Similarities Between Persepolis And The Great Gatsby

Although The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi represent two vastly different cultures and time periods, both share topics of social divisions, the institutions of life, and morality; however, the two author’s contrasting approaches to these overlapping topics reveal the two author’s respective commentaries on the society within which their work takes place. On the topic of social class, both Persepolis and The Great Gatsby, share the idea that you are born into your class; however, the works differ in the ways they define this idea. Fitzgerald downright challenges this notion of social class with the character of Gatsby, while Satrapi reveals a more convoluted, childlike understanding of social class.

Though Marji is from the middle class and Daisy is from the upper class, both are shielded by their higher class standing. Daisy, being born into money, was brought up into believing that she is meant to be protected, and from this, comes her selfishness; after Daisy kills Myrtle, she “vanished into her rich house, into her rich, full life, leaving Gatsby—nothing”—she disappears from Gatsby’s life entirely, seeking the refuge of her riches and allows Gatsby to take the fall for her wrongdoing (Fitzgerald 149). The immensity of Daisy’s wealth makes her virtually untouchable, even being depicted as “gleaming like silver, safe and proud above the hot struggles of the poor”; Marji’s privilege is analogous to Daisy’s in that she has the privilege of having Western “decadences” like her Michael Jackson pin and Nike sneakers without facing any real consequences. Marji’s continuing rebellion is only met with her parents sending her out of the country due to the fear of her facing repercussions, a choice that was out of the conversation for the poorer