ipl-logo

Historical Events In Persepolis

1263 Words6 Pages

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. Persepolis begins with an introduction to the Iranian Revolution, and the fall of the Shah. Satrapi shows us the burning of the Rex Cinema, an example of the Shah’s oppression (10/11). This is effectively showcased with a splash panel, which depicts the ghosts of those who died in the fire (15/2). This imagery is powerful - the deaths and pains of those inside are unimaginable; despite the difficulty in portraying this, Satrapi is able to communicate this through the illustrated facial expressions of the ghosts, along with the ghosts running towards the exits of the cinema. The text by itself is less effective, as it simply describes what happens with little emotion, but the imagery complements the text in order to convey the emotion and pain. We also see the oppression of the Shah when Marjane’s grandfather is forced into jail. This inspires

Show More
Related

  • Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis Essay

    840 Words  | 4 Pages

    “I don’t think of myself as a rebel; I just say what I think” – Marjane Satrapi, the author of Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, once said. Persepolis is an autobiography of the author as a young girl growing up throughout the Islamic Revolution, which is displayed as a graphic novel. Throughout the novel, Marjane goes through many trials which mold her to become more rebellious and independent. Marjane becomes more rebellious and independent through her classmates influence, the wars restrictions, and the adults around her.

    Read More

  • The Iranian Revolution: Marjane's Persepolis

    1393 Words  | 6 Pages

    In the nine years following the Iranian Revolution, over 30,000 people were executed by the Iranian government as a result of their values conflicting with the conservative Islamic ideals of the new regime (McTighe). The graphic novel Persepolis explores this change in government and the conflict-ridden road leading to it through the story of a young girl named Marjane and her family. It explores how the family’s Communist values cause them to being willing to risk their lives calling for a change and speaking out, first for the overthrow of the corrupt king, then against the Islamic regime. As Marjane struggles with the trials of growing up, she is also forced to live through a series of conflicts which force her to examine her values and

    Read More

  • Juxtaposition In Persepolis

    1269 Words  | 6 Pages

    An impenetrable way through perseverance and resistance in the book “Persepolis” has sent a powerful message to audiences everywhere. This graphic novel is a story of small Marji, who had to face formidable obstacles through her childhood. Living in Iran surrounded by war and thousands of deaths, inspired the little girl to fight for her rights. On page 102 of the book, we can see a powerful juxtaposition, where both of the panels have a profound effect on the reader. Looking at the elements of a graphic novel, Satrapi uses caption, movement and mood in both of the panels in order to enhance the significance on the narrative.

    Read More

  • Marji's Loss Of Identity In Persepolis

    962 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Persepolis Essay

    747 Words  | 3 Pages

    The graphic novel, Persepolis, is a much more complex book than a reader would assume. There is always a deeper meaning in the tales that the author tells for the duration of the story. Unrequited love is a minor part of Marji’s life, but the stories that she tells that are focused on love hold messages that everyone can learn from. Persepolis is an autobiography, which creates a personal aspect that a biography lacks. For example, miniscule changes occur throughout the novel that are subtle but revealing.

    Read More

  • The Context In Persepolis: Novel, And Society

    1083 Words  | 5 Pages

    The story begins with the life of marjane and ends with her life. But in the background, the novel involves the war in Iran. Iran is always at war which includes the Iranian revolution and the struggle of people after the revolution. Though these are not implied does not affect their significance. They have a very important function of shaping the actions of the characters of novel which have long lasting effects.

    Read More

  • Childhood In Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis

    957 Words  | 4 Pages

    The theme of repression is an ever-present issue in Persepolis. The picture on the right shows a bearded Islamist explaining to children why the veil needs to be imposed to counter Westernization. However, Satrapi’s home was a place of liberal values and free expression. This is shown in the scene where Marji is split between

    Read More

  • Adversity In Persepolis

    149 Words  | 1 Pages

    In Satrapi’s graphic novel Persepolis, she utilizes this novel in way to overcome the barriers between those who want long novels and those who favor visual representations. This grants readers a unifying and jointed medium that bridges the gap between different types of readers— engaging a wider audience as a genre. Satrapi’s extraordinary story gives us an autobiographic account of her life growing up in Iran during the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Satrapi’s representation of her childhood self illuminates her relationship with her parents and others, depicting herself as bold and honest even in the face of adversity. Though she doesn’t subscribe to the beliefs of Islam like others, she utilizes this to think for herself.

