The Book ' The Complete Persepolis '

People grow up in different way, affected by many different things as they grow and mature, during the process people change perspectives and ideals. In the book "Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi, a middle eastern girl who is coming of age, finds that her environment changes her as the country that she is in goes through an unstable violent state. With the rise of multiple changes, Marji’s family must learn how to adjust to the changing times. While Marji becomes a bystander to the persecution, violence ,and revolution, the main theme of the book is stay true to one’s self and forming one’s true identity through their own will. Marjane Satrapi shows how the quirky, but simple and straightforward communist child in a changing world to a grown young adult who is confused about herself and the world around her.

Even the youngest women are resisting to wear the veil, and is a great example of how western influence is victimizing women that are oppressed and are categorized into a suppressive group by wearing the veil. Satrapi was stuck in two mind sets which were the liberal-minded world of her parents and her religiosity. Another crucial moment of the chapter is where she says, “I really didn’t know what to think about the veil. Deep down I was very religious but as a family we were very modern and avant-garde” (6.1). Satrapi had an important role when this big change happened. She was an individual who had a strong character as a child. Her family sees being religious while not wearing a veil compatible, the government believes the opposite. Satrapi foreshadows how at the end of the story she leaves Iran but never escapes her homeland Iran.

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.

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.

“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

The development of one's personal identity is influenced immensely by outside forces and the experiences that come from them. Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel Persepolis, explores the childhood of Marji herself, during the Middle Eastern War. Growing up during this time lead to the war severely affecting Marji's life in regards to religion, family members, and friends. From this, Marji was given many opportunities to define herself and become her own person, overtime. In Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, the theme of pursuing and defining one’s personal identity is portrayed through the experiences of the main character, Marji.

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

Abayas, shailas, burkas, and chadors: all are forms of veiling in the Middle East, and all are perceived as symbols of oppression and patriarchy by the West. The veil worn by a Middle Eastern woman is striking and beautiful in its simplicity and elegance. The hijab, the most common form of veiling, leaves only the face visible with the neck and hair completely covered. Onlookers are in awe at the mystery and symbolism associated with the many veils created out of fine, exotic silk. But such notions of oppression and patriarchy often associated with veiling are not only inherently biased and ironic – it would be interesting to explore the symbolism behind a mini-skirt or a pair of five-inch heels, no? – but they are also inaccurate. Although veiling has most definitely been used in the Middle East as a “mechanism in the service of patriarchy, a means of regulating and controlling women’s lives” (Hoodfar, 5), it has also been used as a mode for rebellion and self-expression. Marjane Satrapi, an Iranian woman who grew up during the Islamic revolution, resisted the regime and the universalizing nature of the veil in the hope that she could maintain her individual identity whilst communicating her political ideologies. By examining the way in which the veil is represented in Satrapi’s graphic memoir, Persepolis, while also considering the history of veiling in Iran, it will become evident that the veil is not just a political tool used by male chauvinists; it also presents an

The novel “Persepolis” shows many life changes during the Islamic Revolution told through the eyes of a young girl. “Persepolis” was based on Satrapi’s childhood experience in Iran. Throughout the span of the 1970’s to the early 1980’s, Satrapi experiences many changes in her life, not only with the government, or her education, but also with herself. Although she witnessed many violent acts right in front of her eyes, these experiences helped Marji (Satrapi) grow as a young child.

In a modern world of communication and media, misconceptions are plentiful. It is often that surroundings, culture, and rumors have the ability to skew the true image of a person or a situation. In the autobiographical graphic novel, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi, readers are able to focus on the honesty and emotion of stories to capture their own opinion on Iranians rather than previous assumptions. During the time of the novel, Marjane weaves through childhood in an environment that is full of war and political conflict. Slowly Iran turns into a physical and mental prison, and, like many other Iranians, Marjane struggles between finding herself and absorbing the negative activity around her. With accounts of fearful warfare mixed with stories of growing up and coping in a destructive Iran, Marjane Satrapi is able to create a relatable perspective and demonstrate that despite the culture and history of Iran, Iranians are similar to those that live in other countries of the world.

Persepolis is the story of Marjane Satrapi, the only child of two Marxists, growing up during the harsh times of the Islamic Revolution, the overthrow of Shan’s reign and the calamitous emanation of the war with Iraq. Marjane relatives would support the revolutionaries by attending to political protests, including his uncle Anoosh, who she made a deep bond with after he returned from the U.S.S.R., for the cause that Iranians believed he was a spy. This bond does not seem to fade away, not even after he is executed. Marjane’s family made her become invested in the world of social activism, where she wanted to eliminate the inequalities and injustices, and where no one had to suffer. Her goals are not met when they start bombing Tehran, her hometown,

Persepolis and Realism “The harder I tried to assimilate, the more I had the feeling that I was distracting myself from my culture, betraying my parents and my origins, that I was playing a game by somebody else’s rules” (Satrapi 193). In “Persepolis 2: The Story of Return” Marjane Satrapi illustrates rhetoric into every panel presented in the novel. She conveys rhetoric by placing realism into every piece with guided drawings to help focus her perspective of the situations. Much of the focus is placed on Satrapi growing up and realizing her views of the free side of the world isn’t how she imagined it all to be. Satrapi alludes to many of the changes she faces as a refuge living and growing in Austria, and how many of the faces she felt comfort to in the past changed as well.

Persepolis is structured as a graphic novel because Marjane Satrapi was able to use graphic weight, emanata and the organization of panels, to benefit her story. On the page that I chose to take a deeper analysis of Marji’s uncle Anoosh is allowed his last visit with Marji before he is sent to execution. Marji goes to visit him, and they both know that he is being put to death but Anoosh is the only one who speaks and tries to tell Marji that it's going to be okay because he was fighting for something that he really believed in. Satrapi’s choice to write this book as a graphic novel proves to be very beneficial especially on this page.

As her fate “seals” itself, she matures from this child who has strong religious convictions, accepting all that she perceives as gospel, to a young adult, advocating for the her own freedom based on the experiences of herself and others. Due to her ever-increasing exposure to truth, Satrapi realizes the harsh reality that has been enforced upon her people, and decides to act upon those truths upholding a legacy of her own design. Her identity and self-worth are established throughout her years of education, encompassing her growth both morally and mentally as her experience molds the young woman she becomes at the novel’s conclusion. Persepolis serves the role of a Bildungsroman as Satrapi has shown a shift in perspective, along with the society she was living in at the time.

In the graphic novel Persepolis, written by Marjane Satrapi, the author tells her personal life story of growing up in Iran during the breakout of the Iraq and Iran War. Her use of black and white comic strips makes her story come to life in an entertaining and attention-grabbing way. Marjane growing up can be examined by using Erik Erikson’s theory of the eight stages of life. Persepolis shows how a young girl can overcome and turn into a woman that has self-love and finds who she is meant to be in life.