In the graphic novel, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, the story follows Marji, a ten-year-old girl who grew up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution of 1980. Throughout the book, we see Marji grow and learn about life and herself during the time of war and terror. The story follows her journey through many different uprisings and historically altering events in Iran. This leads us to wonder if a specific event or experience was a tipping point in her childhood and if it had a bigger impact than expected. Throughout the book, the Islamic Revolution had the biggest impact on her life and it altered her morals and values.
At the beginning of Persepolis, Marji is ten years old and the Islamic Revolution started in Iran. To her, nothing major happened until 1980. In 1980, it became required to wear a veil at school. Marji and her classmates felt they “...didn’t like to wear the veil, especially since we didn’t understand why we had to.” (Satrapi 3). Marji and her classmates were not informed why they had to wear it, but they just knew they were required to. We see in the graphic on the same page, students had many different opinions on the veil. Some students said “ It’s too hot out!”
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In 1980, it was announced that bilingual schools were to be closed down and that the schools would be separated by gender. Marji was in a French non-religious school until it closed. She felt that she and her friends found”... ourselves veiled and separated from our friends.” (Satrapi 4). She felt as if her identity was stripped from her and her biggest freedom was taken from her. When you’re in elementary school, it feels as if your biggest privilege is your friendships. Friendships can be one of the best and most influential freedoms for a child, and by stripping that freedom from her, Marji grew up very different because she lost a big part of her childhood due to the Islamic
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.
Persepolis Argumentative Essay “If children feel safe, they can take risks, ask questions, make mistakes, learn to trust, share their feelings, and grow.” , (Alfie Kohn). In Persepolis, Mariji’s parents create a safe and free environment within their household to allow her to express herself freely. While she is growing up, she understands the meaning of the revolution through stories, books, and personal events because they provide her with knowledge and can affect her in the future.
Marjane states, “With this first cigarette, I kissed childhood goodbye. Now I was a grown-up” (Satrapi 117). Marjane, just like the girl in this image, has shown her loss of innocence through her perspective. She can no longer be sheltered from her parents or be ignorant in relation to the world around her. The theme of gender roles has heavily impacted Marjane 's perspective in regard to the events occuring in Iran.
Importance of religion in Iran and its society is a crucial point in this graphic novel, Persepolis: A Story of a Childhood. It was mentioned in the novel how the society was corrupted when the Shah took charge. When the Shah took over, this lead to the many rebellions and demonstrations Iran had in order to keep the peoples freedom. The significance of women and how they were treated was also affected when everything changed during the 1980’s. Women are treated not only like trophy wives but they also did not have any sort of freedom for themselves.
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.
Davis Coziahr Mrs. Sondag IB Language Arts 11 May 8, 2023 How Heroes and Nationalism Shape Pride in Persepolis The graphic novel Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, is a memoir about her growing up in Iran during the Islamic revolution. The reader follows the younger Satrapi as she battles with finding how she feels under a new government in Iran. From books telling her one thing and her parents telling her the opposite, to seeing her friend under a fallen building, Satrapi searches to find her identity. As the war rages on and a new form of government takes place, heroes are being idolized and martyrs are becoming the symbol of the revolution.
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi is an autobiography graphic novel that depicts and portrays a girl 's childhood in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. It begins when Marji was 10, in 1980 which was the beginning of the war, to her teenage years. Throughout her life, she experienced a lot of personal problems that were influenced and/or affected by public issues. Also, through the duration of the story, since the plot was during a war, there were many graphic illustrations that created many issues. One major issue that she dealt with was the lack of freedom .
War can turn horrific events into people's everyday lives, after time they can no longer remember a life without death and destruction. Persepolis is a book about the Iranian Revolution and how war shapes the lives of the people in them, especially children who grow up in it. Marji Satrapi is a young girl whose life is shaped by war. She is in her formative years when the war begins and her whole life is changed, they are forced to wear veils and change the way they live. The war shapes the lives of the young girls in that they do not know life outside of it, the fighting and death becomes normal for them.
Imagine if everyone had a pre-determined negative image about you? This is what life was like for Marji, the protagonist of the novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. The book is set in the year 1980, in Iran where Islam was a major religion at the time. This is also the time for the Islamic Revolution which kicked the Shau out of office and made Iran a theocracy. In Persepolis, Satrapi challenges negative stereotypes about Iranians through important characters who oppose the Islamic Regime.
Children are constantly learning about themselves and the world around them. As they grow up, their world expands from their home to peers and, eventually, to people and places they know about. Children should learn about themselves and develop a positive self-image if they have to be successful citizens in society. They must learn how different they are as well how alike they are in relation to others. Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis is the story of Satrapi’s childhood growing up in a tumultuous post-revolutionary Iran.
Like many other bildungsroman novels, Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, features a young girl becoming more aware of her culture, beliefs, and society. Marji, the protagonist, was a girl born in Iran and grew up during the Islamic Revolution. Her story consist of how she copes with the many social and emotional struggles in her society. In the beginning of the novel, Marji is a naive 10 year old with little understanding of the society she lives in. However, as the novel progresses, she becomes more mature and aware of her surroundings.
Everything can be viewed from two perspectives; A fist fight, a murder, bullying, just to name a few situations. This is still the case with Iran and it’s people. Iran and its neighboring countries are often portrayed negatively as terrorist, or failed nations. This is not always the truth, however, and one can learn that through Marjane’s coming of age story, Persepolis. The personal nature of the story is told through Marjane’s loss of innocence, her opinions on religion, and her observation of the prominent gender roles.
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.
Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel Persepolis is a coming-of-age story that shows how the Iranian Revolution changed the lives of Iranian families, and especially how it affected Marjane’s education. The book shows that education can give people the power to fight for change, while also highlighting how political turmoil can disrupt education and lead to violence and oppression. The book shows that education played a key role in the Iranian Revolution. Marjane’s parents were both educated professionals who were active in opposition to the Shah’s regime.
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.