Persepolis Adulthood

    In the very beginning of the book, Marji’s rebellious side is slightly shown to the reader. “We demonstrated in the garden of our house” (10). This was the beginning of Marji’s own rebellion for religion. The thing that makes this illogical though is that she doesn't fully understand what she is rebelling against. All she knows is that the adults around her, including her parents, are rebelling and that she should follow suit. In order to fully understand why she’s doing what she is doing, she reads plenty of books. “To enlighten me they bought books” (12). Marji learned more and more of what she was fighting against, and for, but she then decides that she wants to go to an actual demonstration. “‘I want to come with you tomorrow!’ ‘Where?’ ‘To the demonstration on the street! I am sick and tired of doing it in the garden’” (16-17). This is yet again an illogical choice that Marji makes, however it can be justified due to the time and her own reason. The choices Marji makes for religion show just how much effort she puts into rebelling. Marji puts plenty of effort into rebelling in something that she does not fully understand, and it shows that shes has personality traits that reflect from what her parents do. Her parents rebel against the shah, and so does Marji. She does not understand why she does, but she decides to do it anyways. Her personality is reflected from her parents, and show how she is so rebellious.

Marji asked her parents if she could go, but they declined every time;however, Marji still snuck out and went. Marji and her maid Mehri proceed on with their plans and go. When they arrive, Marji sees first-hand how people are really being treated, and she does not like it. A little while after the demonstration, Marji decides she is going to wear her new jean jacket and new nike shoes. She gets caught and makes up a lie so she will not get into too much trouble. She wanted to express herself a little bit, and show her own style. She comprehends now that she cannot wear what she wants, and she becomes angry and disappointed. Marji is tired of having to be who someone else wants her to be, and always having someone holding her back. Because of everything going on, Marji starts to do everything her parents ask her to, and she starts rebelling. Marji’s school teacher started being rude, so Marji decided she had enough and stands up for herself. She accidently hits the teacher and gets herself expelled. This promotes a big change in Marji, because she seems as if she really does not care. The final event that changes Marji is the bombing in her neighborhood. She thought her house was her safe place, but the bomb was an eye opener to her that she really was not safe anywhere. Some of the events that change Marji are: Uncle Anoosh’s death, the demonstration, the Nike shoes, getting expelled, and the bomb going off.

The story starts pre-revolution, while Marji, the main character is 6 years old. She has a concrete grasp of her identity, even though very elementary and childish . At this age she only has one goal in her mind: "At the age of six, I was already sure I was the last prophet." (6 Satrapi). She has clean-cut idea of what she wants to do, which is to not discriminate on a class basis: "I wanted to be a prophet because our maid did not eat with us" (6). Also, Marji she wanted to ease her grandmother’s suffering : " ...and above all because my grandmother's knees always ached" (6). Marji even attempts to be an avid religious fanatic. She imagines god as her friend, guiding her as she goes and even tries to go and tries and helps her cope with her ideas that she is

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.

Marjane’s friendships are few and far between, after the wake of the revolution. In the beginning of the novel, Marjane’s best friend is God and how she mainly identifies herself. This is significant to understanding the depth of Marjane’s thoughts as a child. She is very different from the rest of the kids. This is evident when Marjane’s says when she wants to be a prophet and her classmates say they want to be doctors, or teachers. Growing up in Iran makes it hard for Marjane to express herself and really identify herself. This affects her friendships with children her age. Marjane is very sympathetic for a child her age, and she deeply understands what her country and family has been suffering through. She sat in a bathtub for hours trying to understand how her grandfather felt. Other children her age were not doing things like this. She often talks to God as mentioned before and this is when Marjane can express herself. She cannot do that with other children so she leans on God and identifies with him. As Marjane grows she meets her uncle who be¬comes the light of her life and her new best friend. He tells her stories about his struggles and Marjane begins to identify herself in his stories. In this quote her Marjane is talking to other children her age, she says “ There are lots of heroes in my family, my grandpa was in prison, my uncle Anoosh too: For nine

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.

Many aspects of Marjane's life are affected by the war that occurred during her preteen years, such as her relationship with her parents, friends, and changing devotion to religion. Observing the responses given by other people allowed for Marji to change and develop into someone with her own thoughts and voice. It is important to consider how much the aspects of someone's life affect them, as they are yearning to grow into their own

(7). Her grandmother also buys her books to help educate her on what is going on in their country (28). Both of these actions display that her grandmother wants her to be educated and also wants Marji to do whatever she desires and teaches her that she truly can be whatever she wishes. Before Marji leaves to go to Austria, her grandmother tells her “always keep your dignity and be true to yourself” (150). This is something that continually goes through Marji’s mind as she begins to make mistakes, being true to herself is something Marji is constantly struggling for and becomes a major theme throughout the novel. In the end of the novel Marji learns how to be true to herself and her ambitions as she divorces Reza and moves to Paris, which was an action heavily based on the ethics and teachings of her grandmother.

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.

Marji's role in life changes drastically throughout the novel. In the beginning, as a young child, Marji believes that she is a prophet. As the story progresses and they the revolution continues, Marji begins to feel dismay towards the revolution and towards God. Later in the novel, Marji’s mother also feels sadness. Her former revolutionary spirit is gone and replaced with fear. When Marji’s principal calls the house to complain that Marji disrespected of the teachers, her mother in the past would have been proud, but this time around she fears for her daughter and goes on to explain the things that happen to girls in Iranian prison. Her mother had given up optimism and established that war

Marji often rebells and does things that she was told not to do because she is a child, showing that she wants to be free of childhood. She thinks that doing these things is a sign of maturity but in reality, it is the opposite. When Marji’s maid falls in love, she wants to help out, thinking that this will bring her closer to adulthood. She only thinks in the moment and does not think about what will happen to her if her parents find out. “So I wrote the letters for her. One each week for six months.” (35). She is doing this because she wants to show that she is capable of doing more than her parents want her to do. She is aware that her parents would punish her if they find out but she has no regard for the consequences. She doesn’t know that writing these letters is not the right thing to do, as it brings false hope into the minds of those involved. Another example of Marji doing the wrong thing is

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.

Over the following four years, Marji learned of how her grandparents were left poor because of the Shah, the leader of the Iranian government. Shah was well known for robing men and women of everything they had worked for and leaving them with nothing. Nevertheless, Marji was schooled on the different levels of society in Iran, which left her to consider her family as rich because her Dad drove a Cadillac. Despite being a child, Marji accused her dad of being anti-social towards a class that could not read and write. To clarify Marji helped out a friend with the writing of some love letters. Mehi was the family maid that could not read or write. Mehi fell in love with the boy

Marji's role in life changes drastically throughout the course of the novel. The protagonist can be describe as a young playful, rambunctious and faithful child.

Besides focusing on Marji’s own troubles of growing up during the Revolution, she also remarks her parents’ struggle with the ruling Islamic Party. She comes to realize that her parents’ beliefs are opposite to those of the regime. While her parents drink alcohol, have parties and enjoy a wealthy lifestyle, the Guards of the Revolution control this behaviour. Marji´s parents share her rebellious spirit: they also want to have secret parties, break the law and dress however they want to. In one frame Marji helps her mother to empty the alcohol down the toilet, since the police threaten to search their department (p.110). In another frame, Marji’s mother puts tape on the windows as a safeguard against the Iraqi bombings, and black curtains to prevent the neighbours from seeing their parties (p.105) There is a parallelism at play between the upper classes of the revolution and the lower classes, although her parents revolt on a daily basis and share the same beliefs, upon returning home they can still try to enjoy secret pleasures in relative safety, whereas the lower classes are not afforded any means of escape.