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Religion In Marjane's Persepolis

417 Words2 Pages

The novel Persepolis does an excellent job of illustrating what happened during the revolution and the war, both of which branched off of religion and its roles in Iran. Since religion is becoming more integrated into Iran’s government, the people in the country are banned from leaving the country, as well as not being allowed to dress in the attire of their choosing. Consequently, all of this moved Iran away from western civilization and the associated norms. An example of Iranians not being allowed to wear the clothing of their choosing would be when Marjane is almost arrested for strutting around a denim jacket, Nike shoes and other miscellaneous “punk” clothing. “Go on, get into the car. We’re taking you down to the committee,” (133) is what is said to Marjane by the guardians of the revolution. …show more content…

In addition to the revolution not only banning people from expressing themselves, it also discontinues all of the non-religious schools of Iran. More importantly, one of these schools that is closed is Marjane’s original school. The reason all of this happens is due to the Shah declaring that, “All bilingual schools must be closed down… They are a symbol of capitalism” (4). After the Shah says this, all of the schools without religion are shut down, and all of the students sent off to religious schools. Inevitably, students are being forced to learn and partake in a religion that they didn’t get to choose. Consequently, this all means that the focus of education is being heavily dictated by religious beliefs and practices, rather than actual education. Individuality, along with the citizens of Iran, is suppressed by uniting religion and government. Religion forces the people of Iran to conform or face consequences. Marjane shows that this is true countless

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Since the birth of the revolution, reforms were put into place, including that of implementing the veil into the daily lives of women (3/3). It is then in 1980 when “it becomes obligatory to wear the veil at school,” and girls “find themselves veiled and separated from their guy friends” (3/4), (4/6). The veil can be viewed as an oppression of freedom, in which the women are not allowed to express themselves as they should be able to. For example, “Everywhere in the streets there were demonstrations against the veil,” in which the image depicts women wearing the veil and chanting “the veil,” while the other women in the other half of the picture are not wearing the veil and shouting “freedom” (5/1). This emphasis of the veil plays a significant role in the lives of everyday women in Iran, in which their freedoms are stripped by the harassment of the other traditionalist women and men in society.

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When Marjane is a child, she was very obedient. She followed the rules of Islam and the rules that her parents had established. As Marjane grows older, she begins to lose her innocence. She grows into this girl who is rotten. She does not obey Islam, she begins to not obey her parents, and she causes trouble in her school.

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