Cultural Identity In Persepolis

To what extent is literary devices used as an instrument to show social, racial, and class differences in Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi? The novelist, Marjane Satrapi, wrote, Persepolis, as a graphic novel to display other countries the progression of the Iranian Revolution through a bildungsroman perspective. The author uses literary devices several times as it narrates the sentiment of Marjane Satrapi as well as civilization in Iran. Marjane Satrapi segregates the western culture to the eastern culture by restating the Iranian Revolution into a graphic novel. The author’s panache affects how the audience interprets the scenario tremendously; Marjane Satrapi ensures this by using imagery.

Persepolis, published completely in October of 2007, is a graphic memoir which encompasses the childhood and adolescence of Marjane Satrapi in Iran during and following the 1979 Islamic Revolution and her teenage years spent in Austria. Satrapi uses her life experiences from living in these two contrasting societies, as portrayed in the graphic memoir, to break the many stereotypes that those reading from a Western perspective may or may not have by showing them women’s roles, Iranian culture, youth culture, and the everyday action of the average citizen of Iran. Throughout the entire book, we see Satrapi constantly rebelling against the rules put in place by the Islamic regime, starting out when she was only ten. We see Satrapi and many of the other girls are using the veil to jump rope with, use as a monster mask, and basically everything but its intended purpose (3 / 5).

Have you ever read a graphic novel with a variety of worldwide problems? From: racial issues, economic issues, women’s rights, political repression, social issues etcetera. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is the authors memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. Marjane Satrapi tells her story through black and white comic strips of her life in Tehran from her childhood ages six to fourteen. Persepolis portrays a memorable portrait of daily life in Iran, as well the perplexing contradictions between home life and public life.

The dual narration of these characters demonstrate the juxtaposition of Mariam who is scorned and isolated by society and is aware of the social stigma for being an illegitimate child, or “harami”, (which is the Farsi term for ‘bastard’) and Laila, a well educated and strong-willed girl who rejects the social norms and values of a women in their society. However, their lives come to a halt, when forced to marry the abusive antagonist Rasheed whose violence is endorsed by societal customs and the law of the land. Conversely, The Yellow Wallpaper written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is a semi-autobiographical short story published in 1892. Exploring the idea of a women’s right to express themselves, that were hindered

This essay will argue what is meant by the representation of the Other in the novels The Icarus Girl and Shadow Tag. The other is a representation of the questions surrounding identity that arise in these texts. The Icarus Girl focuses on the alternate identities of Jessamy Harrison and her struggle to find a fitting identity because of having a multi-national heritage. Shadow Tag takes a different approach to the question of identity, as Irene America attempts to escape her identity as a domestic abuse victim in the blue diary that she keeps hidden from her husband Gil. There is also the question about the identity of the narrative voice of the novel.

For many years, girls in the Middle East struggle with obtaining an education. In the bibliography “I Am Malala” by Malala Yousafzai, she addresses the salience of girls’ education in the Middle East. Malala explains to the reader the horrors as well as the barriers she faced while trying to justify the importance of girls’ education. She uses influential ethos, a tenacious tone, and vigorous pathos to get the reader to perceive that a girl’s education is just as imperative as a boy’s education. Yousafzai wants the reader to know what it is like being a girl fighting for girl’s education.

In her essay, “The Importance of Work,” from The Feminine Mystique published in 1963, Betty Friedan confronts American women’s search for identity. Throughout the novel, Betty Friedan breaks new ground, concocting the idea that women can discover personal fulfillment by straying away from their original roles. Friedan ponders on the idea that The Feminine Mystique is the cause for a vast majority of women during that time period to feel confined by their occupations around the house; therefore, restricting them from discovering who they are as women. Friedan’s novel is well known for creating a different kind of feminism and rousing various women across the nation.

In her novel, The Awakening, Kate Chopin captures the interest of readers with the use of symbolism. The storyline details a time when women had strict expectations of what they should and should not do. The main character, Edna Pontellier, has a desire to change the role that society expected of her, but this view is not accepted very well. Throughout the story, Chopin uses symbolism to skillfully progress the theme of how Edna is struggling to change and be independent and happy with her life. Symbolism is specifically utilized throughout the novel with Edna’s houses, birds, the sea, and swimming.

The life of a teenager is not always as easy as it seems, especially when your parents are at your bag all the time, worrying if you are verbally abusing, disrespectful, unprotected, taking bad decisions or depressed. Rachel Cusk who is an author of novels and books of non-fiction wrote the article Mothers and teenagers: a modern tragedy in The Times on April 5, 2015. In the article, she discusses the relationship between parents and teenagers in her point of view. She got two daughters and she is very aware of how "hard" the teenage life is and the transformation from child to adult. But are teenagers really such a nightmare, as other parents think?

This novel is also autobiographical. Throughout history, women have been locked in a struggle to free themselves from the borderline that separates and differentiate themselves from men. In many circles, it is agreed that the battleground for this struggle and fight exists in literature. In a

Family and Friendship are also main aspects of Taylor’s life, along with other main characters in the story, namely Jonah. As these are big themes of the characters lives, they become themes of the novel. The author of Jellicoe Road uses themes to build her characters. This is shown through not only plot but through language. Marchetta uses simple language techniques in a clever way that allows the most intricate characterisations.

Unpolished Gem is a thought provoking tale that explores the journey of Alice Pung from girl to woman. The memoir fluidly transitions between a series of themes and ideas, but through these a constant concept is explored; the cultural divide. Alice’s culture and background are the foundation of every decision she makes and thus, throughout the entire autobiography, the reader observes the implications of this, and often, the divide this creates. The reader perceives the social division Alice’s culture generates and the impact this has on relationships in and out of the home, and also in Alice’s ability to assimilate. Cultural divide is also apparent to the reader when comparing the expectations of Alice’s family to those of her classmates.

During the Islamic Revolution, religion was very important to the fundamentalist Islamic regime that took power over the secular state. In her graphic memoir, Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi, a spiritual young girl, suffers a deep loss of faith due to the oppressive fundamentalist religion in Iran. This loss of faith causes Marji to experience disillusionment and a loss of identity, which greatly shapes her character. Through her experiences with God, Satrapi comments on the difference between spirituality and fundamentalist religion and displays the negative repercussions of an oppressive religious state.

In the novel The Edible Woman, author Margaret Atwood tackles the difficult subject of anorexia nervosa. Although this subject is often handled with kid gloves by many writers, Atwood’s novel candidly addresses how different food related stigmas affect the main character’s day to day existence. In the late 1960 's, young women faced a society that expected them to conform to certain qualities in both appearance and demeanor. The portrayal of young women in popular movies, television and music of the time period led to internal conflicts among women who struggled to achieve the norm put forth by society.

The text Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi explores many lenses, but the most prominent are gender and culture. Marjane reveals how gender affects the daily lives of people in Iran, she also shows how her life and many other lives were affected due to the cultural changes in Iran. Marji also explains how difficult it can be growing up in Iran for children and how it affects them. The chapter