Persepolis Heroism

Throughout the graphic novel Persepolis, the author Marjane Satrapi makes the main character Marji a typical little girl. Marji and her family live in Iran, and they are figuring out how to live under the rules of the new Shah. At first, Marji is introduced as a girl who loves her live, and who loves her God. As the novel goes on, Marji changes a lot and starts figuring out who she can and cannot be.

Perseus an important character in Greek mythology because he shows many traits valued by Greek culture.What is exactly a hero in ancient Greek mythology and culture, and what role does fate play in myths? A hero is one extraordinary individual who represents the values greatly admired and sought after in ancient Greek society. Perseus showed the epic traits of ;family,perseverance,and couragesness. These were all very valued in ancient Greek culture. I will be; summarizing Perseus' story, how he demonstrates the values of ancient Greek society, and explaining his cultural significance and how fate plays a big role.

Persepolis focuses on major themes like Feminism, Freedom, Religion, War, and Culture. Although this book is about Marjane Satrapi a young girl who lived her childhood in Iran from the 1980’s which was during the Iran revolution, where at a young age she’s already opened up to a warfare environment. This book can be interpreted differently based on the reader’s location, history background with Iran, and the differences in government. In this essay we would be comparing the readers from Iran vs. America.

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.

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

On pages 3 and 4, Marjane gives us the years for, when the revolution began, when children were required to wear a veil and her date of birth. The dates, enable the reader to get a sense the time period and the historical background of Iran. Timelines are imperative to understanding her life story. Next, Satrapi demonstrates pathos through illustrations and the speech bubbles. The emotions of the characters can be shown through their facial expressions and actions they take.

In the graphic memoir Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, the main character Marji and her family are living through the Iranian Revolution, as well as the War. The people of Iran are revolting against the Shah and fighting for what they believe in. During this time, acts of violence occurred and injured many people, their nation was divided. When in time of war or disagreements against certain beliefs, people may use acts of violence to show their frustrations, instead of solving the problem and uniting, Satrapi develops this theme through graphic weight, motif and chapter titles.

Heroes have existed in society for centuries and have been presented in many forms. Whether they were personal idols, literary figures, or real people, heroes represent hope and victory against the evils of the world. People look for heroes in their everyday lives, or often, as characters in tales of extraordinary circumstances. Some of the most renowned literary heroes of all time come from Greek myths. Within these stories about heroic idols, it is common for many main plot points to overlap. Across different genres, locations, languages, and eras the progression of the hero’s journey remains relatively uniform. Generally, it contains three broad components: departure, initiation, and return. The tale of Perseus is a popular tale of an ostracized son of Zeus. Perseus and his mother Danae were nearly killed by Acrisius, Danae’s father, when he sent them out to sea in a chest. They were rescued by a kind fisherman, Dictys, and lived peacefully with him until his brother, Polydectes, decided he wanted Danae for a wife. He tricked Perseus into setting out on a venture to kill the deadly monster Medusa. These events essentially align with the progression of the hero’s journey. Therefore, throughout the myth of Perseus, the character’s quest follows the conventional pattern of the hero’s journey.

Marjane Satrapi was a young independent girl, strongly reliant on her own decisions and logic. However, throughout the novel “Persepolis” she is greatly impacted by many different women in her life. These women helped her develop her character and built her to be stronger and wiser. Women such as her grandmother, the maid, her school teachers and her very compelling mother have helped her to evolve into an independent, ambitious and quite intelligent lady. Throughout this powerful novel displayed by comic strips, Marji never releases her roots and she stays true to herself. This is due to the influence these women had on her.

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

Marjane Satrapi is the author of a graphic novel titled Persepolis. Satrapi’s novel is about her childhood growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. Marji starts out as a young naïve girl that doesn’t realize the evil that surrounds her. Over time through talking to her family they begin to explain to her what is really happening. A panel that really stuck out to me is at the bottom of page fifty. Where it shows Marji with her parents, Siamak reconnected with his family, and Moshen all gathered around together. Siamak and Moshen are the only two talking in the panel. In the picture the families are sitting there with shock and fear, quietly listening to the men talk to each other. Where they begin talking about the abuse the suffered.

Because of these things the guardians were going to take her in, but Marji rebelled against that by crying her eyes out and also by lying.

Not only does Satrapi create environments similar to that in which we might have found ourselves in, she aides us in visualizing these scenes through the imagery of the actual events. She uses this strategy to accurately project her desired viewpoint of the Iranian society to her audiences. Marji recounts, “Thousands of kids, promised a better life, exploded on the minefields with their keys around their necks” (102). In the picture that follows, a clear picture is painted into the reader’s mind of the scenario as the children can be seen with their keys still around their necks as they are killed. Many of our society’s youth today are being sent overseas to do battle in war fronts in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Similar to the keys handed to the Iranian youths, our young soldiers are

In Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, Satrapi uses various methods to show Marjane’s discontent with God after Marjane’s uncle, Anoosh, is executed. The first of the methods that Satrapi uses to show her discontent with God was drawing herself at eye-level with God. In the past, Marjane had always been much smaller than God, but after her uncle dies, she stands on her bed rather than looking up at God. By doing this, Marjane expresses her extreme disrespect for God and how he is no longer a role model for her. The second of these methods were the facial expressions and gestures that Marjane draws on herself.

Throughout the beginning of the novel as I stated in my first paragraph, punching someone with nails isn’t exactly something someone with moral maturity would do. However, Marji greatly matures morally, especially by the end of the novel. I can think of two times she had higher moral maturity. The first instance is when she was in Vienna and decided to come home, not only because she felt it was unfair to be in such a nice place and have her family be in a hell on Earth. However, I think this is a good aspect that shows moral maturity, and psychological immaturity. I believe that as much as her morals forced her to want to be back home, her doctor had told her that she would be in great danger going back, and according to the definition of psychological awareness is very important, but she was aware of the danger she was going to be in. The second time she showed moral maturity I believe she showed psychological maturity. In the end of the novel she stood up greatly for the women of her country. She went to talk to the mayor of Tehran and proposed her new idea of mythology. As she stated hers was one of the most complicated, and it also supported women more, in the drawings and the art it showed women riding mythical creatures and having women be warriors, which is unlike anything the mayor of Tehran has seen. Unfortunately he turned it down, quite abruptly, even if he agreed with it,