Persepolis is an autobiographical graphic narrative of the author, Marjane Satrapi’s childhood story during and after the Islamic revolution. Satrapi’s goal in writing Persepolis is she wants to let everyone knows especially the West that the “entire nation [Iranian] should not be judged by the wrongdoings of a few extremists” that is related to “fundamentalism, fanaticism and terrorism” in the history (Satrapi 2). It has been ages that the West has negative perception towards the East especially on the issue where Iranian women being oppressed by Islamic regime. While reading Persepolis, I find that Satrapi is not only writing Persepolis as a medium to counter all the negative conception of the Western readers about Iranian but rather as a history story book and it contains messages that need to be conveyed to Iranian. Other than that, Satrapi has inserted Western culture in the characters and they use the cultures as one of the ways for Iranian to survive in the oppression by Islamic regime. My goal in this paper is to discuss on the portrayal of Western cultures as a way to encounter the oppression and Satrapi’s work does not act as a medium to change the perception of the West towards Iranian but as a story book that tells history of Iran for the readers all over the world and also contains messages that need to be conveyed to the Iranian.
Most of the chapters in Persepolis show that Satrapi has westernized the Iranian. By looking at the title of the novel itself; Persepolis, the readers know that Satrapi has insert some Western culture in the book as Persepolis is the Western name for Persian City. Other than that, in ‘Kim Wilde’, Satrapi portrays herself as a Western teenager by wearing denim jacket with the Michael Jackson...
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...e boy who lives next to Marji’s house and they keep sending letters to each other but Marji is the one who helps Mehri to write the letter because Mehri does not know how to write. When Marji’s father knows about the love relationship, he says that “their love was impossible because in this country you must stay within your social class” (37). Satrapi shows that there is no justice and unfairness for poor people. Based on the articles that I use as a support to my thesis, none of the critics has mentioned about the issue on social structure of Iranian. As a conclusion, I agree with the critics that argue Satrapi inserts Western culture in the characters as a ways to survive from the oppression by the Islamic regime and her works does not act as a medium to change the negative perception of the West towards the East but rather as a story book about Iranian and Iran.
In Persepolis, Satrapi develops the central idea of Marji and her parents rebelling against the social injustices held by the Shah and the government. This is demonstrated in chapters “ The Trip”, “The Passport”, and “Kim Wilde”. Early in the revolution, females were forced to cover themselves up. They were told to wear their veils because it didn’t show a sign of western American style or sexual
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.
Orientalism is a way of viewing the world as divided into two unequal halves: the Occident and the Orient. Occidental means Western Hemisphere, and Oriental means Eastern Hemisphere. These ideas of orientalism are challenged in Satrapi's Persepolis. A book about a young girl Marji who lived in Iran in the 1980’s, and therefore is placed in the beginning years of political and religious turmoil in Iran. Satrapi Juxtaposes the western view of Iran to Iran by showing similarities between America and Iran through Marji’s youth and adventures throughout the book.
In Marjane Satrapi’s memoir, Persepolis, the characteristics and qualities of revolution are portrayed through rhetorical devices such as visual text, similes, and pathos. Satrapi’s use of rhetorical devices enhances and supports her expression of the revolution in Iran. Persepolis was Marjane Satrapi’s way of allowing people to see how the revolution in Iran affected her family's lifestyle and her upbringing. This memoir also allows the readers to analyze how war changes the way of the people and government in a country.
Through her devotion to the art and music of the United States, she was able to rebel. The encouragement of the pursuit by her parents created further inspiration for her to use it as a way to protest. Already having a deep devotion to American culture, the ability of Satrapi to use her passion to disobey the regime only strengthen her love. The affection she felt for American culture gave her the courage she needed to stand up to the harsh government of Iran. Despite the risks associated with possessing items from America, Satrapi did so anyway. She was willing to risk serious punishment to pursue happiness through the means of her favorite hobbies. The influence of said entertainments helped shaped Satrapi’s views. By providing her with experiences that were foreign to the majority of her peers, the culture that Satrapi enjoyed influence her open-minded opinions. Listening to the music of artists such as Kim Wilde and Iron Maiden and following the clothing trends like denim jackets and Nikes exposed Satrapi to ideals she normally would not have been growing up in post-revolution Iran. They provided a door into a different, more accepting world and a glimpse into the possibilities of what could
Historical context is the main reason Persepolis was written. Marjane Satrapi wrote Persepolis one year after nine eleven. The main reason Persepolis was written is to paint the people of Iran in a different light. At the time many people associated Iran with terrorism. Satrapi was able to depict the everyday people of Iran. Most people in Iran are average law abiding citizens. Unfortunately, like every other country Irian has the few people of deviant nature that commit unthinkable acts. The media has focused on these deviant individuals and consequently depicted the Iranian people as whole in this negative light.