    Read More

  • Conflict In Satrapi's Persepolis

    976 Words  | 4 Pages

    The graphic novel, Persepolis that is written by Satrapi depicts the coming of age story of Marjane and her experiences during and after the Iranian war. Through Marjane’s experiences, the character frequently encounters the hardship and conflict of growing up. However, these hardships are major factors that shape Marjane as a character and establish the context of the novel. Within this novel, Satrapi uses graphic novel conventions and literary devices to convey the conflict of Marjane; with herself, with man (in the form of her teachers), and with the society that is revealed in Persepolis.

    Read More

  • American Revolution In Persepolis

    1006 Words  | 5 Pages

    One major being the execution of Marji’s uncle Anoosh who was a revolutionary that escape Iran and fled to the Soviet Union. Once he was killed the Regime claimed him to be a Soviet spy. Satrapi shows us this as reason to why hardly anybody would single handedly speak out. The government had no problem silencing anyone who spoke out against them and they had no problem of the public being aware. Although some people would clearly speak out on the harshness of the Revolution other would defy it in silence, example being Marji herself. She would buy American tapes and try to make her fashion more Western like.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In Marjane's Persepolis

    1088 Words  | 5 Pages

    For the rest of her Iranian education, Marjane is separate from boys except for when she plays with them at home. Another way that gender roles play into Persepolis is the fact that all of the leaders mentioned were male. Marjane’s great Grandfather, Reza Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (“the Shah”), and Mohammed Mossadegh are just to name a few male Iranian leaders who ruled during or just before Marjane’s time. Another manner of gender roles in Persepolis is the way women are treated by men. For example, the incident where two men bombarded Marjane’s mother and told her that women like her should be raped against a wall and thrown in the garbage (Satrapi 74).

    Read More

  • Identity Crisis In Persepolis

    1436 Words  | 6 Pages

    The graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is an animated ‘identity crisis’ showing how she has trouble reconciling the Eastern and Western values that she has been influenced by. By ‘identity crisis’ I mean Marjane is uncertain about who she is and where she belongs to. The Eastern values would include hierarchy, restraint, collectivism and deference, whereas the Western values would include equality, freedom of expression, individualism and self-assertion. A graphic novel can be defined as a book containing a long story told mostly in pictures but with some writing. I intend to investigate why Satrapi has chosen to use the graphic novel instead of using other styles to present Marjane attempts to reconcile the different values and find

    Read More

  • Persepolis By Marjane Satrapi

    358 Words  | 2 Pages

    The graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi tells us a first-hand experience about the Iran-Iraq war and the changes Iran men, women, and children had to deal with throughout the time period. The author dealt with the war and society first handily. She tells the readers about her life story and experiences. She was born in Iran in 1969. The Iran-Iraq war began in 1980, so at the age of ten Satrapi was already dealing with changes and conflicts she didn’t quite understand.

    Read More

  • Marjane Satrapi

    1207 Words  | 5 Pages

    With the use of her drawing techniques, Satrapi demonstrates her desire to eliminate the moral ambiguity in the western world. Moral ambiguity is when a lack of clarity is present while dealing with an issue that has moral elements within it. Satrapi uses the lines and color contrast in her graphics to clarify ethical decision making when the westerners are making their opinion on Iran and the middle east. Due to Satrapi’s clear and distinct separation of the oppressed and oppressors in the graphic novel, she was able to tell the world what Iran truly was. When the graphic novel ‘Persepolis’ was translated in 2002 it was after the attacks on 9/11, these attacks had all Americans shook and the dislike of such “islamic nations” was very common, Dislike and hatred was spread throughout the westernized world and it only got worse as presidents spoke out in frustration and anger about Iran, this anger turned into the perspective of many westerners as they were never exposed to the real truth of what Iran was.

    Read More

  • Literary Devices In Persepolis

    1203 Words  | 5 Pages

    To what extent is the literary devices shown in Persepolis increase the impact of the novel and show the culture of Iran in the 1970s? In the novel Persepolis by Majane Satrapi, she tells the story of her life living in Iran in the 1970s. In this novel she discusses the atrocities committed by both sides of the bloody Iranian revolution and how both sides truly were. In the novel, Satrapi uses several literary devices to enhance the meaning of the novel to a much greater degree than directly telling the reader. Still, these literary devices also allow the reader to peer into the very culture of Iran in the novel and how certain objects can mean certain things both from within the culture and the context of the novel.

    Read More

More about Historical Events In Persepolis

Open Document