Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood is a graphic novel written by Marjane Satrapi that illustrates the issues with growing up an Iranian child during times of conflict and political unrest. Following the childhood life of Satrapi, a first-hand view of unrest is given to the audience in a simple art form and well-paced story that is easy to follow and stay interested in. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood is a prime example of why the genre of graphic novel functions well as a vessel to convey the issues in the Middle East while still telling an entertaining story of Satrapi’s childhood. The importance of graphic novels as a genre is often lost in the association with comic books, although graphic novels offer a much more comprehensive view …show more content…
A scholarly article by Kristin Fletcher-Spear argues that the term graphic novel is a form and not a genre. She claims that “They lure teen boys, while retaining the qualities beloved by teen girls. They work for ESL students, teach visual literacy and sequencing, and, above all else, they are wildly popular within an adolescent audience.” While this could be true, and naturally might be due to the connection with illustrations and similarities to comic books, graphic novels do just as well as conveying a message and giving deeper meaning than what is just on the surface. When Satrapi meets god in one of her dreams and denounces him we can see not only the state that she is in emotionally, but it contrasts the disparity of Iran at the time and how religion affects the area. As a western audience we may not be able to fully understand the religious strain that comes over Iran at the time, but for many readers seeing a simple God versus no God situation can sum it up well. In a different scholarly article written by Amy Malek, she states “I will argue that Persepolis is a prime example of exile cultural production—as a site for experimentation within various genres (here, that of the memoir and graphic novel), and also for identity negotiation, self-reflection, and cultural translation.” Here Malek agrees that the genre of graphic novels can indeed effectively portray complex issues
Persepolis is a memoir of Marjane Satrapi growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. During her childhood she experienced the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the traumatic effects of the war in Iraq. (add one more sentence) The scenes in the graphic novel Persepolis not only tells a story of a young girl growing up, but they also help readers understand how Iran’s Revolution impacted its people.
Persepolis is a inspirational story written by Marjane Satrapi in the perspective of a young girl’s life during a powerful, historical moment in Iran. The Islamic Revolution was a life-changing moment that impacted her view on the world around her and her innocence shaping her into the woman she is today. Not many people understand what it feels like to feel pain, hurt and abandonment as a child from major and minor things. The author writes this story and decides for it to be a graphic novel to allow the not only young readers, but also for those who do not understand what happens everyday in the world they live in. Satrapi uses all rhetorical stances, ethos, pathos, and logos to show problems, purpose and emotions.
The story Persepolis uses the medium of graphic novel and the perspective of a child to convey her message. The events of Persepolis are very dark and in some
Persepolis is a controversial novel written by Marjane Satrapi. The novel is based on Marjane’s life and shows the struggle she went through while living in Iran. Persepolis is controversial because it has graphic scenes and is said to be unsuitable for children. Many places are banning it or debating on whether or not it should be allowed to read for those reasons. Along with controversy, there are many scenes in the novel that can be compared and contrasted. A main idea from the novel that can be easily compared and contrasted is Iran versus other countries. America is a good example. American government, religion, and lifestyle differs greatly from Iranian government, religion, and lifestyle.
“Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return” is a graphic-novel as well as a memoir, which molds the life of Marjane Satrapi with the use of illustrations and words. In Marjane’s second book about herself, she is living in Austria and speaks about her education there as well as a social life. Marjane lives in Austria for a span of four years where she experiences a lot of hardships and calamities. In this span of four year, Marjane has trouble housing herself when the fam...
It is often said people utilized literature as a form of freedom of expression especially when they have been oppressed and silenced. People were systematically silenced for having different ideologies than the new government. After the Iranian revolution, the government utilized Islamic religion to influence the changes of the new system. They restricted all the medias that did not have their same beliefs, and the freedom of speech was no longer available. As well, the education system was changed to persuade the new generation. Satrapi gave a voice to all the Iranians that were silenced after the revolution by writing this graphic novel Persepolis.
Persepolis presents the Islamic revolution in Iran through the point of view of Marjane. In the graphic novel, it highlights Marjane transformation to childhood to womanhood during the war. Marjane is forced to grow and experience things she doesn’t understand. Satrapi uses humor to cope with the revolution, religion and political turmoil. It is used deeply in the novel to appeal readers but it also offers a lightness to harsh realities of war and persecution.
