Change in Marji: Persepolis

Persepolis was created by Marjane Satrapi to explain the details of her life. She had many events that occurred over time throughout the younger years of her life which she wrote in the form of a graphic novel. One of the most important things that took place in her life was her experience and how it helped her to grow faster mentally. Many events contributed to her mental growth as most of them she describes come from the war.Out of the many contributions one has a larger explanation. How does the symbolism in persepolis lead to Marjane Satrapi's coming of age.

In the novel Persepolis, their religion is their way of life. The revolution exerted power and influence over so many people and this included several educated/middle class people like Satrapi and her parents. The people of Iran were restricted and lived in fear to be free and express themselves. Many people left after the revolution because they couldn’t or didn’t want their kids to be conformed to what society wanted them to be. Religion in Persepolis defines each and every character in the novel, from the way they dress to the way they speak. These laws were based on religion during the revolution. Religion in the story defined Margi at one point and how she viewed god, what they were allowed to wear, and how religion impacted the society. Despite the oppressive regime, the people tried to make the best out of the situation they lived in.

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.

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.

Persepolis is an autobiography by Marjane Satrapi that pushes the reader to visualize Marjane’s life from childhood to growing and becoming an adult. This story takes place in Iran and it’s during the Islamic Revolution. The name Persepolis itself comes from the capital of an ancient Persian empire. The most prominent motifs for this novel is smoking, and the major reason for it is repetition, Marji spontaneously changes her lifestyle, habits, and attitude after she begins smoking, and that holds hands with another major motif which is coming of age. This writing will prove to you how Marji’s start of smoking and coming of age will bring changes to her lifestyle, attitude, and habits.

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.

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.

“People say you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. Truth is, you knew what you had, you just never thought you’d lose it – Anonymous” (Quotes). Marjane Satrapi was born to a wealthy family and had parents who adored her. She seemed to have everything, and even as the war raged on, her family still managed to have something more than the next family. In spite of their good fortune, the war was taking a toll on the family and it was decided that Marjane would be sent to Austria. Thus leaving everything Marjane loved behind, leaving her to fend in the darkness of the unknown. In Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, Marjane starts off as a rebel, though naïve at the same time, to an attentive but scared girl in order to show how the war has triggered Marjane's reality to crash down, clarifying the world around her.

Persepolis is a film in 2007 which is based on Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel. This story is about Marjane life from young to adult. Persepolis refers to a city’s name. it is a story of Marjane growing in Iran after the Islamic Revolution. Persepolis also is written based on Marjane experience because she grew up Tehran, in a family which involved in communist and socialist movements in Iran during revolution. She writes the story mostly from her opinions and values that she observe from child. This story contains political and historical value which is very useful to everyone.

War can have devastating consequences for anyone who is unfortunate enough to live through it, especially a child. The experiences that war forces a child to go through are often unspeakable and traumatizing. Things that they see, hear and feel during times of war mold these children into people that they never thought they would be. Marji, the main character in Persepolis goes through hell during the revolution and later, the war between Iran and Iraq. These experiences make her childhood like no other. Though these experiences are horrid and not appropriate for a child, they make her into a mature woman. Marji’s loss of innocence, caused by the things she experiences in her life, have a significant impact on her.

Throughout the graphic novel Persepolis, the author Marjane Satrapi makes the main character Marji a typical little girl. Marji and her family live in Iran, and they are figuring out how to live under the rules of the new Shah. At first, Marji is introduced as a girl who loves her live, and who loves her God. As the novel goes on, Marji changes a lot and starts figuring out who she can and cannot be.

Throughout the book Persepolis Marjane has to deal with many hardships. She has to deal with her religion, the danger, nationalism, imperialism, and revolutions. This is all happening during a war between Iraq and

Amazing, intriguing, and unimaginable are just a few words to describe how I felt about Persepolis while I read this true life story of Marjane Satrapi. This book has helped me to see all the life struggles, good times, and adversities that Marji faced between the ages of nine to thirteen. The Islamic Revolution had such a daunting effect in the Middle East, especially in the county of Iran where Marji and her family resided.

Persepolis is a coming of age story for Marji living in the middle of the Iranian war and adapting to the changes to both her culture and her personal life. Inequality between genders is heavily discussed within the story, as well as the struggles between the fundamentalist ideas and customs compared to the less extreme morals of some families: it is shown through the simplistic, but effective images by Satrapi.

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.