During our class discussions, the issue of identity in Marjane Satrapi’s novel, Persepolis (2004), became a contentious issue. The question was asked whether Persepolis might be understood to being in-dialogue with western ways of seeing and did the effects of modernization influence the identity of Marjane’s protagonist in Persepolis. How does the novel involve the issue of identity? I will extend the argument and, through the exploration of Marji’s changing ideologies, I will attempt to prove that Marji is caught between the traditional eastern culture and western modernization.
When writing any sort of narrative, be it novel or poem, fiction or non-fiction, scholarly or frivolous, an author must take into account the most effective manner in which to effectively convey the message to their audience. Choosing the wrong form, or method of speaking to the reader, could lead to a drastic misunderstanding of the meaning within an author’s content, or what precisely the author wants to say (Baldick 69). Even though there are quite a bit fewer words in a graphic novel than in the average novel, an author can convey just as much content and meaning through their images as they could through 60,000 words. In order to do that though, their usage of form must be thoughtfully considered and controlled. Marjane Satrapi, author of the graphic memoir The Complete Persepolis, took great pains in the creation of her panels in order to reinforce and emphasize her narrative, much like a novelist utilizes punctuation and paragraph breaks. Through her portrayal of darkness and lightness, Satrapi demonstrates that literary content influences, and is primary to, the form.
Religion, government, and social organization all played a part in Marji’s journey in Persepolis from childhood to adulthood. Religion caused many arguments between Marji and parents, friends, and teachers. The Iranian government affected Marji by making her more rebellious than she already was. Social organization was a big issue in her life, because she had a good relationship with her maid and was angry that she could not have the same opportunities. The revolution in Iran has changed Marjane Satrapi’s life, in ways good and
She says, “I was born with religion” (pg 6). Unlike other children, Marji wants to be a prophet when she is older. This idea is not normal for a child or anyone under the Muslim religion since prophets have always been men. Her classmates laugh at her dream of becoming a prophet and her teacher speaks to her parents, but Marji stays true to her passion. Marji believes religion should be used to create good things and change anything bad. Growing up, Marji doesn’t understand why her maid cannot eat at the dinner table with her family or why her friends do not drive a Cadillac like her father. Marji is a child and does not understand the concept of social classes. As a result, Marji sees religion as a way to change these things. She believes that in the name of God she could make sure everyone is treated equally. Marji’s opinion is untainted by any other connotations of religion. She is forming her own opinions and they are good. Satrapi uses her perspective of religion as a child to show how pure religion could be in the eyes of someone young. The perspective of a child is appealing to the reader because it is innocent and naive. Satrapi is trying to make the point that if everyone saw religion in a good way it could be used for good
Marjane Satrapi in her memoir, “The Complete Persepolis” enlightens readers with the reality of living in Iran, as she tells her journey through her life of becoming a woman during the Islamic Revolution. Iran similar to other countries has made different prescribed roles for their women and men based on their cultures religious and traditional set of laws. Society to them was a depiction of what their people were expected to look, and act like when in public. When trying to understand the importance of gender along with their roles in society, it’s crucial to acknowledge outside factors, for instance things like culture and social class. The characters throughout her memoir illustrate how their
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. To begin with, Satrapi writes Persepolis from a child’s point of view.
In the novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, Satrapi’s childhood was highly impacted by American culture. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the affect American culture had on how Satrapi viewed the Iranian Revolution.
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
Despite the fact that Marjane is born and raised in Tehran, Iran, she is as much a product of Western customs as of Middle Eastern customs. The younger Marjane showed how the Iranian Revolution affected her life. The Iranian Revolution was the exiling of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi and its concluding substitution with an Islamic republic under the Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the revolution, supported by a mixture of leftist and Islamic organizations. The new government became more suppressive by enforcing Islamic laws into the constitution and prohibiting westerner influence of any kind. On the contrary Marjane is raised by Marxist parents, who believe in freedom and tend to adapt to a more westernized upbringing. Marjane is similar to any other teenager, she starts to grow up and rebel against her elders and her traditions. Her revolt takes the form of a better awareness of and interaction with western culture. Marjane have many items ...