A Color Has Many Meanings Persepolis is a story that is illustrated in black and white. The author, Marjane Satrapi, uses many visual techniques throughout the story to draw in the reader and develop the storyline. One of these visual techniques is that she chooses to use the color of the characters’ clothing as a representation of how they feel towards the revolution. The characters are shown wearing black, white, or a mixed black and white pattern. The characters in Persepolis are drawn with white clothing when they are supporting the revolution. There are many instances throughout the story when characters are drawn with white clothing, especially Marjane’s family. A year after the Islamic Revolution started, children were obligated …show more content…
People opposing the revolution are always shown in black. This includes the army, and people who torture progressive prisoners. Examples of these can be found on pages 51 and 18. Whenever a progressive person has been punished by the fundamentalists, they are shown in black instead of white. This could be because the fundamentalists have forced their views upon this captured and punished person. Examples of this happening are when political prisoners are released from prison and wearing black (Satrapi 47), when Marjane’s mother has been verbally tormented by fundamentalists (Satrapi 74), and finally when Siamak’s sister was killed and found in the street and is drawn in black (Satrapi 66). Sometimes Marjane is shown in black. This occurs when her religious views are seeping through. She claims she wants to be the next prophet. Since this is a religious view that would support the Shah and the fundamentalist side, Marjane is shown in black (Satrapi 6). After Marjane learns about the King and God in school, she goes home to her parents and tells them how much she loves the King because he was chosen by God. She is of course wearing black in this panel because it is supporting the fundamentalist side of the revolution (Satrapi 19). The Shah believes in eliminating social classes and having everyone look the
Adolescence is an age where children began to find themselves or, in some cases, lose themselves, an idea clearly developed by Satrapi in her graphic novel “Persepolis”. Satrapi explores the challenges and difficulties experienced by a sheltered and naive girl during the tumultuous and uncertain years of the Iranian revolution and attempts to solve the oppression she witnesses by the Islamicist government. This is important to the whole text as it identifies the religious conservatism and Islamisation of the state causes distress and confusion in Marjane who consequently had to redefine herself, given that her freedom and personal liberties were denied them in schools, public places, and even her own home.
How do you identify yourself? What do you use to really identity to others who you are? So people use terms like mother, father, friend or find it in religion or materlisitic things. In the witty and heartbreaking graphic autobiography, Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi uses a childlike tone to address an internal struggle within a mind in identity crisis. Marjane’s childlike point of view cannot comprehend God’s role in the domestic turmoil of her country. Marjane was “born with religion”(6) and treats her relationship with God as if it was a friendship. God comes to Marjane in times of solitude to discuss how she finds her identity in being the last prophet, the troubles within her family, and how she feels about her world as a child in the
In the novel, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi, there are many different themes that you could look at and decide to analyze. I decided to look at four different themes that are brought up throughout the novel. In the novel there is a lot of talk about the contrasting regions of Iran and everywhere else in the world, politics and religion, and warfare.
“Iran was the epitome of evil” This was the world’s view of Iran during its revolution. Persepolis is the autobiography of Marjane Satrapi, and it is written from a child’s perspective. Telling Persepolis from a child’s perspective affects the empathy a reader would have for Marji because people often feel more sympathy for children than other adults. Children are often seen as innocent, impressionable, and kind. This places them in a separate category where they are often judged as innocent until proven guilty because they typically do not have the experience nor the will to lie, hurt, or deceive people. Adults, unlike children, can have all or some of the aforementioned characteristics that cause them to be judged as guilty until
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi is a graphic novel that provides insight into a young girl living in Iran during the hardship of war. Persepolis takes place during the childhood of Marjane Satrapi. It gives a background of the Islamic Revolution and the war in Iran. Satrapi attempts to guide herself in a corrupted world filled with propaganda. She tries to develop her own morality concerning religion, politics, and humanity. Satrapi was blessed enough to have high class status and parents who had an open mindset about the world around them. Thanks to her slightly alternative lifestyle, she is able to reconstruct gender norms that society has set by depicting the different ways women resist them. “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others” by Lila Abu-Lughod is an essay detailing the misconceptions surrounding the veil. Through this essay we can see how colonial feminism, the form of feminism in which western women push for a western way of living on their third world counterparts, has shined a negative light on cultures all around the world - particularly Islamic women. The essay shows how women who don’t conform to American societal structures are labeled as women who urgently require saving. Through this essay one can develop a thorough understanding of the veil itself and the many representations it holds to different entities. Although in Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood Satrapi
Not cognisant of why the world works around them, the main characters in both Persepolis, and A Long Way Gone play roles as victims, while struggling to be heroes. Themes of Revolution and Rhetoric are primarily present in Persepolis, the story of a childhood girl by Marjane Satrapi. The tale is told from the perspective of a young girl, taking place in Iran, during the Islamic revolution. A Long Way Gone, the gripping story of a child’s journey through hell and back, by Ishmael Beah deeply connects to Persepolis in terms of each story’s message. Coping with each’s individual problems, as well as the problems coinciding with the war, each child at one point feels hopeless. As children, they are not advocates of their battles, feeling as if
In the book Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi uses three types of rhetorical appeals in the chapter, “The Veil” to achieve her purpose as a writer. Satrapi uses logos, pathos, and ethos through her words and pictures in the book to convey her messages. She uses logos to enhance her writing by adding significant details, such as: facts, dates, and concrete details. Pathos is another type of rhetorical appeal Marjane uses to capture the audience's attention, through emotion while focusing on her main point, the veil. Lastly, Satrapi can prove her evidence she states, through her credibility, which is shown through ethos.
