Persepolis Essay

Given that western clothes and icons were outlawed in conservative Iran, Marjane’s dressing up in jeans, denim jacket, and Nike shoes is an attempt to express her modern outlooks, Satrapi conveys the importance throughout the text reinforcing the conflict between Eastern values and Western values. In this scene, Satrapi embraces both cultures. She wears modern with a Michael Jackson button and Nike, and says ‘of course, my headscarf’. This displays Satrapi’s multiple personal identities: following middle eastern customs while sharing western values. A portrait image of Marjane is illustrated to show that she is proud of who she is and her posture and body language of her standing tall like she wants to show off her personality. But this doesn’t last long when she meets two guardians of the revolution that arrest women who are improperly arrested. When Marjane is caught, expressionism is used when Marjane is bawling her eyes out. The eyes look ghost-like representing the whole idea swapping personalities so that she could fit the government's likings. Marjane is not being able to fully express herself by wearing the clothes she wanted, doing her hair how she wanted, or listening to the music she wanted. From a young age is prevented Marjane from finding her identity and making her feel trapped. The revolution brought back Islamic ideals and customs, which were welcomed initially but soon became overbearing and restrictive and eventually totalitarian.

Marjane Satrapi’s memoir Persepolis is considered a “coming of age” story based on her experiences growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. This graphic novel explores the life she lead in Tehran which encompassed the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. Undergoing life with such a chaotic environment, it took Satrapi courage to act and live as her “authentic self” and explore what it meant to her to be authentic. Similar to Aristotle, May and Medinas Persepolis examines the concept of courage, through the view of innocence; through Satrapi’s childhood.

What does freedom mean to one person? How do they define it, and do different groups of people interpret the importance of freedom differently? These questions have been asked by philosophers since the beginning of the Enlightenment. After the Protestant reformation, freedom meant the right to practice your own religion. The English colonies of America in the 1770’s valued a say in parliament. Black revolutionaries such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr fought for equal social and political standing for blacks in the United States. Throughout history, the definition of freedom has meant similar things to different groups of people, especially the freedom to express oneself and the promise of basic human rights. These ideas are greatly focused on in Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel Persepolis, a memoir of her experiences and her personal life as a child during the Iranian Revolution. From a young age, Satrapi begins to develop her own opinion of what freedom means, using the circumstances around her as motivation to stand up for what she believes in. During the whole of Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi defines freedom for herself due to influences of those around her, witnessing a fundamentalist regime brainwash her generation in order to remain in power, and fighting back for what she believes is right.

Amazing, intriguing, and unimaginable are just a few words to describe how I felt about Persepolis while I read this true life story of Marjane Satrapi. This book has helped me to see all the life struggles, good times, and adversities that Marji faced between the ages of nine to thirteen. The Islamic Revolution had such a daunting effect in the Middle East, especially in the county of Iran where Marji and her family resided.

Western culture has often misperceived the east and the way that their society functions. In Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, Satrapi uses graphic novels as a way to demonstrate to the western culture how the east has been misrepresented. The use of media helps to depict to the west how their views of the east may have been unfairly formed in the past. The media has only revealed limited knowledge that only shows partial perspectives because it is difficult to get perspectives of the minorities although they are the ones who hold the most truth. In other words the use of graphic novels and a child’s perspective give the west a new idea on how it is that society in the east functions. This style of writing brings the connection between the two

As we learn a third of the way through the novel, Marjane parents identify themselves as secularists. Since the Islamic regime is governed by a strict theocracy, Marjanes parents had to take precautions to continue to live their secular lifestyle. The precautions they undertook are illustrated on page 105, as Marjanes mother starts to put curtains on their windows so the police don’t catch them. On page 106, Marjanes parents host a wine party, which is against the Islamic law. Although they knew they could be prosecuted for such a risky act, they choose to ignore the possible repercussions and throw the party anyways. Then on page 110, there is an illustration of Marjane pouring the alcohol down a toilet drain with her mother after, her farther was stopped by the police while driving. They weren’t caught by the police because the father bribed the police officers; however, showing that they quickly ridded of all the alcohol, reveals how fearful Marjane and her family are of the regime and the theocratic rule. Marjanes mother and father are apart of the small secular group that reside in Iran because, most people obey the theocracy in fear of being tortured or executed for disobeying the law; however, knowing that Marjanes family is middle to high class, they have more power to bribe police officers and hold illegal events such as

