The world’s perception of the Middle East has always been different, but during the time period Marjane Satrapi wrote Persepolis, western people believed the Middle East to be a place full of terrorists. Iran was seen as a country that was full of evil and Marjane Satrapi wanted to stop this belief in the Western area. Marjane Satrapi wants people to realize that Iranians at the time were being oppressed by the government and were not evil but victims. Satrapi utilizes symbols throughout the graphic novel to show how Iranians were oppressed and the symbols she used were the Hijab, the key, and the bread swan.
Muslim women wear the hijab for various reasons, one being to modest, and to the religion it is a beautiful symbol and other thing that muslims make clear is that wearing a hijab is a choice. In Iran during the Islamic Revolution, the hijab was used to oppress women rather than empower them. Some women, “didn’t really like to wear
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The swan causes her to dream about her telling her friends that, “There are lots of heroes in my family. My grandpa was in prison, my uncle Anoosh to: For nine years!”(61.4) The bread swan is used for Annosh to show that he is still the same man has not become bitter because of the government. Marji having this dream, shows how she is proud that although people in her family have gone through oppression, they have still fought and not given up. In a way, they are like heroes in America like Martin Luther King. Martin Luther King and black people in America were oppressed for the color of their skin and although Martin Luther King went to jail, he still maintained his sense of being nonviolent and not letting the enemy win. Satrapi wants the wes to know that they are victims and like any country they have heroes that go through hardships but still keep their demeanor in check and still fight for what they believe