Persepolis Analysis

“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.

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

Marjane’s outspoken personality helps her and hurts her in various ways. Marjane is around her family most of the time, so that affects her and makes her think more about what’s happening around her. She was affected by how her parents treated the maid, so she wanted to revolt against “the difference in social classes”. She has shown that in page 38 when she decided to demonstrate; this shows how her outspoken personality helps her to help others in a good way. Her outspoken personality also hurts her because of how she misinterprets some situations. For example, Marjane and her friends attempt to imitate the people around them by applying the physical violence that the people

She was looking for freedom and liberties which were controlled in Iran. Vienna had all the freedom she needed, perhaps a little more than required. Her life in Vienna wasn’t easy; she faced a lot of problems. Marjane had lost her identity being a part of bad company. Marjane wanted to regain her lost dignity and respect.

Furthermore, facial expressions also enhance the understanding of the story by showing the character 's body language. Almost all of Marjane’s pictures show her frowning and sad face as a result of the new Islamic system that invades her life. Even though the pictures don’t have a lot of texts or details, they still serve what Marjane wants to deliver. In conclusion, all of these pictures and images are used for the purpose of delivering the message that everyone should have the right and the freedom to do what they think is convenient for them without any restrictions or rules against them. Marjane shows how she is proud of her mom for raising her voice, even though everyone is against her. Everyone should be treated the same no matter what religion they follow, or what gender they are.

For example on page 143 and 144, she starts to develop a rebellious personality after seeing the death of Neda Baba-Levy which made her not afraid of anything anymore. No matter how many times the principle yells at her, she still refuses to take the bracelet off and end up hitting the principal and getting expelled from the school. Then, even after her mom sent her to a new school, she still expose the truth out loud and disagrees with what the teacher is informing the students. These events shows how Marjane really became a rebel like she said and a bolder teenager who wants to have her own freedom. As the fourteen year-old Marjane slowly becoming a more serious rebel, Marjane’s parents made a few important decisions. First, they decided to tell Marjane about the other side of the society that she didn’t knew about. On pages 145-146, Marjane’s parents informed her about how the regimes treats the young girls that they arrest and prove to her that it was what happened to Niloufar. Although Marjane’s parents told her about the results that might occur if Marjane continues to act that way, her parents seems still doesn’t have the reassurance that they need. Therefore, they made another decision to send Marjane to Austria in order

Marjane’s escape to Vienna is not an escape at all, as the pressure to conform follows her, only this time not involving the increasingly radical Islamic government. Upon meeting both her roommates and the group that she later calls her friends, there was an instant indication of a future struggle for Marji. With these two groups, not only was there a language barrier between them, but also stark cultural differences between the West and traditionalist Iran. Amid her struggle with the Western culture she says, “The harder I tried to assimilate, the more I had the feeling that I was distancing myself from my culture, betraying my parents and my origins, that I was playing a game by somebody else’s rules” (193). Marji began to develop a sense of identity before she left Tehran, becoming more politically active and holding opinions on current issues other than the ones her teachers and classmates have; however,

In the year of 1979 all that Marjane knew what it was like to not have to be forced into wearing a veil. Before the Islamic Revolution she was able to attend a a French Non-Religious school where girls and boys were allowed to study and play together. Unfortunately her world of carefree ness ended

When she sends Marjane away from Iran, she assures her: “I know how I brought you up. Above all, I trust your education” (147). Marjane’s mother doesn’t want her daughter to live in such an oppressive time. When the veils become mandatory, Marjane’s mother wishes to take her to an opposition demonstration: “She should start learning to defend her rights as a woman right now!” (76) In growing up with such strong female role models, Marjane learns to express her opinion and always stand by her beliefs. They taught her to stand up for herself as a woman, and in doing so, introduced her to a feminist perspective on life.

Marjane’s drawings are more than mere illustrations; they are drawn the way they are for a reason. Figure sizes throughout the book vary to show the importance or maturity of the characters. In the beginning of the memoir, Marjane is depicted as a small girl, considerably smaller than her parents and all other grown-ups that surround her. Though Marjane is very aware of her situation, and a lot smarter or conscious than other children her age, she is still childish and

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.

It is apparent how much Marjane is discriminated against during her time of living in Vienna. There were many instances that she faced some sort of discrimination or judgment from others. For example, when she first arrived in Vienna, she lived in a un boarding house and one

All women in their lifetime go through an experience that makes them feel proud and dignified to be a woman. Marjane Satrapi strives to find this feeling of self-worth and the satisfaction of being a woman in Iran as she grows up during her war torn childhood in her bildungsroman, Persepolis. Marjane experiences both positive and negative moments throughout the memoir such as growing up alone in Austria, speaking against women's dress codes, and her constant struggle to make her grandma proud, all which help her learn independence and help form her into a strong feminist woman.

The year is 1980 and Marjane, “Marji”, is just ten years old living in Iran. The Iran and Iraq war is beginning to unfold and life for her and her family is changing. Being a woman is hard enough during this time period, and Marji’s hard headedness did not make it easier for herself. She eventually was moved to Austria for her own safety, she was sent alone, none of her family came with her. During this time, she really struggled with finding out who she really was supposed to be. Here in Austria, she met new people, changed her look, and lost touch with her Iranian identity. Eventually she moved back to Iran, she met a man and married him not too long after that. She tried to be the perfect woman, perfect wife that society wanted her to be. She was still not happy with this life and felt empty, so months later she took a risk and divorced her husband. She decided she would leave Iran for good this time and moved back to Europe, never looking back at the country that was