Persepolis

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.

Marji asked her parents if she could go, but they declined every time;however, Marji still snuck out and went. Marji and her maid Mehri proceed on with their plans and go. When they arrive, Marji sees first-hand how people are really being treated, and she does not like it. A little while after the demonstration, Marji decides she is going to wear her new jean jacket and new nike shoes. She gets caught and makes up a lie so she will not get into too much trouble. She wanted to express herself a little bit, and show her own style. She comprehends now that she cannot wear what she wants, and she becomes angry and disappointed. Marji is tired of having to be who someone else wants her to be, and always having someone holding her back. Because of everything going on, Marji starts to do everything her parents ask her to, and she starts rebelling. Marji’s school teacher started being rude, so Marji decided she had enough and stands up for herself. She accidently hits the teacher and gets herself expelled. This promotes a big change in Marji, because she seems as if she really does not care. The final event that changes Marji is the bombing in her neighborhood. She thought her house was her safe place, but the bomb was an eye opener to her that she really was not safe anywhere. Some of the events that change Marji are: Uncle Anoosh’s death, the demonstration, the Nike shoes, getting expelled, and the bomb going off.

Marjane’s friendships are few and far between, after the wake of the revolution. In the beginning of the novel, Marjane’s best friend is God and how she mainly identifies herself. This is significant to understanding the depth of Marjane’s thoughts as a child. She is very different from the rest of the kids. This is evident when Marjane’s says when she wants to be a prophet and her classmates say they want to be doctors, or teachers. Growing up in Iran makes it hard for Marjane to express herself and really identify herself. This affects her friendships with children her age. Marjane is very sympathetic for a child her age, and she deeply understands what her country and family has been suffering through. She sat in a bathtub for hours trying to understand how her grandfather felt. Other children her age were not doing things like this. She often talks to God as mentioned before and this is when Marjane can express herself. She cannot do that with other children so she leans on God and identifies with him. As Marjane grows she meets her uncle who be¬comes the light of her life and her new best friend. He tells her stories about his struggles and Marjane begins to identify herself in his stories. In this quote her Marjane is talking to other children her age, she says “ There are lots of heroes in my family, my grandpa was in prison, my uncle Anoosh too: For nine

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.

The Iranian government forced its control on children by forcing segregating the schools and making girls wear the Iranian headscarf. Wearing the scarf represents the concealment of childhood in Iran for Marjane and her friends. Reformation in Iran comes with the protests, violence and eventually war which disguise the chance of childhood for the youth of the country. Marjane says, “we found ourselves veiled and separated from our friends” (4). Concealing these children from the childhood they deserved left them to deal with fear, anger, loss and death. Her story highlights the lack of stability children need to grow into responsible adults. Marjane’s story represents the thousands of children in Iran who are lacking the proper elements for child development because of the revolution.

Taji says this because she also believes strongly in what she has taught her daughter and to her, Ramin is too young to fully understand the meaning behind his words. Although she criticizes Ramin’s parents for this, she does the same thing with Marji. Marji’s opinions on the revolution are shaped by the stories her father tells, what her teachers tell her in class, and what she hears from her friends. As Marji grows and gains her own experience and knowledge about the world, she is able to use it to form her own opinions about the Iranian Revolution. However, as a child, she is too young and inexperienced to form a well-thought opinion.

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

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.

For example, Marji realizes how atrocious the Iranian government is. She reads up on the Revolution to understand more of it. Marji grasps how prevalent the revolution is when she figures out the differences between social classes affects her and her maid. She is mad at the fact her maid cannot have the same opportunities as her family because she was born in a different social class. Marjane expresses, “Is it her fault that she was born where she was born” (Satrapi 37). Social classes can divide communities. Traditional ideals forbid marriage between classes, so it is particularly difficult for anyone to advance to a different social class. When the lower class begins to make an attempt to climb the rigid social pyramid, conflicts begin. Western values are not as strict on social classes, movement is allowed and encouraged. Their principals make it easier for people to progress in class, lessening the divide in communities. The Islamic Revolution causes the differences in social classes to increase far beyond an acceptable amount. Marji was particularly close with her maid in the comfort and privacy of her

Soon after the revolution, Iran became one bundle of chaos as the country began experiencing internal difficulties with the new republic. Then with the war between Iran and Iraq, violence became Marji’s daily lifestyle. The Iranians were left to themselves to protect their friends and family from the bombings and other types of violence happening in plain sight. Many unfortunate individuals lost their belongings as well as close friends and family. For example, a close friend of Marji’s mother, Mali and her family, lost her and her family’s belongings in a bombing. The family found refuge in Marji’s home until they left Iran for good. They were one of the few families who understood the severity of the violence overwhelming Iran.

When she sends Marjane away from Iran, she assures her: “I know how I brought you up. Above all, I trust your education” (147). Marjane’s mother doesn’t want her daughter to live in such an oppressive time. When the veils become mandatory, Marjane’s mother wishes to take her to an opposition demonstration: “She should start learning to defend her rights as a woman right now!” (76) In growing up with such strong female role models, Marjane learns to express her opinion and always stand by her beliefs. They taught her to stand up for herself as a woman, and in doing so, introduced her to a feminist perspective on life.

Religion is also very important because since Ayatollah Khomeini was a very religious leader and had radical ideas about religion and politics, once he came into power he made Iran a fundamentalist country. The reader sees Marjane’s perspective about the new rules of Islam. At school her classmates and her make fun of the rituals they are forced to do because they do not understand them. The reader also sees Marjane parents’ perspective. Her parents strongly disagree with all the new rules they are to follow unless they want to be severely punished.

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

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, is an autobiography, written by Marjane Satrapi. Satrapi wrote about her childhood while living in a country when everyday was a struggle because of the different wars and the different dictatorships that were taking place in Iran at the time of 1980. Satrapi showcases her autobiography as a graphic novel, explaining this memoir through images which gives the reader an understanding of what the author is trying to display through the words that go along with the image.Without the images, the author's words alone would not be able to help the reader understand what the author is trying to portray.

The book starts off with a confused Marji, who does not understand why she is being forced to wear a veil to school. She also doesn’t understand why her school no longer has boys either. These changes mark the beginning of political and religious turmoil in Iran. Marji’s family is very active in political protesting and support the revolutionaries, including Marji’s uncle Anoosh. Anoosh fled to the U.S.S.R due to the Iranian regime thinking he was a spy. Marji and Anoosh had a very strong bond. He taught her about her families past and his experiences in prison. Soon after Anoosh and eventually executed. Because of her family’s actions, Marjis one passion is social activism. Her dream is to become the next prophet. Eventually Marji’s parents decide that Iran is not a suitable place for Marji to be. Being as independent and outspoken as she is, these attributes often get her in trouble and lead to her being expelled. Fearing for what bigger punishments might come, Marji’s parents ultimately decide to send her to boarding school in