Of the many items that help enhance the horror of the Nazi Holocaust, one of the most notable is what it had of systematic and bureaucratic. Not only killing people, which would have had already been enough, but precisely being made in a quiet and civilized way. It is not strange the image of the Nazi leader quoting his favorite poet while sending to death hundreds of people, belying the myth that culture and education make people better. The Holocaust was primarily an act performed with such rationality that could only become insane. It almost seems that it could have been avoided by appealing to the same reason as well served to run it.
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
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.
In Persepolis, stories are told from young Marjane’s perspective. In almost every story, things are happening in her town that are causing conflict to her neighbors, her friends, and her close family. In particular, the story titled “Kim Wilde”, Marjane is the center of the conflict. Ladies from the Women’s Branch of the Guardians of The Revolution caught her on the street wearing Nike sneakers and a blue jean jacket adorned with a Michael Jackson pinback button. She was questioned and taken into further hands, but pleaded her case and was released from any further questioning. It is unfathomable to even think about myself, being stopped as I walk across campus at Mississippi University for Women, getting stopped and questioned (even perhaps, punished) for what I am wearing. However, things
Pesepolis is an autobiographical graphic novel depicting the life of Marjane Satrapi during the Iranian Revolution. In the early pages, Marjane illustrates that she saw herself as a prophet. She wanted to change the world, and with the help of God, she thought that she could.
One of the most important symbols throughout Persepolis was the veil because it largely symbolizes Marjane satrapi's coming of age. It symbolizes this because as a year old child she gets it the first time she doesn't understand why so she plays with it. As a child many of the schoolchildren play games and don't take it serious. It was just given to her by the teacher in 1980. At that time under the new rule it became an obligation for girls to wear them to school. The veil wasn't introduced to them at this time and separated both genders. Marjane didn't like this and it seemed unfair to her that all of her friend now had to become separated. However this was only the very beginning of the events to come.
In the beginning of the book Marjane is more often dressed in white, but as the memoir progresses, she begins to lose the white clothes, just as she losses her innocence.
Persepolis was written by Marjane Satrapi and was published in 2004. Marjane wrote this book to tell the life that she was living and the difficulties she faced. Persepolis takes place at the same time as the Islamic Revolution. The Islamic Revolution is seen to be one of the most important events to take place in Iranian history. This is significant to know while reading the book because it shows how the revolution affected the people of Iran. The girls were forced to wear veils to school; boys and girls were separated from their schools, which caused the people of Iran to begin protesting against the Shah. They wanted a democracy and to overthrow the king. The protest became more dangerous everyday; people were being killed for standing up for what they believed in. One day while Marjane’s mother was protesting, her picture was taken and published in the newspaper. She was terrified, so she dyed her hair and wore dark sunglasses. She felt as if someone recognized her then they would try to kill her for being a demonstrator. The story is told from the eyes of a young, determined Satrapi. At first she believed that the Shah was a great leader because her teacher told her that he was chosen by God. However, her father informs her that he wasn’t chosen by God. She also learns that her grandfather was a prince and a prime minister who was imprisoned for behaving as a communist. At