Throughout the novel Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, the veil is a powerful tool she exploits in order to provide a metaphorical description of the harsh reality of the lack of freedom she and many other Iranians face in the years following the Islamic revolution. Satrapi uses the veil as a way to show the change of women’s rights throughout the book, a way to show how her independence is a constantly changing entity, and allows her to demonstrate how the new government of Iran changes the freedom of all Iranians. The way Satrapi achieves this is by changing the presence of the veil throughout the novel. Times in which the veil is present represent little freedom and when the veil is absent, freedom is more abundant. The veil is a powerful tool for Satrapi to express the liberties the Iran.
In the beginning of the book, the veil is somewhat of a new object. While it has always been present in her Iranian life, it was not something necessarily forced to be apart of her. After the revolution, however, the veil became much more present and was
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something forced for the girls to wear in school. From the start, it is rejected by the students, Satrapi depicts scenes where students were throwing it on the ground and treating the veil as a joke, “We didn’t really like to wear the veil, especially since we didn’t understand why we had to” (Satrapi: 3/ 5). The rejection of the veil is a symbol for the rejections of the new regime that had power in Iran after the revolution. The forced extreme participation of religious practices was something the government implemented after the Islamic revolution, first with the mandatory wearing of the veil at school. Satrapi demonstrates that the people already were not supporting the decisions of their new government. The introduction of the novel including this factor demonstrates that the rebellion and feeling of being against the government is a constant entity throughout the whole novel. The strength of the militaristic government as it progresses through the book can be seen through analysis of the veil. The extent to which the women were required to wear the veil correlates to the power which their government held. When Satrapi was still a young girl in the novel, women were not forced to wear the veil at all times. Satrapi shows scenes where she and her family are outside and her head is absent of the veil. When Satrapi was young she was in a time where the military’s power was limited, so was the mandatory wearing of the veil. (44/ 4) As the book progresses, however, and the strength of the military grows, the extent to which the women are forced to wear the veil also increases. After Satrapi’s return from Europe, the government is very strong and influence civilian life very often. The depictions of life in Iran now were scarcely absent of the veil, only in times where Satrapi was inside. Whenever she was outside all the women were wearing veils. (282/ 1) The dialogue on this page is not relevant to the subject of the veil, but the apparent lack of the veil in the pictures is what is important. The lack of the head garment is equivalent to the lack of military power the government has at this time. Normal interactions and the lack of government impeding on their daily lives can be seen with the lack of the veil. The freedom they experience now will greatly change as the novel progresses. Satrapi shows the veil is a representation of the government in the graphic novel literally as well as figuratively. Not all of her inclusions of it are metaphorical. “...the modern woman. You showed your opposition to the regime by letting a few strands of hair show.” (75/ 1) The image depicts two women, a fundamentalist (pro-government) whose veil is worn all the way forward and does not let any hair show, and a second woman, the modern woman (mostly anti-government) who does not allow the veil to cover their head completely and shows hair. By rebelling against the proper wearing of the veil and attempting to preserve their former freedoms, the modern woman is also opposing the government, breaking the rules and making visual demonstrations of their disbelief in the enforced rules. Clothes were a way for both genders to defy the government. “The fundamentalist man, shirt hanging out...the progressive man, shirt tucked in,” (75/ 2). While this is not directly about the veil itself, it further pushes the point that clothing was a way to defy the government and as it becomes more enforced and more regulated, the less freedom the individual actually has and the harder the attempts became at defying the regime and attaining some freedom. When Marjane experiences the most freedom she ever had in the book, it is at a time in which the veil is absent from her life almost entirely. After the government began to grow dangerous, Marjane’s parents sent her to go to schools in Europe instead of Iran. While Marjane attended these schools, she has freedoms unlike any she had previously experienced. Satrapi shows herself attending clubs, drinking alcohol, doing drugs, and starting to have sexual relationships (218-219). This is the most freedom she has experienced. The veil is never present in any of the panels, neither is the militaristic regime of Iran. The two things are completely absent during this time and there is no lack of correlation. Her never wearing the veil is a representation of the government never imposing on her life and never restricting the actions she partakes in. The veil and government go hand in hand. From the moment Marjane returns to Iran and is back under the control of the Iranian government, the veil is once again present.
