The Structure of Persepolis
The two most contrasted colors of all are black and white. Many would agree that white, along with other lighter colors, represents the optimistic and positive aspects of an opinion or outlook, while black highlights the darker, negative side. The graphic novel, Persepolis, written by Marjane Satrapi, uses this harsh contrast to illustrate her conflicting views throughout her autobiography. Satrapi’s childhood was challenging and strenuous because of the constant removal of human rights in Iran, her home country. Women are taught to be modest with how they dress and follow the ways of the government without resistance, while men are taught to be brutal and fight senseless wars. Strong contrasts like these called
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At first, she was certain that she was God’s last prophet and God was the only person, or rather supernatural force, that she could undoubtedly place her faith in. On page eight in the second panel of Persepolis, both Satrapi and God are pictured, where God is depicted as larger than Marji, symbolizing the influence God had over her. Also highlighted in the panel is the sharp contrast of the black and white. The white of the picture is mostly used to picture God, as he is cradling and comforting Marji. This brighter color symbolizes Marji’s belief, or certainty in God. Her faith is unwavering and strong, for God is the one thing she has complete trust and faith in. Surrounding God as he cradles Marji is complete darkness and black. The black symbolizes the uncertainty that Marji has outside of her faith of God. She does not know what other beliefs there are that she could put her faith in; God is the only option for her. However, Marji discovers a new belief that she can place her faith in: marxism. Her uncle, Anoosh, was very passionate about the subject and as he educated her about marxism, God visited Marji less. Yet, Marji still could not give up her faith in God in a split second, that is until her beloved uncle Anoosh is executed. On page 70 in the second to last panel, Marji finds herself enveloped in her uncertainty following her uncle’s death because she had received only a brief overview of marxism, causing …show more content…
It is her own home country, Iran, that is uncertain about its future as well. This poor state the country finds itself in is because of the opposition between the people of Iran and the tyrannical government that rules Iran. As Iran broke out into a war with its neighbors, another, yet different, war broke out within Iran. The once, for the most part, peaceful country is now being taken over by an oppressive government. Page 78 illustrates the Iran of the past as an innocent and peaceful white; a country that is, for the most part, bloodless. However, there is also a dark cloud pictured. This dark cloud symbolizes the dark and tyrannical rule that is taking over Iran and its people. It is slowly but surely spreading over the country, overwhelming the once contempt country. The government of Iran also tried to force their oppressive ways onto its people. As seen on page 95, the girls of Iran are dressed in their new attire forced upon them by their government. This image contains only the two colors: black and white. The rich black depicts the government’s plans to change their people by masking their beliefs and values under the government’s beliefs and values. However, this attempt does not work on the people of Iran. The white of their faces and hands, the only visible part of their bodies under the modest attire, exposes their true beliefs, or the beliefs the government crave to rid its people of. In
In The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, the genre choice of the graphic novel vividly portrays the life-experience that Satrapi herself gone through as a youth growing up in Iran back in the 1980s. Satrapi utilizes a unique drawing style to emphasize the influence that the Islamic Republic has brought to her. The recurring action of teachers implanting Islamic values in children throughout Marjane’s education in Iran is demonstrated through a set of related images, which implicitly reflect on the destruction of childhood that is caused by a totalitarian regime. For instance, the teachers force the girls to wear veils on page1 and tells the parents that “either [girls] obey the law, or [they are] expelled” (Satrapi, 98) later on. Also, the background of these images takes place where Iran is involved in both revolution and war; it contributes to children’ miserable situation even more.
(Satrapi, 2003: 126) This brings another dimension to the relationship between Marji and her readers. Writing the novel in graphic form brings the Middle Eastern graphic novel closer to its Western neighbours because it is in a medium that is recognizable in the West. In addition, Satrapi’s depiction of Muslim leaders as "uneducated, primitive, and narrow-minded brutes" strengthens her connection with her Western readers whose perception of Muslim extremists might indeed be quite similar to the one crafted in the autobiography. (Constantino, 2008: 4) The novel Persepolis is effective because it was written to please a specific type of community. It uses language and cultural barriers in the illustrations and text to further separate the reader from the antagonists.
