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Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis

1562 Words7 Pages

In recent times there is the common belief that Iran is filled with fundamentalists, fanatics, and terrorists, however in the graphic narrative Persepolis the author Marjane Satrapi tells the tale of the common people in Iran those who do not agree with the fundamentalist beliefs, the extremes ideals of the fanatics, nor the terrorists of the region. She shares her story of rebels in Iran who fight against the government whether through rebellious behavior or outright rule-breaking. Satrapi tells of her family and their history like her Communist uncle and royal grandfather. She is unable to avoid the fundamentalists, fanatics, and terrorists as they were and still are in Iran. They even controlled most of the public under their repressive …show more content…

To do this they would get her as many “western” things as they could, in any way they could. “Here, this is for you. Nike’s latest model. And this..’ ‘Wow! Michael Jackson’ ‘And here’s your denim jacket’ ‘Cool!” (Satrapi 130). Satrapi’s parents loved their daughter and wanted the best for her so they went to great lengths in order to make her life a tad different than what the fundamentalist law wanted them to. This included numerous parties which Satrapi attended, both in her youth with her parents and later in life with her friends. For Satrapi these parties were full of fun and rebellion, they allowed for her and her friends to be free of the veil and be themselves in a private place with little fear of being found out and sent to jail for being themselves. This is just one instance of Satrapi working around the government as she and her family do this numerous times. One of these other times was when Satrapi’s parents are bringing Satrapi a couple of posters from Turkey to Iran even though it is an illegal item and they could be jailed for bringing it. “And then my mother had a great idea… ‘Take off your coat.’ ‘Hey, what are you doing?’ ‘Wait, you’ll see.’ She tore out the lining then, she placed the two posters behind it and then sewed it back in,” (Satrapi 127-128). Her parents successfully got through customs and brought Satrapi her posters among other things. Another time of Satrapi going against the government's reactions would be when she went to get tapes from the black market. “For a year now, the food shortage had been resolved by the growth of the black market. However, finding tapes was a little more complicated. On Gandhi Avenue you could find them sometimes,” (Satrapi 132). Satrapi shows that the people of Iran are just like any other people around the world. She shows them having fun, defying the government, and being themselves. However, she cannot avoid having to share

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In Satrapi’s graphic novel Persepolis, she utilizes this novel in way to overcome the barriers between those who want long novels and those who favor visual representations. This grants readers a unifying and jointed medium that bridges the gap between different types of readers— engaging a wider audience as a genre. Satrapi’s extraordinary story gives us an autobiographic account of her life growing up in Iran during the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Satrapi’s representation of her childhood self illuminates her relationship with her parents and others, depicting herself as bold and honest even in the face of adversity. Though she doesn’t subscribe to the beliefs of Islam like others, she utilizes this to think for herself.

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This mutual drive for the Shah’s departure led to “the country [having] the biggest celebration of its history” (42) the day the Shah left. The country of Iran, including the Satrapi family, was brought together by their shared lack of respect for Reza

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The graphic novel Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi is loosely based on her childhood during the Islamic Revolution in Iran and the Iran/Iraq war. Marjane and her family are against the Revolution and the new laws of how women must cover themselves and how all Western products are banned. Marjane struggles with the troubles in her country, especially since she is not afraid to speak her mind. Even though the Regime bans the citizens from partying and drinking alcohol, Marjane’s family and their friends do not let that stop them. Marjane and her family still go to parties because without them it would be mentally hard to deal with the forcefulness of the Regime.

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Imagine if everyone had a pre-determined negative image about you? This is what life was like for Marji, the protagonist of the novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. The book is set in the year 1980, in Iran where Islam was a major religion at the time. This is also the time for the Islamic Revolution which kicked the Shau out of office and made Iran a theocracy. In Persepolis, Satrapi challenges negative stereotypes about Iranians through important characters who oppose the Islamic Regime.

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Persepolis proves that a stereotype of “fundamentalism, fanaticism, and terrorism” is dispelled by learning of the average citizen. Satrapi addresses this in Persepolis by using herself and multiple characters in the book. In America you grow up hearing that the middle eastern people are all terrorist, that statement becomes embedded into your brain. This book shows there is way more to the story that we don 't get on the news. The citizens’ stories need to be told too, because they are the ones dealing with oppression of their country.

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During the Islamic Revolution, religion was very important to the fundamentalist Islamic regime that took power over the secular state. In her graphic memoir, Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi, a spiritual young girl, suffers a deep loss of faith due to the oppressive fundamentalist religion in Iran. This loss of faith causes Marji to experience disillusionment and a loss of identity, which greatly shapes her character. Through her experiences with God, Satrapi comments on the difference between spirituality and fundamentalist religion and displays the negative repercussions of an oppressive religious state.

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The Complete Persepolis is the retelling of the adolescent and early adulthood years of Marjane Satrapi, the author, through a series of comic strips. The purpose of the book is to tell a personal firsthand experience of the conflict in Iran. It is an important book to society in that it tells a perspective that often isn’t heard. The major connection from The Complete Persepolis to class is how revolution and war affects a regime, people of a regime, and the general well-being of a state. This book delves into the details of the revolution that sparks war and how it affects the everyday lives of the people in Iran.

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She knew that it wasn’t all perfect and good but she also knew that it was not a cesspool of despair and darkness that some people make it out to be. So, she wrote the novel in a very smart way, she uses literary devices to show and tell a fantastic story but at the same time uses it as a way to talk about the problems and good things about Iran in the 1970s. This allows Persepolis to live longer and be discussed much longer if she simply didn’t use metaphors. It is also a way to show and teach people about a very heated subject and show them not everything is totally black and white in this world and that sometimes the monsters are actually men but at the very same time people can be great, people can work together to further a cause, people can care and at the end of the day people in Iran are exactly that, people and Marjane Satrapi simply wanted to show that in her novel and she succeeded

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The historical synopsis of Persepolis is her depiction of Iranians and of the battles they encountered, and are still experiencing, in post-revolutionary Iran. Persepolis makes essential pace toward transforming how Western audience discern Iranians. Persepolis gives it readers a glance at how life is like in Iran. However, people base their impression of different countries on what the the media reports. Sadly, the notion of Iranians is usually adverse and associated with fundamentalism, terrorism, and fanaticism.

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Have you ever read a graphic novel with a variety of worldwide problems? From: racial issues, economic issues, women’s rights, political repression, social issues etcetera. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is the authors memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. Marjane Satrapi tells her story through black and white comic strips of her life in Tehran from her childhood ages six to fourteen. Persepolis portrays a memorable portrait of daily life in Iran, as well the perplexing contradictions between home life and public life.

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