The Influence Of Religion In Persepolis By Marjane Satrapi

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

Throughout Persepolis, Marji chooses to do many things that aren’t very logical, although in her own eyes, she thinks otherwise. This  reflects onto her personality, and shows how she has the tendency to rebel. From the beginning of the book to the very end, Marji has a very rebellious nature, and there are a variety of sources that she could’ve gotten this trait from.  Due to Marji’s rebellious nature, she makes a variety of illogical choices, involving religion, appearance, and her aptitude to always focus on herself.

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.

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.

In her short story, Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi writes about her accounts of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. As a child, religion was of extreme importance to Marji, so much so that she would talk many hours to her imaginary friend, God, about her dreams of becoming a prophet. But as the revolution began to take hold of her and her family, the new regime forced Marji to rethink what religion means to her. Does fundamentalism have the opposite effect on some of the followers of God?

Throughout the Iranian Revolution, many events and changes took place that largely affected the views of Iranians by other nations. The graphic novel, The Complete Persepolis, written by Marjane Satrapi (Satrapi, 2003), conveys many of these events and changes through the eyes of a child growing up in the 1980s in Iran. Satrapi’s main purpose for this book is to describe how the Iranian government was corrupt, causing foreign nations to have a tainted view of all Iranian citizens. The Complete Persepolis does so by presenting major events and changes in a manner that is directed towards audiences that are willing to have an open mind about ethnicity and false stereotypes, and an audience that is young and can relate to the “coming of age” aspect of this novel. By exhibiting a credible first hand account of how Satrapi and many others were affected by the events that took place during the Iranian Revolution, The Complete Persepolis can effectively persuade a reader to eliminate the “Islamic extremist” stereotype that the corrupt Islamic Republic gave all Iranian citizens.

Imagine a child growing up in a war-torn country, and imagine them having no idea where she or he fits in all this. This child at first holds onto their religion because it is safe and the only thing solid in their crumbling world. Yet, this too will be taken from the child. Now lost and confused the child must find their way in an unfriendly world. This is not a fictitious story. This is an actual event that happened to the author of The Complete Persepolis. Marjane Satrapi, the author of The Complete Persepolis, grew up during the 1979 Revolution. This event changed many people’s lives, either it was for the better or worse is hard to say. Nevertheless, it influenced Satrapi 's whole life. In the book, Satrapi expresses her childhood memories through her eyes as a child. Her experiences and ancestry can be clearly shown throughout the whole book. Satrapi’s family background/past, her parent’s perspective and her own life experiences in foreign countries have caused her to grow and evolved throughout the years.

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.

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.

Western culture has often misperceived the east and the way that their society functions. In Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, Satrapi uses graphic novels as a way to demonstrate to the western culture how the east has been misrepresented. The use of media helps to depict to the west how their views of the east may have been unfairly formed in the past. The media has only revealed limited knowledge that only shows partial perspectives because it is difficult to get perspectives of the minorities although they are the ones who hold the most truth. In other words the use of graphic novels and a child’s perspective give the west a new idea on how it is that society in the east functions. This style of writing brings the connection between the two

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

How does religion affect people’s everyday lives when living under Islamic rule? In Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel, Persepolis, she discusses living in Iran after the Shah’s exile and when the new Islamic regime is implemented. Religion, primarily Islam, plays a significant role in the novel, and not only affects how people perform their religious acts, but also how they behave publicly. Religion has forced changes upon characters in the book and has made their interactions with each other mostly centered around their beliefs. Throughout the book, there is ample evidence of how religion has defined characters. Specific evidence is depicted through Satrapi’s growing rebellion, Marji, and her family feeling pressured to lie to the police and people around them, and citizens beginning to give up on religion and everything they believed in prior to the revolution.

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 world stereotypes different types of culture, but real identity can be only defined by a person who has experienced the specific way of life. In Persepolis The Story of a Childhood, by Marjane Satrapi, the author creates a graphic memoir representing her childhood growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. Satrapi evokes perfectly regarding her childhood, her reaction towards the Islamic Revolution. She is rebellious to the Islamic revolution’s new regulations and enforcement and decides to take a secular approach to defend her rights. In Persepolis, the narrator illustrates the opposition against the Islamic Revolution and Shah’s reign and as well as her pursuit in a secular culture. Her opposition and desire allow the readers to reconsider on past stereotypes about the Middle Eastern culture.

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