There are many things that happened in the book Persepolis. The lenses that we read this book through the most is Gender Theory. This book talks about war in Iran, revolution, gender and much more. This book is about a young girl name Marji who have to face and see many terrible things happened in her home country in Iran. A few examples of gender theory, it can be read through this book is when Marji mother have been insulted by men on the street, when the Guardians of the revolution took away Marji freedom to express herself, and when the girl who was in a Mr. Khosro house was killed and the Guardians of the revolution took away her virginity.
Marji is a young girl who wants to become a prophet because she wanted to be justice, love and the wrath of god all in one. Marji stops talking to god and stop thinking about becoming prophet when her uncle Anoosh was killed saying he was a Russian spy. This has also caused Marji to lose faith in god. “Shut up, you! get our of my life!!! I never want to see you again” (Satrapi 70) This show the reader that Majri doesn’t want nothing to do with God and she just have to move on and deal with what going on in Iran.
The veil people in Iran wear is very important. “For some women in the muslim world, the veil they wear is for a symbol of oppression. for others, it’s a symbols of freedom. Women are requires a veil that covers the body and the face. Under the Taliban 's strict laws, violators are punished by beating or stoning.”
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.
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.
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.
Soon after the revolution, Iran became one bundle of chaos as the country began experiencing internal difficulties with the new republic. Then with the war between Iran and Iraq, violence became Marji’s daily lifestyle. The Iranians were left to themselves to protect their friends and family from the bombings and other types of violence happening in plain sight. Many unfortunate individuals lost their belongings as well as close friends and family. For example, a close friend of Marji’s mother, Mali and her family, lost her and her family’s belongings in a bombing. The family found refuge in Marji’s home until they left Iran for good. They were one of the few families who understood the severity of the violence overwhelming Iran.
For decades, Iran has been known to have conflicts with their people. One girl named Marjane Satrapi shared her story for us to have greater understanding of her culture. As a result, Marjane’s culture went from being rebellious to following the fundamentalist. Furthermore, Marjane’s culture could not dress as western. Moreover, listening to music and partying was less common in Iran due to the strict environment.
Elizabeth Oelkers Dr. Martin English 9 Honors 9 September, 2016 Togetherness through Distress: Family versus Nation in The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi “I tell you this because it’s important that you know. Our family memory must not be lost. Even if it’s not easy for you, even if you don’t understand it at all” (Persepolis 60). In her autobiography, The Complete Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi speaks from first-hand experience as she illustrates her life as a young Irani Muslim affected by the war between Iran and Iraq during the last decades of the twentieth century. As emotionally described and depicted in her graphic novel, Marjane and her family combat a myriad of obstacles imposed by the government, but throughout these harrowing times in
even after it was taken from them, and that the spirit is all that they need. Oftentimes, unless they are emphasized, it is difficult for readers to see the elements of a novel that are not directly stated such as the spirituality that Silko tries to express; thus, Silko’s choice to use spiritual evils allows for the reader to see the novel’s main theme of the Native-Americans’ beliefs in the supernatural. If Silko were to use a physical evil instead, the readers may not have been able to see this theme. However, each author chooses the type of conflict that is best to accentuate his or her desired theme. For example, in Persepolis, Satrapi builds onto the main idea of how atrocious the Iranian government was by showing the endless restrictions
Marji would continue indeed, in the search for answers of why things were this way, but not before making her dream come true. Marji wanted to become a real prophet. She was born into religion; enjoying her daily talks with God. She remained dedicated that year to being the only prophet left and confiding in only her grandmother with this secret. Marji found comfort in reading her favorite book Dialectic Materialism, which taught lessons of the mind, is this reality or not, and the phenomenon of nature. She found herself at a very young age referencing her imagination often; wondering what makes a solid world’s reflections as being non-existing (panel 7, 12). In fact, Marji a ten year old child in the middle of the Islamic Revolutionary war, claims her faith to be unshaken.
The main character and also narrator of Persepolis was raised in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, the second Iran war as well as the Iraq war. The Islamic Revolution had a strong impact in regards to women’s rights, specifically the legislation which was meant to improve conditions for women, but unfortunately resulted in a setback. Marjane Satrapi chose to illustrate her story and enlightening experiences in a way I’ve never encountered before. Satrapi’s comic book style approach about this intense time period within history displayed a bit of foreshadowing. Throughout this essay, I will discuss how her unique style enhances the readers understanding as well as provide examples regarding the feminist approach within anthropology.
The title of the graphic novel I choose to read during the summer is called Persepolis. Persepolis follows the life of Marjane Satrapi as she lives in revolutionary Iran. The plot of the story is Marjane’s growth and development as a free minded woman in a close minded country that is trying to restrict her freedom to be proud as a woman. Marjane’s life is best portrayed through the use of splash panels and pages, captions, and open panels.
The story of Marjane opens during a fundamental time period of Iranian history, a period that consisted of the Islamic Revolution. As stated earlier on in the novel, this revolution was the force that caused the Shah to flee from Iran in the year of 1979. Like many others in Iran during this time, Marjane and her family found no interest in the Shah. During his reign, the Shah showed signs of diluting Iran's value of a constitutional monarch, and instead moved the country towards an absolute monarchy. Additionally, with the U.S peddling the Iranian oil supply, many Iranians felt betrayed by the Shah, as he became a so-called puppet for the U.S. Because of this, his popularity slowly plummeted, and an uprise began within the country. This uprise, is then shown through Marjane's perspective. Therefore, through
Persepolis is a French/Iranian movie based on the author/director’s childhood during the Iranian Revolution during the late 1970s. The movie focused on Marjane Satrapi’s experience under the transition to Islamic rule in Iran, Iraq’ invasion of Iran, and living in Europe during her teenage years. Her upbringings were based from her family who some were part of the revolution to overthrow the Shah. Because of it, she grew fond at the idea of freedom and valuing a lot of Western culture even after Muslim fundamentalist took over. She also endured a lot of hardship in Iran and abroad due to political tension and judgement from the outside world.
In Persepolis 2, Marjane is set on a journey of self discovery while living away from her home in Iran to escape the war. She experiences many obstacles varying from finding her self identity heartbreak and isolation. All of these obstacles would eventually lead to a very confident Marjane. MArjane lives in Vienna for most of her adolescence and so it is at this time that she is truly on a journey of finding who she is as a person and developing herself. Upon living in Vienna, Marjane discovered that Vienna is very different from her home of Iran and because of this, she assimilated herself into this new society while distancing herself from her Iranian culture. In her final days of living in Vienna she becomes homeless and it wasn't until this moment that she is notified that she is welcome to come back home to Iran. When she returns home to Iran she discovers that not only has she herself changed, but also how much her home of Iran has changed as well. Modern Iran is similar to Marjane, regarding their similar journey of self discovery and the many challenges that they have both faced.
Persepolis is structured as a graphic novel because Marjane Satrapi was able to use graphic weight, emanata and the organization of panels, to benefit her story. On the page that I chose to take a deeper analysis of Marji’s uncle Anoosh is allowed his last visit with Marji before he is sent to execution. Marji goes to visit him, and they both know that he is being put to death but Anoosh is the only one who speaks and tries to tell Marji that it's going to be okay because he was fighting for something that he really believed in. Satrapi’s choice to write this book as a graphic novel proves to be very beneficial especially on this page.
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.