Comparing Persepolis And All Quiet On The Western Front

Due to their positions of influence, some teachers in warring nations, like those in Marjane Satrapi’s graphic memoir Persepolis and Eric Maria Remarque's novel All Quiet on the Western Front, convince their students to dash into fields of landmines and artillery fire without providing an accurate depiction of war, demonstrating the appearance versus reality theme. In Persepolis, Marji’s cousin, Shahab claims that the officers “convince them [recruits] that the afterlife is even better than Disneyland, then they put them in a trace with all their songs” (Satrapi 101-102). These officials incentivise young men to join the war by painting a skewed, utopian picture of the afterlife and providing them a cheap, plastic key to said afterlife.

Given that the same officials were known to rape women before execution, they have little religious credibility. Yet, they continued using authority positions to misguide the beliefs of recruits, alluring them to a minefield, which Satrapi illustrates on a dramatic panel (Satrapi 102).
Alternatively, in All Quiet in the Western Front, while Germany is the midst of WWI, Kantorek, a patriotic schoolteacher socially pressures his students to join the war. In fact, the first casualty, Joseph Behm, was initially unwilling to enlist; however, “he did allow himself to be persuaded [to enlist], otherwise he would have been ostracized” (Remarque 11). To convince himself to go to the front, it can be inferred that Behm reluctantly believed Kantorek’s nationalistic rendering of war, and he caved to the social pressure that Kantorek and his community encouraged. Of course, upon arriving at the front, Behm’s inadequate, misleading idea of war results in his painful, premature death. To conclude, some teacher figures, such as Kantorek, Satrapi’s schoolteachers, and then-Iranian officers use religious leverage, social pressure, or patriotic rhetoric to manipulate the appearance of events to satisfy personal agendas.