Marji learned of how her grandparents were left poor because of the Shah, the leader of the Iranian government. Shah was well known for robing men and women of everything they had worked for and leaving them with nothing. Nevertheless, Marji was schooled on the different levels of society in Iran, which left her to consider her family as rich because her Dad drove a Cadillac. Despite being a child, Marji accused her dad of being anti-social towards a class that could not read and write. To clarify Marji helped out a friend with the writing of some love letters. Mehi was the family maid that could not read or write. Mehi fell in love with the boy

Her conversations with god and want to be a prophet is a feature of her childhood that gives her character dimension, the movie doesn’t explain this very well and her conversations with god as a child are cut. Another series of important events in Marji’s childhood is her relationship with Mehri. Not only is this important because it shows Marji’s growth and surroundings but it also points out some of the flaws in the class conflict occurring in Iran at the time. Mehri was given to Marji’s parents by her own parents because they couldn’t afford to take care of their many kids. Mehri helped take care of Marji and was, in a sense, like her old sister.

Marji mom is giving her advice in this panel. It is important that Marji receive this information because she has been bullying a classmate for the actions his dad decided to take. Now that Marji is old enough to understand her mom feels it’s time to explain the wrongness in her actions. It’s not right for her to punish the boy for what his father did, it was he who did it. Since Marji is older she can understand and gain perspective. She acknowledge her wrong doing and apologizes to the guy, which was the right thing for her to do.

Throughout the entirety of the novel, Marjane Satrapi’s growth as a person seems to be a highlight that is almost as intriguing to track as the plot itself. Her loss of innocence and personal change can be linked to growing up within an environment of unrest and struggle. In regards to this idea, the character of Marjane Satrapi symbolizes a coming of age theme. Her relationships with surrounding characters, and experiences throughout her life heavily influence her perception and who she grows up to be.