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Persepolis Research Paper

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Everest Chew
Mrs. Edelstein
Honors English 10
17 May 2017
The Impact of Religious Extremism on women in Persepolis Growing up in the 1980’s within Iran as a female, Marjane Satrapi struggled with the new culture and old world she was subject to. She showed her coming of age and state of mind in her popular graphic novel Persepolis, particularly through the events, actions, dress, and symbolism shown in her novel. These images help us readers carefully analyze the mind and culture of religious extremism in Iran as well as the “American” way some young adults started swaying towards. The novel brings into debate many questions about tradition versus progression and how cultures and individuals struggle with this topic both internally and externally. …show more content…

Due to the rules of Islam, a married woman living in Iran in the 1980’s was practically controlled by her husband. He could divorce his wife just by stating he was going to do so, and was able to claim the children as his no matter what. (USIP, The Women's Movement) Women were forced to follow the traditional Islamic dress, this being the hijab, and were beaten in public if they did not cover up enough. (USIP, The Women's Movement) Since Marjane Satrapi grew up in these times, she firsthand witnessed the oppression of women, making sure to include it in her graphic novel There are, however, women in the Islamic culture who truly believe in wearing the …show more content…

Growing up, girls were, of course, forced to wear the Hijab and traditional clothing to school. (Women’s lives in Iran) Lies from the teachers also came along with that, as they told their students fake things about their country in order to make it sound better. This was shown on page 144 when Marjane challenged her instructor's teachings about political prisoners. They were forced to perform odd rituals to “mourn the war dead” (Satrapi, 95) as well. Displayed on page 95, Marjane and her classmates were forced to beat their breasts in the area of their hearts with their right hands while listening to a song from a loudspeaker. In 1980, universities were closed. (Iran shuts down higher education) Although women and men were not able to go to college and pursue their dreams, but men were allowed more jobs than women were. (Women’s rights in Iran) All this is due to the traditional ideas that sunk back into Iranian culture in the 1980’s, weighing down the freedoms of women and making their lives more

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Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is a graphic memoir that reveals the life of a woman growing up in pre-revolution and post-revolution Iran, as well as her experiences in Western countries. In this book, Marjane recalls and highlights historical events that affect her life during her upbringing in Iran. These include the oppression of the Shah, along with the rise and effects of the regime. These events are integrated into Persepolis in order to showcase their effects on Marjane and the other citizens of her country. These events’ inclusion are important due to the context and understanding that they grant readers unfamiliar with the text.

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Without God as a guiding presence in her life, Marji began to rebel against the ever-encroaching fundamentalist institution as much as possible. Under the pretense of religion, Iran strictly enforced new laws against social gatherings and all items of decadence, “They found records and video-cassettes at their place. A deck of cards, a chess set, in other words, everything that’s banned… It earned him seventy-five lashes”(105). This sudden loss of mediums to enjoy one’s self and prevalence of excessive punishment enforcing the declared moral code (132) were invitations to rebel for Marji.

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They were not allowed to talk to strangers making it hard for them to escape. There are many instances when Betty and her daughter are playing and laughing when other Iranian men and women give them a dirty look. Betty and Mathob are in another fix when they have to follow the dress code which they are not used to and hence get yelled at when they dress up wrong. All women in Iran have grown up with this tradition and style of living and have accepted their faith of being the weaker sex and ready to accept the yelling and violent behaviour of their husband. But Betty lived in America her whole life and knew what freedom and equal rights were and had experienced it firsthand.

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It is later that Marjane and her family watch a man decree on television that “Women’s hair emanates rays that excite men. That’s why women should cover their hair” (Satrapi 74). Women of Iran and around the

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The graphic novel shows how we carry on, with laughter and waterworks, in the face of absurdity. Satrapi clarifies the complications she had altering her typical ways and getting in trouble for articulating herself with the things she enjoyed. Although we see Iran’s way from young Marjane’s eyes; as we learn about Marjane, we also learn about: her mother, father, grandmother, uncle Anoosh, and more. There were many changes for the people of Iran during the Revolution. Marjane just wants to grow up as a normal teenager, listening to rock music and doing what she wants.

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