Imperialism In Persepolis

An Islamic dictator trying to force religion and his republic onto unwilling citizens of Iran: this is the childhood of Marjane Satrapi. Imperialism is presented in the story by the constant recapitulation of Iran’s history, and its current(as of the time of the story) state. Social class and gender roles are made evident in the dialogue of the graphic novel. Ultimately, the reader’s view of these three things is affected by Marjane’s perspective.

Imperialism is represented in the image by the analogy of the octopus. The octopus’s tentacles demonstrate the grasp of a higher power(or country) reaching out to control other countries. Just as mother countries control and suck colonies dry, the octopus has a strong grasp over the other lands(or

For example, when Marjane writes, ̈And finally modern imperialism ̈(Satrapi 11), along with her graphic showing the middle-eastern people and other peoples following major powers such as Great Britain and the United States. Therefore, these countries(including Iran) are being depicted as follows and essentially being controlled by these mother countries, and thus is defined as imperialism. To sum it all up, Marjane ́s perspective effects her representation of how we see imperialism in the book due to her country being invaded. Because at this time, Iran and lots of other regions across the world were being colonized and taken over by the major powers of the world. We know this because of the response to western culture in her nation being seen as negative by the rulers. Imperialism

The levels above that represents the enforcers of the Islamic republic that rule over all people. In the graphic novel, social class is presented when Mehri falls in love with Marjane’s neighbor. When Marjane writes, “Like most peasants, she didn’t know how to read and write”(Satrapi 35) she is showing the difference between the lower class who is illiterate and the working class who can read and write. The lower class also cannot be in love with the upper class. Once Marjane’s father discovers the relationship between Mehri and their neighbor, he must then explain to Marjane that different social classes can’t be in a relationship together. This proves that Marjane’s perspective manipulates her presentation of her social class.As well as imperialism and social class, there is also the theme of gender roles within a society. The photograph at left shows gender roles from the view of a 1st world country where the stay at home mother purely takes care of the kids and cooks/cleans for the family, meanwhile the father works and makes money for the household. Additionally, Marjane’s perspective with gender roles is demonstrated in the dialogue as Marjane says, “I am the last prophet,” and then the men question, “A woman?” (Satrapi 6). To build on this, the questioning and doubtful tone of the men in the quote exhibits a biased sexism towards women that continues throughout the rest of the graphic novel. As a result