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Activism In Persepolis

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Persepolis and Western Political Activism Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel Persepolis is a form of political activism in response to her childhood in war-torn Iran in the 1980s. She chronicles her many experiences growing up, from seeing friends and family protesting and in some cases being killed, radical political change overtaking her country, and being in the center of the Iran-Iraq War. Satrapi’s novel, while influential, is merely a sliver of the pie of political protests and activism brought upon by women in the twentieth century. This overarching theme of the role of feminism and protests for peace helped shape the culture of many parts of the world into what it looks like today. Marjane, or Marji as she refers to herself in Persepolis, …show more content…

While Persepolis and her other major works weren’t completed until the 2000s, many years after the end of the Iran-Iraq War, Satrapi was still able to bring a form of activism against war to millions. The fact that it was written in comic-form also lends to its effectiveness, as even those with a low reading level could still gain an understand of the message behind it. Not only was the story depicted in the book a form of activism, but the act of writing it was also rebellious. The political landscape during the Iran-Iraq War continued to affect education in Iran, and the things that were going to be offered to Iranian students became less secular and consequently more limited in scope. Marji’s parents decided that they would send her away to France to attend school, in part to get a better education and also to get out of the country that was growing less safe each day, especially for someone who was as unruly as Marji. She was initially reluctant to this, as she wanted to stay in Iran and see things through until they got better, but eventually she realized that this would be the best option, as it really was not safe in Iran for her at that time. By leaving the country and pursuing a skill that she could utilize both as a career path and a form of activism was in itself a form of activism against the social constructs of education in

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