Satrapi’s graphic memoir, Persepolis focuses hugely on the loss of innocence of Marjane, which she illustrates by using several techniques such as the sizes of figures and the contrast of shades, as well as the of details, or lack thereof she includes in her drawings.
In 1.1.6 of Persepolis, author Marjane Satrapi uses graphic weight to convey the contrast between western and Iranian belief systems. The frame is divided equally into two sections with Marjane standing in the middle. The left side represents western ideals and has a black background with mathematical objects while the right side, representing Iranian traditions, has a white background with a garden design. On the left, Marjane is seen wearing a white shirt and on the right, she wears a black cloak and a veil. The opposing graphic weight of the frame symbolises the contrast between the two belief systems. In Marjane's mind, Western culture emphasises math and science and is therefore more modern. On the other hand,
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.
Dating from the Dynastic Period of Egypt (3000-2938 BCE), the Narmer Pallet is one of the most important archeological findings to date. Previous to king Narmer, Lower and Upper Egypt were divided and frequently at war with each other. The common belief of most historians is that the unification of Lower and Upper Egypt was due to the influence and propaganda of King Narmer and his court. On one side of the palette, king Narmer is pictured with the bulbed-white crown of Upper Egypt, while on the other side, it portrays the king wearing the crown of Lower Egypt, the papyrus. Illustrating one of the earliest known characterizations of an Egyptian king, the palette has be
Marjane Satrapi’s early experiences have helped to form a unique perspective acknowledged throughout Persepolis. Throughout the novel, Satrapi uses graphic images to allow her readers to visualize various dramatic events that she (once) witnessed. Informal diction and simple graphics force her audience to perceive Persepolis from the same child-like perspective the author (once) had. More so, special attention is drawn to contrasting colors as a symbol of (internal) conflict. The clash between black and white graphics represents a much deeper meaning regarding Satrapi’s faith and understanding. Such a symbol of conflict enables the readers to empathize
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.
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.
Islam - A Highly Controversial Sensitive Issue in Today's World: Examination of Misconceptions and Beliefs
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 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.
Taking place in the late 1970’s, Marjane Satrapi’s “Persepolis” exemplifies a profound illustration of the county of Iran, including aspects of its people and political structure. Unlike a conventional composed novel, the story of Persepolis is expressed through both textual and visual representation; otherwise known as a graphic novel. Through the experiences of the ten-year old character Marjane, the reader is exposed to historical events, movements, crises, and motives that occurred within Iran. Furthermore, the novel has gained much praise in its portrayal of emotions that occurred through the people of Iran. Although there has been tremendous support of the account of Marjane, there have been a few critics of the novel, attacking its overall literary value. For instance, New York’s Ithaca College student paper called The Ithacan, slammed the role Persepolis had on the literary society. In fact, they went as far to say that the novel “...is worth broaching but its literary value, in terms of building vocabulary and furthering comprehension, falls short.” An absurd statement, to say the least. Not only is Persepolis of literary value, it is a glimpse into the past. It allows the reader to understand the various conflicts that the people of Iran were facing. Through the account of Marjane, the audience is exposed to elements of Iranian history, gender roles, religion, and political fluctuation.
Orwell struggles to blend his “political” and “artistic” purpose into one complete “whole” in his short novel Animal Farm. The author uses allegory and satire to catch the reader's attention. I believe that Orwell is criticizing the Russian Revolution. In addition, i think he is making fun of it because the way he uses the animals the describe the humans like ways. In ¨why i write¨ Orwell goes more in depth about himself and the purpose of his writing. He gives details about his life and what lead him to be the famous writer he is today. Furthermore, The author wrote ¨politics and language¨ to discuss about his view of politics and the way English should be written.
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.