Persepolis is a graphic bildungsroman by Marjane Satrapi which is based on Satrapi’s childhood memories and her coming of age throughout the novel. At the start of the book, Marji is 10 years old, living in Iran, when she starts talking about her childhood and she ends the book by going to France at the age of 24. She is also interested in knowing about war and politics. Surroundings that people grow in can affect and influence them in many ways. Marji talks about the laws and problems that she and her family face. As a protagonist, she moves from one place to another and finds it challenging to express what she feels and thinks as an outsider. It is also challenging for her to change from a child to a woman before having her own identity. I will prove how Marji’s experience affects her coming of age as an outsider, I will talk about the chapter entitled “The Pasta” which would relate to Marji’s adolescence. This will allow me to show how Satrapi's style can leave an impact on the …show more content…
The bold illustrations that Marjane Satrapi has shown can make the readers feel that she is symbolizing Iran as a black-white country as per as she doesn’t use colors. Satrapi uses various kind of literary devices which makes exaggerate her thoughts. The readers could explicate the tone that she wanted to show visually and verbally. For example, there were some parts of the book which would show seriousness. On the other hand, some parts would show sadness when someone would be dead or worried. Persepolis can be a perfect example that can leave an impact on the readers about the issues that are addressed. For example, the unfair treatment of women in society or inequality between men and women, religion vs modernity, and etc. Reading such kind of novels can help the readers understand the world more
People are like cameras and their personal experiences can be their lenses that change and modify the actual picture. This evident in Marjane Satrapi’s book Persepolis because the whole book is about a girl growing up, and forming her own opinions. Furthermore, Marjane has to mature in the turmoil of an Iranian-Iraqi war, she also has to survive the brutal Islamic regime governing her. This creates a very particular point of view considering that the parents raising Marjane are against the new form of government, and actively protest, risking their lives. As a result, this rubs off on her creating a very rebellious and dauntless little girl, who isn’t afraid of the new oppressors.
Most nations can be identified with a particular culture; this is evidently important. A country establishes a culture which allows other individuals to understand the background on a country like Iran. Within the bearings of certain cultures, individuals can face dilemmas. In addition, these dilemmas can turn into social differences within a society. In the country of Iran Marjane Satrapi encountered many social discrepancies in her youth.
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.
Throughout Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi clearly links her identity struggles and oppression to her suicide attempts and ongoing depression. As Satrapi slowly starts to fall into this depression, many facets of her life are changed in horrific ways. Her relationship with her grandmother quickly goes down the drain, and her friends hated who she was becoming. Along with her friends, her therapist even begins to be a cause of her diminishing self-confidence.
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.
At the beginning of the revolution in 1978 she fell in love with the neighbor son, so they were talking by letter that Marji helped her to write, But the relevant point, is not that, it is that when the boy realized that Merhi was the maid of Merji’s family they had to stop talking. So in this chapter Merji’ father affirm in a frame ‘’because in this country you must stay within your own class’’ and then Merji said ‘’ But it is her fault that she was born where she was born?’’(p.37) this last sentence expressed how kids mind is crucially dominated by the society stereotyped that were more notorious in the revolution in 1980’s.
The role of politics in Marjane Satrapi 's life is a critical one, as seen in her graphic novel Persepolis, which narrates her experiences as a young girl raised by revolutionaries during turbulent times in Iran. Particularly, Satrapi uses juxtaposition between her parents and children to highlight the hypocrisy and myopia of the upper class revolutionaries when it comes to the interpretation and implementation of their political ideology. Satrapi builds the foundation of her criticism through the superficial comprehension her child self exhibits regarding her parents '—and, by extension, upper class communists '—ideals, then warns about the dangers that such lack of understanding presents through child soldiers who are fed ideologies and then sent to war. However, while pointing out the shortcomings of the movement, Satrapi 's use of children as the vessels for comparison entails that there is room for the communist community to develop, like Marji does as she matures from child to teen, and encourage equality through the removal of social barriers created through binaristic thinking to truly promote communist ideals. The first point of juxtaposition is Marji herself, particularly her initial myopic thinking as a child.
It also illustrates a belief in personal freedom because she is wearing clothes that are frowned upon. In this panel, Satrapi is challenging the negative stereotypes about Iranians by showing that people do still want to be free and not part of the Islamic regime. In the book Persepolis the author shows many reason as to how everyone in Iran didn’t want the Islamic regime. Satrapi challenges stereotypes about Iranians by showing people still want a better life and also by showing Individualism in Marjane.
Instead of a simple coming-of-age story, Satrapi outlines the social and economic conditions that shaped her childhood and adolescence. The simplicity of a child’s mind and her confusion at adult notions is a constant theme in the book. This is brought forth in Marji’s childlike understanding of the
Have you ever wondered why girls and women in the Middle East are obliged to cover their heads wearing a black veil? Have you ever wondered why the Shah of Iran was executed? You can find the answers to these questions in the book entitled Persepolis. A nine-year-old, rebellious Marjane lives in Iran in the 1980s during the Islamic Revolution when the new Islamic governmental law forced all young girls to wear a veil and to move to female schools. Her parents and extended family fought against the new Islamic regime, but after four years, fearing for their daughter’s safety they sent her to Austria alone.
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.
Clothing and fashion as a marker of cultural identity in Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis. Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel Persepolis, presents the central tension of Marjane struggling with the relationship of her nationality and herself by seeing the transition of clothing, makeup and accessories that female characters wear in the book. During her teenage years, she had been to a lot of countries and she always felt like she couldn 't find her real identity, either as a westerner or an Iranian. The book presents a lot of struggles with her trying to figure out her relationship, nationality, and her identity.
After the Iranian Revolution, it became compulsory for women to wear the veil as the Islamic dress code and all women were removed from government positions, leading to increasing oppression and inequality in Iran. The use of black and white on the first page of the book creates a very clear image that a lot of people are unhappy with the new rules that are introduced by the government. The use of images shows us the oppression of freedom in a way that it would be hard to imagine with words. The first panel shows Marjane in a somber mood, crossing her arms to show her defensive thinking against the veil and the world. In the following panel, the girl’s expressions range from neutral to dislike or discomfort, which shows the general thoughts from people on how they think of the veil.
Both these novels show the constant struggles that people have had to go through to survive. In Persepolis the people of Iran began to protest the Shah by demonstrating. Eventually the Shah fought back by ordering the police to burn down the Rex Cinema, where there were 400 people. “The doors had been locked from the outside a few minutes before the fire and they forbade people to rescue those locked inside, and then they attacked them.” (page 14).
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.