Persepolis Marjane Satrapi Analysis

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.

In the beginning of the book Persepolis it depicts and retells the story of the author's loss of innocence and faith. As a child growing up, Marjane constantly claims god called her to be a prophet. She had an imaginary friend known as god and would talk to him and god would speak to her. “Yes, you are, celestial light, you are my choice, my last and my best choice.” (Satrapi, 8) Throughout her childhood, God encourages Marjane to become a predictor of the future. The readers begin to see her detach from her faith little by little as Marjane begins

For readers who live in different countries with a huge difference in comparison to their governments such as America. Readers in America would most likely interpret this book as a call of pity or rather an eye-opener to other countries as “Persepolis” shows the culture and economy of Iran. In American they have a democratic government meaning that people have the right to fight and speak up for their ideas and beliefs, in other terms they have the right to freedom of speech, unlike in Iran when people protest to the government or ruler they get shot right in the spot or rather imprisoned and torture.

The conflict in Persepolis is shown through the changes that are caused between families, women and children when fundamentalist Islamic state takes over Iran. The story progresses though the main character, Marjane’s point of view and experience.

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

The historical background of Iran is the most important idea that influences Marjane 's novel. Mohammad Reza Shah was the leader of Iran from 1941 to 1979. During his reign, Iran was living a westernized life. He initiated a revolution called the White Revolution, which included permitting women to vote, the abolition of illiteracy, land rehabilitation and distribution of oil. Basically, everyone in Iran, including Marjane’s family, was living a westernized live during Shah’s regime. As Satrapi’s mentioned, she used to go to a non-religious French school, in which boys and girls were mixed. On the other side, there was a

One way the Iranian people rebelled against the Iran government was by allowing western influences into their lives or acting more modern than the traditional Islamic government. In the chapter Kim Wilde, she shows her love for music, specifically western music. This is meaningful because the government has outlawed most western or modern ideas or influences. Marjane’s love for western music has even nearly gotten her arrested by the guardians of the revolution when she was walking around town after getting a few tapes of music by western musicians. As she was walking home she was stopped and asked about her clothing and Michael Jackson pin, one of her favorite musicians. This leads to the next act of rebellion Marjane does, her clothes and shoes. During the same time when she was stopped by the Guardians of the Revolution, Marjane was asked about her shoes. Marjane claimed,”I wear these because I play basketball,” (Satrapi 134) but the Guardians refused to believe her and questioned everything she says. Marjane tries to make an excuse so she is not taken away by the Guardians of the revolution. This shows that even through a small act of rebellion such as wearing western clothing, you can be punished for it. This makes everything that does not conform with the government a massive problem. In a final attempt at getting home safely she says, “Ma’am, my mother’s dead. My stepmother is really cruel and if I don’t go home right away, she’ll kill me… she’ll burn me with the clothes iron! SHE’LL MAKE MY FATHER PUT ME IN AN ORPHANAGE” (Satrapi 134). She finally convinces the guardians to let her go and is able to get home safely.This shows the risks Marjane takes to rebel against the Iranian government and

Throughout the book persepolis they have many themes. It has Nationalism, Imperialism, Revolution, Danger, and Religion. The themes all connect to the war with Iran and Iraq. They all happen during the war.

Marjane Satrapi’s perspective on the Iranian Revolution was vivid. She was six years old when it started, and fourteen when it ended. She experienced the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the effects of the war with Iraq first-hand. Satrapi has great accounts of daily life in Iran, with the revolution and demonstrations going on around her. Her ideas were intelligent and outspoken, even though she was as young as she was. She was the great-granddaughter of one of Iran’s last emperors. This gives her a unique point of view to the war going on around her. When she was young, and the conflicts in Iran had just started, they immediately interested her. She wanted to go to demonstrations to fight for what she believed in, just like everyone else was doing. Marjane Satrapi has a first-hand account of the events of the revolution in Iran, and how they affected the people around her and Iran as a whole.

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.

Religion is a subject that affects everyone in many ways. As we have learned in this class, religion is a very controversial word and has numerous definitions, but one thing that’s known is that whatever the religion a person may practice, it will affect their daily lives in some way or another. A person’s religion makes up a huge part of their culture and influences many of their decisions. Persepolis is a film that speaks volumes about how the Islam religion and oppressive government in Iran affected children and adults during the late 1970s to the early 1990s. Throughout the movie, the main character, Marjane Satrapi (also known as Marji), has a difficult time understanding why things were the way they were in society when she was growing up during the Shah’s dictatorship and the Islamic Revolution (Scott, nytimes.com). Marjane’s rebellious, heroic, and outspoken attitude got her into trouble plenty of times, but it was because of her character that she was able to view the problems in society and other parts of the world like no other. There were plenty of symbols and themes in the movie that related to Muslim traditions from what they wore and how they acted to the different experiences they encountered. Closely analyzing the film Persepolis, the audience may see the many ways in which the Islamic religion not only influences the lives of its

Persepolis is a coming of age story for Marji living in the middle of the Iranian war and adapting to the changes to both her culture and her personal life. Inequality between genders is heavily discussed within the story, as well as the struggles between the fundamentalist ideas and customs compared to the less extreme morals of some families: it is shown through the simplistic, but effective images by Satrapi.

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

Her personal perception of religion also justifies that she is product of a very spiritual upbringing. For Marjane to develop a personal relationship with whom or what she believes to be God and to further that relationship with claims of being a prophet at such a young age, it can be assumed she has a deep knowledge base of her religion. Marjane Satrapi’s religious belief is heavily influenced by her environment and interactions with others. Furthermore, the role of religion acts as a safe place for Marjane in her times of uncertainty for a majority of the plot. “I didn’t know what justice was. Now that the revolution was finally over once and for all, I abandoned the dialectic materialism of my comic strips. The only place I felt safe was in the arms of my friend.” (9. 53) Yet again referring to God as something less of authority, she uses her religion as a form of self-comfort.

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