Persepolis Analysis

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 graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is a political and personal account of a young girl’s growth to maturity. The novel serves as an autobiography of the author’s childhood in Tehren, Iran. It describes what it was like to grow up during the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the end of the Shah’s regime, and the war with Iraq. One of the most prominent themes in the novel is the clash between modernity and fundamentalism. The reader can observe this conflict through Iran's internal oppositions, the Satrapi’s modernity, and Marji’s western soci-political beliefs. This aspect of the novel is important because it shows the ideological diversity within Iran and the consequences faced by those in the opposition.

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.

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.

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 had many aspirations for herself because, at the beginning of Persepolis, Marjane felt like she was going to be the only women prophet at the age of six years old. In 1979, the Islamic Revolution took place and it was mandatory for women to wear the veil at school, many people were for it and against it. Everyone always wondered why they had to wear the veil. In chapter one, “The Veil”, she said, “I want to become a Prophet because of their family maid, Mehri, did not eat with them like a regular family would eat together”. Another reason why she made that decision to become a prophet was that her father drove a Cadillac and her grandmother’s knees were always aching and caused her pain” (7).

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.

The world stereotypes different types of culture, but real identity can be only defined by a person who has experienced the specific way of life. In Persepolis The Story of a Childhood, by Marjane Satrapi, the author creates a graphic memoir representing her childhood growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. Satrapi evokes perfectly regarding her childhood, her reaction towards the Islamic Revolution. She is rebellious to the Islamic revolution’s new regulations and enforcement and decides to take a secular approach to defend her rights. In Persepolis, the narrator illustrates the opposition against the Islamic Revolution and Shah’s reign and as well as her pursuit in a secular culture. Her opposition and desire allow the readers to reconsider on past stereotypes about the Middle Eastern culture.

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.

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.

The world is chock-full of different cultures, religions, and political ideals. These forces are a part of many childhoods, forcing the young to decipher how they want to incorporate aspects of these principles into their identity. Marjane Satrapi similarly found herself experiencing this difficult process throughout her childhood. In her graphic memoir, Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi poignantly portrays how the distinction between Western and Iranian cultures helps shape her character in the midst of a torn society in order to display the clash of cultures and its process of molding Satrapi’s childhood in Iran.

In the graphic novel Persepolis, author Marjane Satrapi shares her first-hand account of the herself as a young girl growing up in a war zone. The Islamic Revolution molded Satrapi’s identity of how life should be--the righteous path of Islam. Children were taught the morals and ethics of society through adults who looked to guide them down a strict, religious path. Furthermore, the education system and government were against any form of self-expression in children, even if they didn’t know any better at such a young age. In the graphic novel Satrapi demonstrates the effects of the Islamic Revolution in Iran and how the implementations obstructed personal growth of identity in young children.

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.

Persepolis, a graphic novel enriched by the autobiographical narrative of Marjane Satrapi, covers her coming of age in the politically unstable Iran in the 1980s. Specifically, the novel concerns defining events in Marji’s character development and in accordance, her ideological perspectives; the Iranian Revolution followed by the rise to power of the fundamentalist Khomeini (1979), the Iraqi-Iranian War (1980), and personally, her uncle Anoosh’s death. Moreover, Marji’s contrasting perceptions of her dynamic and arbitrary world as both as a child and an adolescent are strongly translated into her portrayal of different social groups: women, fundamentalists, intellectuals (such as Marji’s parents), and others. In particular, there is a strong

Growing up in warn torn Iran, Marjane Satrapi is surrounded by deaths of loved ones and many new restrictions on freedoms. Under new controlling government, Marjane Satrapi has to figure out her own path to self discovery through her coming of age. In Marjane Satrapi’s memoir and film, Persepolis, Satrapi uses dark and light contrasts in clothing to portray her retrospect of her loss of innocence.