To understand and obey any law forcing individuals to change their way of life causes resistance. In the graphic novel Persepolis, although she effectively remembers those who suffered, Marjane Satrapi excels in showing Iranians as very ordinary but interesting people. Satrapi illustrates their normalcy through everyday activities and responses to their situation. Although Persepolis is a graphic novel, it portrays issues of politics through the innocence of a child. Satrapi acknowledges those who were forced to leave their homes, as well as, remembering loved ones who have died and suffered. Many were forced to leave Iran and flee their homeland as it was becoming too dangerous. Siamak Jari’s family flees as Satrapi explains, “later
Furthermore, the ability for Satrapi to show her growth throughout her writing was also a factor in Persepolis. As the book continues to talk about the changes in Iran during the revolution socially and politically; Satrapi starts to understand the changes and loses her childhood innocence. This is accentuated by the fleeing comedy introduced in earlier chapters, as well as a more literal representation where Satrapi smokes a cigarette and says "now I was a grown-up" (117). Lastly, regarding the content of the text was the amount of corruption and propaganda used by the Iranian government. Many people believed the propaganda spread by the government which targeted young boys to use as soldiers for the war (101,102) which was shocking since they were sending children to die. During war it would be assumed a nation should be united but along with false propaganda was corruption of officials. Examples of this corruption were the underqualified doctor (121) and the soldier who was stopped them, but was payed off (108). All the examples touch on how the war and revolution had a stronger impact on the citizens of Iran than previously thought and surprises most
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 history of Iran, it has been a great public figure of turmoil. The title of the novel, Persepolis, which is translated to, “the City of Persians”, is important because it was the original capital of Persia (part of the Iranian Empire), and fell to destruction. I believe Satrapi is trying to compare the
The book, The Complete Persepolis is a book that was written by Marjane Satrapi and is a 341-page comic book that is a memoir of Satrapi’s childhood and of her growing up during the Islamic Revolution. It was a time period that was very devastating for families, because so many families were ruined with all the violence going on. Constantly, where Marjane lived, was being bombed over and over, which created an environment so devastating that all the people could only focus on one thing and that is survival. Marjane was put in a tough spot, unlike most kids her age because of instead of her family moving out of Iran for safety, it was her that had to move for her safety. Not only does it affect her but it affects her family with the idea of
The graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is a political and personal account of a young girl’s growth to maturity. The novel serves as an autobiography of the author’s childhood in Tehren, Iran. It describes what it was like to grow up during the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the end of the Shah’s regime, and the war with Iraq. One of the most prominent themes in the novel is the clash between modernity and fundamentalism. The reader can observe this conflict through Iran's internal oppositions, the Satrapi’s modernity, and Marji’s western soci-political beliefs. This aspect of the novel is important because it shows the ideological diversity within Iran and the consequences faced by those in the opposition.
In The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, the genre choice of the graphic novel vividly portrays the life-experience that Satrapi herself gone through as a youth growing up in Iran back in the 1980s. Satrapi utilizes a unique drawing style to emphasize the influence that the Islamic Republic has brought to her. The recurring action of teachers implanting Islamic values in children throughout Marjane’s education in Iran is demonstrated through a set of related images, which implicitly reflect on the destruction of childhood that is caused by a totalitarian regime. For instance, the teachers force the girls to wear veils on page1 and tells the parents that “either [girls] obey the law, or [they are] expelled” (Satrapi, 98) later on. Also, the background of these images takes place where Iran is involved in both revolution and war; it contributes to children’ miserable situation even more.
In The Complete Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, she provides a detailed account of what it was like to live amidst the Islamic revolution. She does so by depicting her life through a series of comic strips, which allows the reader to gain a better understanding of expressions and emotions of the characters throughout the story. In this unique coming of age story, Marji constantly struggles with the pressure to conform to cultural norms, most notably in the three different schools she attends: her elementary school in Tehran, her high school in Vienna, and at the university in Tehran.
