Childhood In Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis

Having knowledge, especially when growing up, can help young people understand childhood versus adulthood and why the stages are different. However, once gaining this knowledge, experiencing the brink of adulthood can be difficult due to learning only one way of how to grow up. This narrow-minded way of thinking is shown in main character Marji as she attempts to find some form of wisdom amidst a revolution she and the adults in her life do not completely understand. Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis uses color contrast to show that Marji’s extensive knowledge about but limited experience of the outside world isolates her from adulthood, thus binding her in painful ignorance.

Even as a child, Marji is trying to be a responsible adult. Her attempt is shown when she makes a prophet’s law book after the veil was issued to be worn at all times in her country. She is reading her rules to her grandmother, and she says, “Old people will no longer be allowed to suffer...It will simply be forbidden” (Satrapi 7/5-7). Her

While Marji is taking a bath and trying to feel like her grandfather, God sits by and watches her curiously, asking Marji, “What are you doing?” (Satrapi 25/8). God’s confusion about Marji’s behavior shows he also views her as a child, not expecting her to understand adult ideas such as death and pain. The rhetorical question God asks shows he sees her continued endeavors to grow up, but makes no move to help or facilitate these endeavors . Marji’s white body and white puddle against the black background as the focus of this scene further emphasizes how God chooses not to aid Marji and how Marji’s small pool of knowledge about adult experiences leaves her lost, exposed, and trapped in childhood. Marji’s failed attempts at adulthood as a child because of her limited experience and unhelpful adult figures are what ultimately cause her to fail at behaving like an