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Nationalism In Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis

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Persepolis is a beautifully crafted graphic novel with talent spread equally in the photos and writing. Although the writing is very well constructed, the imagery is very important as well. It helps convey the emotions that the words cannot. However, there are many smaller themes that the book does not cover with its imagery. They can all be summed up with how Marjane's negative outlook in Islam affects her presentation of nationalism and social classes. Marjane Satrapi’s negative representation of Islam and Iranian culture affects her presentation of nationalism, social classes, and religion.This photo shows a group of people following their leader off a cliff. This photo perfectly displays nationalism because it shows that this group of people …show more content…

Nationalism clearly affected by Marjane’s negative representation of Islamic and Iranian culture.The photo provided is an excellent example of religion, as it depicts someone praying to their god. This is shown by the way they are kneeling and have their hands folded. This picture can be associated with how religion is represented in Persepolis. The people of Iran, in Marjane’s opinion, can be embodied by this picture because they are supposed to be praying all the time. Some Iranians believed in lies that they thought would help them get into heaven. For example, young boys that went to war would wear keys that they thought would unlock the door to heaven when they died (Satrapi 102). This was not true and the keys were just plastic cut and painted gold, explained Marjane’s maid (Satrapi 99). This instance shows Marjane describing how the religion became so corrupt in their country that people would attempt to buy their way into heaven. The negative situation Marjane describes supports the thesis because she chose to describe negative moments in order to affect the religious aspects of the book and to evoke a stronger sense of feeling in the reader.This image is a perfect representation of the social divide that is apparent in all civilizations. It shows a top level (assuming the rich) bathing in gold, drinking champagne

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