Agape love is the highest form of love, charity. It is also love for a greater community. Agape is considered the highest form of love because if a person has strong love for their community then there is nothing that they would not do for them. This is the type of love that sends soldier off to war. There is on age limit to how young a soldier has to be when they have a love like Agape. Marjane Satrapi realized this when she was writing her autobiography, Persepolis, about the events that took place in Iran during the 1980s. When she was a child she developed a love for her country and community that came from her parents. She would often make jokes about the new rules they were having to follow. When talking about the beatings they used to perform she claimed that, “After a little while no one took the torture sessions seriously anymore. As for me, I immediately started making fun of them” (Satrapi 97). Marjane saw the laws that were created as demeaning and wrong. So as a child with love for her community she was fighting back in a childlike was by making light of the rules. When Marjane was in her teen years she was sent to Europe to ensure her safety. While there she tried to separate herself from her past. She tried to partake in the actions of the European teens, but the more she did the less she felt like herself. She felt a pain and emptiness inside her, “The harder I tried to assimilate the more I had the feeling that I was distracting myself from my culture,

Many people grow up surrounded by poverty in war. During the late 20th century and into the 21st century, the children in the unstable and war-ravaged Middle East were forced to grow up surrounded by persecution, death, and a constant fear that that day may be their last. Women experienced an even more brutal, as the Islam religion, which governed parts of the Middle East, carried traditional values, which constrained the individuality and freedom of women. This hardship of growing up in an environment where one feels choked out of one’s own skin is prevalent in the graphic novel, Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi. Persepolis is an autobiographical graphic novel depicting Marjane’s life from the time she was a child up to her early adult years in Iran

In the book, Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, the main character is the author as a young girl growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution of 1979. She starts off as an incredibly positive child with enormous faith in herself and her relationship with G-d. Through her experiences, especially when she was in her crucial, early teenage years, she completely loses her faith in G-d and also rebels against her environment. The author wants to show the Western world that there are many people in Iran, like Marjane, that are no different than Westerners. She does this by describing her childhood teenage conflicts with her parents, with oppression and with her faith in G-d, all of which most Western teenagers could easily relate to.

In Marjane Satrapi’s novel “Persepolis”, the story of a young girl and a nation are both at the forefront. The main character, Marjane, is growing up in the midst of the Islamic revolution in Iran and experiences both the cultural and societal disarray that follows. Despite Marjane modern lifestyle and beliefs she experiences internal dissonance regarding her past ideas, her current ideals, and the reality of her nation. Similarly, Iran also faces a lack of identity surrounding the revolution. The idea of Iran as a singular and separate nation is questioned and such disarray leads to a radical change in ideals and daily life. Even after the revolution, Iran is faced with inner disputes and conflicting ideas within the society. In this way, both Marjane and the nation of Iran experiences a lack of identity and inner turmoil in light of the revolution. Satrapi’s childhood figure embodies not only the conflicting ideas within an individual living in Revolution-era Iran, but also the internal dissonance within Iranian society during this time.

In Marjane Satrapi's biographical graphic novel, Persepolis, there are two important setting which helped this readers understand Marjane. One of these settings is her childhood in Tehran, Iran, during and after the Iranian Revolution of '79, and another was the four years Marjane spent in Vienna, Austria, from when she was 14 till she was 18 years old. These two settings are important in understanding Marji, as the reader can see how she reacts to change, and her feeling towards it.   The readers can also see how Marjane develops in these settings, both new for her.

One of the main theme’s of Persepolis is class conflict. Class conflict is also referred to as class struggle. Throughout the entire memoir, Marjane, her mother, and her father have to face the challenge of class conflict. In some specific chapters, the class struggle is referenced. The class conflict mainly affects social classes, and during the revolution and the war in the graphic novel, the social classes begin to divide the people, and soon, divides the entire country of Iran.

The author explores Marji's transition from an idealistic, young girl to a rebellious teenager in order to emphasize how the political turmoil in Iran forced Marji to grow up fast. Marji rebels against her mother by breaking

Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel Persepolis, illustrates her own experience of the Iranian world through revolutions and corrupt dictatorship. Throughout her life, Marji is faced with numerous hardships that challenge her life from a young age. From struggling to adapt into diverging cultures to standing up for her identity, Marji’s conflicts force her to choose between family and herself. Unlike the people from her homeland, Marji has many opportunities to explore her liberty, however, she has to face the consequences that once she commits to one decision, she loses the other.

Many characters in novels face a challenge where rebellious acts are necessary. In Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Lowland and Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, some characters face a difficult challenge where they thought rebellious acts are necessary. In The Lowland, Udayan is one of the main characters who believe in equality. He believes violent and disobedient acts against the Indian government will bring equality. Udayan focuses on bringing equality to the peasant and poor classes. He manages to protest and act after India is freed from imperialism in England. And in Persepolis, Marji believes in her ideal to engage in a western and secular lifestyle. The illustration of her life in the graphic novel reveals many rebellious phases during the time of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. The two novels' similarities and differences allow readers to see the consequences of rebellion. Udaya dies approaching his radical goal while Marjane survives and escapes Iran holding on to her political ideals. Yet, they both engage in the political world and revolution and rebels against the authorities.