(Satrapi, 2003: 126) This brings another dimension to the relationship between Marji and her readers. Writing the novel in graphic form brings the Middle Eastern graphic novel closer to its Western neighbours because it is in a medium that is recognizable in the West. In addition, Satrapi’s depiction of Muslim leaders as "uneducated, primitive, and narrow-minded brutes" strengthens her connection with her Western readers whose perception of Muslim extremists might indeed be quite similar to the one crafted in the autobiography. (Constantino, 2008: 4) The novel Persepolis is effective because it was written to please a specific type of community. It uses language and cultural barriers in the illustrations and text to further separate the reader from the antagonists.
The graphic novel Persepolis, written by Marjane Satrapi, explores the Islamic life and cultures during the Islamic Revolution in Iran. In this novel, Satrapi narrates her life as a young girl when this revolution took place. By narrating her life, Marjane Satrapi allows the reader to get an idea of what she went through. This story includes people fighting for freedom, for themselves individually and for their country. While some people do experience a small bit of freedom, there are people who do not have any freedom at all. This novel explores many forms of captivity and freedom that help enhance the theme and culture of the story.
The Complete Persepolis paints a descriptive and complex picture of Iranian society and its transition from a progressive and Westernized state to a new fundamentalist regime following the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The graphic novel cleverly uses a blend of images and text to tell her story from different perspectives throughout her life, exemplifying and questioning the ideologies accompanying the revolution. Specifically, Satrapi focuses on the role of the veil to challenge the new regime and its ideals of feminine oppression. Throughout the novel, Marjane Satrapi attempts to navigate through the abrupt shift of culture in her world, strategically utilizing different perspectives of the veil as both a young girl and an adult woman to do so. Readers follow Satrapi’s journey with her veil, from her initial conformation to her eventual rebellion and freedom.
Persepolis is a graphic novel written by Marjane Satrapi. The novel is Satrapi’s memoir about growing in Iran during the Islamic Revolution and the second Iran and Iraq war. She tells us the struggles of being a female in Iran. Satrapi shows us her life within the pages of this novel to show us who she really is, where she really comes from, and what her country is really like. She corrects the misconceptions and stereotypes made about her culture from the western world.
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.
The novel “Persepolis” shows many life changes during the Islamic Revolution told through the eyes of a young girl. “Persepolis” was based on Satrapi’s childhood experience in Iran. Throughout the span of the 1970’s to the early 1980’s, Satrapi experiences many changes in her life, not only with the government, or her education, but also with herself. Although she witnessed many violent acts right in front of her eyes, these experiences helped Marji (Satrapi) grow as a young child.
Taking place in the late 1970’s, Marjane Satrapi’s “Persepolis” exemplifies a profound illustration of the county of Iran, including aspects of its people and political structure. Unlike a conventional composed novel, the story of Persepolis is expressed through both textual and visual representation; otherwise known as a graphic novel. Through the experiences of the ten-year old character Marjane, the reader is exposed to historical events, movements, crises, and motives that occurred within Iran. Furthermore, the novel has gained much praise in its portrayal of emotions that occurred through the people of Iran. Although there has been tremendous support of the account of Marjane, there have been a few critics of the novel, attacking its overall literary value. For instance, New York’s Ithaca College student paper called The Ithacan, slammed the role Persepolis had on the literary society. In fact, they went as far to say that the novel “...is worth broaching but its literary value, in terms of building vocabulary and furthering comprehension, falls short.” An absurd statement, to say the least. Not only is Persepolis of literary value, it is a glimpse into the past. It allows the reader to understand the various conflicts that the people of Iran were facing. Through the account of Marjane, the audience is exposed to elements of Iranian history, gender roles, religion, and political fluctuation.
In the graphic novel Persepolis, written by Marjane Satrapi, the author tells her personal life story of growing up in Iran during the breakout of the Iraq and Iran War. Her use of black and white comic strips makes her story come to life in an entertaining and attention-grabbing way. Marjane growing up can be examined by using Erik Erikson’s theory of the eight stages of life. Persepolis shows how a young girl can overcome and turn into a woman that has self-love and finds who she is meant to be in life.