Marjane Satrapi is an Iranian-born French novelist, who wrote Persepolis. Her novel is a graphic autobiography about her life growing up during the Islamic revolution. Her novel talks about her relationship with God, her family, her struggle to cope with the new laws, and her religion. Marjane’s novel requires the reader to analyze the images because the text will not completely give away her meaning in the novel; in other words, there is a deeper meaning to everything in her novel. The image on is located on the bottom row in the right corner on page 17. In the image Marji is laying in bed with her head on the pillow and her sheets over her body. She is wearing white pajamas with black dots on them. Her room is pitch black, but her and part of her bed is covered in light. Her eyes are wide open and tears are running down her face. She is asking God where he is because he did not show up that night. Even though the reader cannot physically see God, the light shown on Marji’s face lets the reader conclude that God is with Marji. God always visited Marji at night time, but this night he was nowhere to be found. God is not present because Marji had been whining to go to the demonstration, but her parents were not allowing her to go. …show more content…
Marji has always had a strong relationship with God, and religion has always been important to her; in fact, she was “born with religion” (p. 6). Although sometimes she can drive God away, like when she told her parents that she wanted to be a doctor instead of a prophet and God confronted her (p. 9-13). Marji can also get distracted and ignore him, and then when he is gone she moves on until she needs something from him or needs him, himself (p. 16-17). Even though God and Marji are not entirely focused on each other, they still love one
The image shows Marji behind a glass wall staring at her mother and father walking away. Her mother has either fainted or died and her husband, Marji’s father, is carrying her away from Marji. Marji is being sent to Austria because her parents believe that Iran is not the best place for their young daughter right now. the other two panels on page 153 show Marji saying goodbye to her parents, she appears to be very scared and her parents seem worried. In the background
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.
“Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return” by Marjane Satrapi is a memoir that depicts the troubled life of Marjane Satrapi. Marjane Satrapi, the author, was born in Rasht, Iran in the year 1969. She was born to a rich family in Iran and grew up in Tehran during the revolution and revolt against the Shah, the ruler at the time. She lived during the era where Islam was emerging in Iran and becoming the predominant religion. Marjane lacked academics for two years in Iran and suffered indeed from the bombings of Iraq. These horrific events impacted her and her parents, so as a result was sent to Austria for a better life. Her juxtaposed life in Austria and emergence of maturity is described in Marjane’s second installment of Persepolis.
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.
Due to the serious tensions looming in the air, many people would think it is strictly forbidden to laugh a little or have fun in Iran. The constant political instability makes it seem like the citizens live like robots under extreme oppression. However, in Marjane Satrapi’s biography, Persepolis, she gives an inside look at her experiences growing up in Iran and adds comic relief throughout the novel. As the main character, Marjane, evolves from an innocent girl into a mature woman, Satrapi adds bits of comic relief to highlight her typical personality while living in the midst of an oppressive society.
The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is a graphic novel that depicts the life of Marjane Satrapri during the Iranian Revolution. Satrapi tells her story as a child growing up during the time of the many drastic changes forced upon women and the effects of the new laws made by the Shah. During this time people in Iran were banned from reading, or listening to music that was not approved by the regime. Schools were separated by gender and women were forced to wear veils to protect themselves from being molested or raped by men. The middle class women in Persepolis are prescribed the most important roles such as rearing their children and the duties in the home. But most importantly because they are in the home they are unable to attain legal rights for women in Iran. “In no country do women have on have political status, access, or influence equal to man” (Kazemi, 2000). The divorce of a man and woman lies solely in the hands of men. Though the women in the Satrapi family were oppressed outside of the home they continued to live two separate lives, one inside the household and one on the outside. They often had gatherings and drank alcohol even though it was not allowed. The roles that were prescribed to the women were not effective because they had no opinion, and because there were no laws in favor of women who sooner or later begin to give up and inherent the man’s thoughts.
Even though the grandmother was minutely present in the rest of the book, the end is where Marji needs her the most, and she of course, is there for her. Before Marji leaves for Austria, she spends the night with grandmother. On panels two and six on page 150, Satrapi distorts the background color of the page, so only the bed, Marji, and her grandma are white. The author does this to show the reader that the only positive thing for Marji at the time being is spending time with her caring grandmother. To add on, The grandmother even goes as far as saying “oh, I’ll come see you [Marji]” (150).
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi captures life in Iran during the 1980’s through a child's eyes. Marjane Satrapi grew up during a time when both the Islamic Revolution and the Iran/Iraq War took place. Personal experiences are expressed through themes including revolution, imperialism, nationalism, religion and loss of innocence and affect Marjane personally as she grows up.
When it comes to culture, different views can cause major conflicts, and these said conflicts occur in the novel Persepolis. The book is a memoir about Marjane Satrapi, also known as Marji, growing up in Iran under the Shah’s rule and the Islamic rule. Even with the many different cultures in Iran, she stuck up for what she believed in and rebelled against the things she thought were wrong. In Persepolis, Marjane’s growth is affected by various aspects of culture including religion, government, and social organization.
There are many different influences in the world today; a big one that most people in the world face is religion. Religion is an influence that people first encounter during their childhood. They grow and learn to have faith. People’s perspective on religion is affected by their culture, their family and the events they witness during childhood. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is the story of a young girl growing up in Iran, during the Islamic Revolution, and the war with Iraq. Throughout the novel religion develops along with the plot, in good and bad ways. In the story Marji loses her faith and it changes who she is, religion also changed her lifestyle by the government putting religion into the law. Religion is a topic that people label as
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
Satrapi, Marjane. “Why I wrote Persepolis: a graphical novel memoir: writer Marjane Satrapi faced the challenges of life in post-revolutionary Iran. She used the graphic novel format to tell her unique story.” Marjane Satrapi. Writing!, Nov-Dec, 2003, Vol.. 26(3), p. 9(5) Cengage Learning Inc.
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.
Marji is depicted internally when she says refers to herself by saying “this is me.” Readers are able to use their imagination and the context of the scene to completely fulfill the face of the character in the panels. Satrapis illustrations do not incorporate much detail so this allows readers to fill in the story with their imagination. The cartooning in Persepolis 2 is simplistic and to the point. There is little distraction on the page and her layout of the panels is neat and read left to right. When looking at her work it is made clear that it is the reader’s job to fill in the illustration. Why would Satrapi do this? She presents her illustrations like this because doing so allows the reader to believe the characters more and get encompassed by the story. Moving forward, looking closely at the veils in the panel above, one can see that it is so much more than just an accessory appearing on the page. The veil attracts the audience to her features and expression allowing one to access her internal traits. The power of illustration and what you allow to show or keep to yourself is
When she learns of the murders of Ramin’s father, she impulsively wishes to beat him, but later changes to feel sympathy for Ramin. She thinks about this in front of the mirror in the panel at the bottom of page 46, which depicts Marji and her reflection with the caption “I had the feeling of someone really really [sic] good” (Satrapi 46). In this scene she understands that Ramin is pitiful because he does is innocent and deceived into thinking his father’s actions are justifiable. Therefore, instead of choosing to beat Ramin, which would add to his misery, she forgives Ramin as an attempt to mitigate his tragic situation. As she makes this intellectual reflection, a literal reflection of herself in the mirror stares back at her.