Personal Violence In Persepolis

Over the past few decades, the war changed everyone’s perspective. According to NCBI, 61% civilians suffer from psychological disorders caused by wars. Specifically, two books, Night and Persepolis, talks about the author experiences during the war and their struggles. Elie Wiesel, the author of Night, documents his childhood when he was maltreated by the Nazis, and Marjane Satrapi, author of Persepolis, share her experiences during the Iraq-Iran war of how it change her. War changes childhood because of near-death experiences, family departure, and witness horrific acts of violence.

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.

The conflict in Persepolis is shown through the changes that are caused between families, women and children when fundamentalist Islamic state takes over Iran. The story progresses though the main character, Marjane’s point of view and experience.

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.

Not only does Satrapi create environments similar to that in which we might have found ourselves in, she aides us in visualizing these scenes through the imagery of the actual events. She uses this strategy to accurately project her desired viewpoint of the Iranian society to her audiences. Marji recounts, “Thousands of kids, promised a better life, exploded on the minefields with their keys around their necks” (102). In the picture that follows, a clear picture is painted into the reader’s mind of the scenario as the children can be seen with their keys still around their necks as they are killed. Many of our society’s youth today are being sent overseas to do battle in war fronts in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Similar to the keys handed to the Iranian youths, our young soldiers are

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is a graphic memoir that reveals the life of a woman growing up in pre and post Iran, as well as her experiences in Western countries. In this book, Marjane utilizes historical events that affect her life during her upbringing in Iran. These include the oppression of the Shah, as well as the rise and effects of the regime. These events’ integration into the story showcase how they affect Marjane and the other citizens of her country. Additionally, these events are important for the context and understanding that they grant readers unfamiliar with the text.

Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis recounts the conflicts and disillusionment as a result of living through the tyrannies of the Shah’s and the Islamic regimes. Her main motive was to keep alive the spirit of those Iranians who lost their lives in wars fought for freedom, suffered under repressive regimes or who were forced to leave their families. It highlights the daily conflict between tradition and modernity, West and East, dictatorship and individual freedom. Marjane has used several motifs, such as the veil, the mirror, background panels to emphasize on the situation in Iran and this essay focuses on how the veil becomes the dominant motif for portraying the suppression of individual freedom, knowledge

In Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel Persepolis, Satrapi states that her goal in writing the book was to dispel many of the hasty generalizations made by the western world about Iran, a principal sentiment being that the country is little more than a nation founded by fundamentalists and home to terrorists and extremists. To combat the misconception, Satrapi enlists the assistance examples of barriers and dissent towards the new conservative regime in Iran from her adolescence. By employing events from her childhood in Iran Satrapi rattles the foundation of the myths and false beliefs assumed by the occident. Satrapi writes that the initial waves of conservative fundamentalism in Iran were met with unified national dissent. To support this

According to the Odyssey, and Agamemnon, ancient Greeks value violence as a way of maintaining their society because the stories showcase how violence functions in ancient Greece polis system. The stories indicate the structure of ancient Greece society and the ideal principles that held the people together. Because works of Homer and works of Aeschylus represent a different period of ancient Greek culture, the form of society differs. However, the fundamental principles of ancient Greek society remain similar. Regardless of what period of ancient Greece, the admiration of violence by the ancient Greek can be seen from both Homer and Greek Tragedy.

Persepolis focuses on major themes like Feminism, Freedom, Religion, War, and Culture. Although this book is about Marjane Satrapi a young girl who lived her childhood in Iran from the 1980’s which was during the Iran revolution, where at a young age she’s already opened up to a warfare environment. This book can be interpreted differently based on the reader’s location, history background with Iran, and the differences in government. In this essay we would be comparing the readers from Iran vs. America.

Rebelling has been a part of many people’s lives whether people try to or not, but not acts of rebellion are the same. In Iran, the Iranian people rebel against the Ayatollah in many minor and subtle ways. These small acts of rebellion could result in imprisonment or even death. In Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, the people of Iran bravely protest against the Islamic government in many subtle ways which show their determination to risk everything and fight for not only what the believe in, but also their country.

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.

When she sends Marjane away from Iran, she assures her: “I know how I brought you up. Above all, I trust your education” (147). Marjane’s mother doesn’t want her daughter to live in such an oppressive time. When the veils become mandatory, Marjane’s mother wishes to take her to an opposition demonstration: “She should start learning to defend her rights as a woman right now!” (76) In growing up with such strong female role models, Marjane learns to express her opinion and always stand by her beliefs. They taught her to stand up for herself as a woman, and in doing so, introduced her to a feminist perspective on life.

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.