In the graphic novel, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, the story follows Marji, a ten-year-old girl who grew up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution of 1980. Throughout the book, we see Marji grow and learn about life and herself during the time of war and terror. The story follows her journey through many different uprisings and historically altering events in Iran. This leads us to wonder if a specific event or experience was a tipping point in her childhood and if it had a bigger impact than expected. Throughout the book, the Islamic Revolution had the biggest impact on her life and it altered her morals and values.
At the beginning of Persepolis, Marji is ten years old and the Islamic Revolution started in Iran. To her, nothing major happened until 1980. In 1980, it became required to wear a veil at school. Marji and her classmates felt they “...didn’t like to wear the veil, especially since we didn’t understand why we had to.” (Satrapi 3). Marji and her classmates were not informed why they had to wear it, but they just knew they were required to. We see in the graphic on the same page, students had many different opinions on the veil. Some students said “ It’s too hot out!”
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In 1980, it was announced that bilingual schools were to be closed down and that the schools would be separated by gender. Marji was in a French non-religious school until it closed. She felt that she and her friends found”... ourselves veiled and separated from our friends.” (Satrapi 4). She felt as if her identity was stripped from her and her biggest freedom was taken from her. When you’re in elementary school, it feels as if your biggest privilege is your friendships. Friendships can be one of the best and most influential freedoms for a child, and by stripping that freedom from her, Marji grew up very different because she lost a big part of her childhood due to the Islamic