In the graphic novel, Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, Satrapi’s childhood was highly impacted by American culture. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of American culture on Satrapi’s view of the Iranian Revolution.
In "Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi torture is one of the major themes in the book. Both physical torture and psychological torture is expressed throughout the book. The purpose of torture is to try to get information from someone or just to feel that you have power over an individual.Torture can be used in many approaches such as in interrogations to try to pressure someone to confess. Both physical and psychological torture endures pain and suffering. Physical torture is inflicting severe pain and possibly injury to a person. A person who is physically tortured is restrained or otherwise under the torturer's jurisdiction. An exemplification of physical torture is someone pouring boiling hot water on you because it's causing damage and also
Colonialism has a severely negative impact on those being affected due to unknown cultures and systems being infiltrated in their country. In the first chapter of “The Complete Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi, the author starts off with the Islamic Revolution and the changes it brought to her immediate surroundings. This reminds me of colonialism and the changes it brings to the colonized country. Colonialism started with the expedition of the Portuguese and Spanish to discover new wealth. Since then, the drastic after effects of colonialism are still felt today by the affected group. In the 20th century, colonialism plays a part in why some cultural groups are the way they are today. In conclusion, the change the Islamic Revolution did to Marjane’s immediate surroundings is similar to how colonialism affected the colonized countries.
Persepolis 2: The Story of Return is anchored around how Marji is affected by the social injustice that occurred during the Islamic Revolution. Growing up as “a westerner in Iran and an Iranian in the West,” (Satrapi 274) changes and molds her into the young woman she is at the end of her journey. In this second chapter of Satrapis life she moves away from the comfort of Iran and finds a life in Vienna. Marji desires to find her purpose and identity during her brief time here and faces many battles with language barriers, people and herself. Marjis past from Iran haunts her and instills the idea that she needs to make something of herself while in Austria. Finding that Austria took her down a darker path where the light was scarcer and the
Marjane Satrapi used symbolism, anecdotes, and motif to advance the plot of her graphic memoir Persepolis. Though the book is on some banned books lists, Persepolis contains many real-world themes and morals. The many awards the book has received can be partly credited to Satrapi’s use of literary devices. It is a book taught popularly in high school english classes because, oftentimes, it is one of the students’ first confrontations with Middle Eastern literature. In addition, it can be used to show the many freedoms, rights, and priveledges we take for granted here in the United States. Through the happy drawings and the sad drawings, Persepolis is a graphic memoir deserving of its recognition that will captivate the reader all the way through.
In the graphic memoir, Persepolis, family is featured as one the main backbones of the Iranian community. The author, Marjane Satrapi, prioritizes family during the war, because while enduring the violent Iranian Revolution, the lives of others, especially the enemy, become an afterthought. When people like Marji lack the guidance and care that is necessary during such times of struggle, they will get lost on their path to becoming a mature adult. Family is the one thing in life that is unchangeable, and in the book itself, it is essential for every character to love and care for their own. Throughout Persepolis, the author Marjane Satrapi uses the thematic idea of family to represent the theme that the ones that care about you should always
Even in our present time we can see how culture principles and characteristic drive can cause conflict. Within a society, an individual does not exist. If an individual does exist, then they are no longer a part of the society causing rebellion. In I and Thou, Buber explains that the self becomes either more disconnected or more unified through its relationships to others. The film Persepolis is an adaption to Marjane Satrapi’s The Complete Persepolis coming-of-age graphic memoir. It involves a young Muslim girl name Marjane as she comes of age within the environment of the Iranian Revolution. The film explores the actualization of Marjane through allegory to show how she must construct her identity within a foundation of westernization, religion, and gender.
Persepolis, a graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi, is not a run-of-the-mill comic book. It is written with purpose. Satrapi wrote and illustrated this book to show Americans that their perspective of her home country, Iran, is askew. She believes Americans are too focused on the “fundamentalism, fanaticism, and terrorism” (Satrapi ii), of the nation and that they forget to notice the normality and humanness of it. Since these two perspectives have vast differences, Satrapi wants to change their minds. Thus, it is crucial that she effectively communicate this humanness of Iran to the literary audience in America. Since the literary devices in a work are needed to correctly convey a message, she found it necessary to include these and manipulate them in her favor. Satrapi uses the innocence of a child along with morals in her pictures and a relation of cultures to effectively communicate her message. It is necessary to examine how she manipulates such literary devices in order to gain a full understanding of the text.