Everything can be viewed from two perspectives; A fist fight, a murder, bullying, just to name a few situations. This is still the case with Iran and it’s people. Iran and its neighboring countries are often portrayed negatively as terrorist, or failed nations. This is not always the truth, however, and one can learn that through Marjane’s coming of age story, Persepolis. The personal nature of the story is told through Marjane’s loss of innocence, her opinions on religion, and her observation of the prominent gender roles. This photograph shows a young girl smoking a cigarette. She represents the loss of innocence because smoking a cigarette is a very mature behavior and is not intended for young children. Also, her face portrays the hard expression of someone who has seen or experienced more than one should ever have to. This makes the girl no longer innocent, nor a child. Not only is this idea shown in the photograph, but also throughout Marjane’s story. At the beginning of Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi is the age of ten years old. Marjane was so unknowing about the world around her and the situations she was experiencing that she was almost oblivious. She explains this when she is forced to wear the veil with all of the other girls at her school. Satrapi states, “We didn’t really like to wear the veil, especially since we didn’t understand why we had to” (3). This was the point where she realized how confusing her life was becoming. As confused as she was, she wanted to