Marjane Satrapi's 'Persepolis': A Personal Version and Vision of the Iranian Revolution

For readers who live in different countries with a huge difference in comparison to their governments such as America. Readers in America would most likely interpret this book as a call of pity or rather an eye-opener to other countries as “Persepolis” shows the culture and economy of Iran. In American they have a democratic government meaning that people have the right to fight and speak up for their ideas and beliefs, in other terms they have the right to freedom of speech, unlike in Iran when people protest to the government or ruler they get shot right in the spot or rather imprisoned and torture.

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 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.

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.

From the beginning of her story, Marji is suspended in limbo between two clashing ideological worlds. Akin to many elementary aged children, she is highly impressionable by the people around her, “a child who repeats what she hears” (62). Inharmonious spheres of influence regarding death and war leave her in a state of ideological confusion. She is educated in a government-controlled school rooted in nationalism and respect. Being a school age child in a government controlled school made her more susceptible to the pro-Reza Shah ideology. In her elementary years, she was taught to believe through textbook and tradition that the king was “chosen by God” and that “God himself” told her that he was the rightful ruler of Iran (19). The school system capitalized on the

Persepolis is an autobiography of Marjane Satrapi’s childhood in her native Iran. She writes about being a child in Iran through the Iranian revolution and the Iran-Iraq war. As Satrapi recounts stories of her youth, one can observe that the Iran-Iraq war and the Iranian revolution are the central events driving the entire story. When the revolution and war happens, the dynamics of the book change completely. War creates a sense of unity and nationalism. Marjane shows a large contrast between her life before and after the war. The war forces her and her family to adapt in ways that they would have previously never thought possible. This process of adapting to her environment proves to be very insightful for readers as it gives a very provides a previously unseen perspective. Her community and family prove to be essential in dealing with the atrocities as they adapt to their environment during the war.

Iran went through a very rough time during the revolution, and Marjane Satrapi grew up right in the middle of it. In the book Persepolis, Marjane effectively uses graphic images to show Revolution, Imperialism, and Loss of innocence. Persepolis is a graphic novel about herself growing up during the Iranian revolution. She shows her perspective on important events like the revolution against the shah and the fundamentalist revolution. Also the Iraqi, Iranian war.

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi is an autobiography graphic novel. The book is about a young girl named Marjane Satrapi growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. In the book, many stories and struggles are presented, such as the Islamic revolution, issues with school, the war between Iran and Iraq, and Satrapi’s struggle with growing up. The strongest theme from all of these situations in the novel is rebellion. Rebellion is constantly seen, in many different shapes and forms, all throughout this book.

Imagine war, imagine peace, imagine freedom and oppression, imagine happiness, sadness, feeling lost and feeling found, imagine that you are Marjane. For Marjane, these feelings and events comes without imagining because she has experienced them all firsthand. Marjane Satrapi is an Iranian girl living in Iran during the Iranian Revolution in the 1980s. The memoir and graphic novel Persepolis that she published in 2000, gives an inside look at the life of a girl from a society that is often stereotyped or misunderstood. The story she tells is a bildungsroman of her own life, and throughout the work, Marjane is thrown into many different

Another historical event that we see is the rise and effects of the Islamic regime in Marjane’s life. This event is arguably the central issue that affects Marjane during her upbringing in Iran. Marjane shows how the regime begins to control schools, and how this affects her life by separating her from her friends (4, 3-4). We also see how the regime decides to close universities as they “educate future imperialists.” (73, 1-3) This demonstrates the negative effects that the regime has on society, as they prioritize Islamic values over education. The Islamic leaders portrayal shows them as upset and bored, and are given much different facial expressions than those that Marjane sees as intellectual (such as Uncle Anoosh (54/3) or Marjane’s grandfather (23/8)). This imagery communicates the backwards-thinking of these leaders, and as such, also effectively communicate Marjane’s opinion of the leaders without needing to discuss it with text. Additionally, we see both of Marjane’s views: Marjane not understanding the veiling and separation (3/5) as well as Marjane’s depression over the closing of the universities (73/7). The text here illustrates her opinions on the situations that she experiences, and the imagery allows us to see a visual representation of her basic thoughts and emotions, which are well communicated. A final example of the regime’s changes is the difference between the fundamentalist and modern women

In Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi disproves preconceptions of Iranian culture through the use of illustrations in a graphic novel format. Originally written in French, Satrapi’s graphic novel is set in Iran during the Iranian Revolution, and tells the story of Satrapi’s childhood, through her childhood self, “Marji.” In the graphic novel Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi incorporates religious icons to suggest that a loss of individuality leads to the invalidity of preconceptions of Iranian oppression. Allusions towards God and Karl Marx are used to show opposing viewpoints that went through Marji’s mind during the revolution, both sides of her persona are seen fighting for her full attention. Marji admired both figures, although their perspectives towards the relationship between religion and government are contradicting.

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is a graphic novel illustrating Satrapi, as a young girl growing up in Iran during the 1980’s. Satrapi shares her story while growing up in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution and the war with Iraq. From ages six to fourteen she shows and tells about the changes she endured during the revolution and war. The changes included her beliefs, social life and family.

One result of the Islamic Revolution of 1979 was that women were forced by law to wear the compulsory hijab. At first, not many people took this seriously and many peaceful protests were organized. Eventually, women began to suffer at the hands of the government for refusing to submit. In this novel, Marjane is an Iranian girl living during the turmoil of the Islamic Revolution and eventually the Iran-Iraq War. She is invested in the politics of her world even from a very young age, though her views are a little skewed due to lack of direct experience. As she grows, however, her loyalty to her religion and her country warps and fades as she comes face-to-face with the reality of the world rather than her simplified and romanticized

Marjane Satrapi, an Iranian-born French citizen is considered a marvelous writer and producer noted for showing aspects of the Iranian society through her novel she wrote. Aspects of the Islamic revolution and its society at that time can be observed in Satrapi novel Persepolis, which was published in the early 2000s. As the title suggests, the plot of the novel revolves around Marjane Satrapi and her family life, including the consequences of the Islamic revolution and what it felt like being an Iranian during the war. Through these characters, and their interactions, Satrapi investigates the important features of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, and the changes that occurred as the people were attempting to adjust from their old way

‘Persepolis’ is a autobiography and a graphic novel written by Marjane Satrapi revolving around Marjane's childhood and teen years during her time in Iran. The story begins in iran at the time of 1979 when the government is overthrown. Iran faces a political crisis and is in war with its neighboring country iraq. The protagonist of the story , Marjane Satrapi, grows up in a high social class where here innocence of being a child is mixed with the serious issues of war, politics and poverty. Her time in Iran teaches her a lot about the world, however the war gets too serious so her parents move her to