“From the moment I arrived at Mehrabad airport and caught sight of the first customs agent, I immediately felt the repressive air of my country.” (246/1) Immediately after the return of the veil, the oppression and reduced freedoms occur. Not only has the oppression returned in Marjane’s life, the power of the government itself has strengthened. “...Please fix your veil, my sister!” “Yes, my brother.”
(246/2-3) This shows that not only is the government itself more prevalent, but now the attempts the attempts she makes to try to keep any sort of freedoms is much more difficult. With the stronger implementation of the rules on wearing the veil, it can directly be seen how the government has grown in strength since Marjane was gone. The government grew in strength, so did the power of the
veil. Marjane Satrapi weaves many aspects of Iranian life into the novel in order to show us what the general societal expectations were. One of the most important cultural factors was the veil. The veil continuously grew more apparent in society as the strength of the government grew. She had to wear it more and more and it was in direct correlation with her freedoms. When she was out of Iran and into a country in which she can be free, shebe never had to wear the veil, on the contrary, while she was in Iran and their government’s power grew so did the amount of time she had to wear the veil and the strict rules surrounding it. The veil was an important symbol in the novel to express the struggles the Iranian people faced in the years following the Islamic revolution.
Professor Leila Ahmed, active Islamic feminist, in her article “Reinventing the veil” published in the Financial Times assumes that there is a connection between “advancement” and veiling, which means that unveiled women are advanced and vice versa. In addition, she supports that it led to increasing rate of violence. She questions why women wear veil, that is considered as “symbol of patriarchy and women’s oppression”. However, research changed her position towards wearing veil. Firstly, she states that wearing veil was essential for women, because it could be beneficial and influence to how people treat women, in terms of job, marriage and free movement in public. Secondly, her assumption was explained while interviewing women, who stated
The main character Siham has mixed emotions towards her veil. Which then highly compares to how I feel about how I was raised. She both appreciates and disowns it, similar to how I shun and I praise my way of being raised. Siham was taught to keep herself covered from all men to gain respect and to maintain respect.
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
In this particular story, the author’s emotions in Persepolis are not just her own, but also the feelings,emotions, and opinions of her people and their country. Throughout the expressiveness can not only be felt but they can visually be seen. The opinions of the Iranian people is expressive of their emotions which led them to demand that their voices be heard to the point where they cannot be ignored. The demonstrations shown on page five, first frame shows the strong opinions that the people have regarding the addition of veils. Their opinions are filled with so much emotions that it eventually lead them to protest publicly. On one side of the protest were those for the veil and on the other side were those who opposed it. Those against the veil felt as though it took away their freedom and the visual representation of their personality; those for the veil felt as though the veil was a representation of order which to them was what their country needed. The author’s emotions are seen throughout the story on various occasions. The year of the revolution was a very difficult time for Iran; even though she knew very little about the dangers of the revolution, she still very much wanted to be apart of it. After speaking with her parents and being told that she could not participate in it she began very upset and somewhat angry. This made her feel as though God had abandoned her which hurt her little heart very much. Emotions are expressions that are a way to show who people are on a deeper level and different situations present different
The false belief that, other than the rebels, the general public is totally oppressed by the government. This is disproven in persepolis with Marji’s trip to the black market. On her walk on Gandhi Avenue illustration states that “The food shortage had been resolved by the growth of the black market” (136). Satrapi introduces the black market into the story to challenge orientalism. Another way that Satrapi shows that the general public was not under complete control was through how rebellious Marji was to the Guardians of the Revolution women. These women were a branch of government to arrest women who were improperly dressed and veiled. If the government was fully oppressing the public then marji would have been to afraid to wear the items that her mother got her from turkey. When marji was aggressively approached by the guardians of the revolution she simply lied to them about what she was wearing say that the Michael Jackson button was “Malcolm X, the leader of the black muslims in America” (137). When the lying did not work she cried until the women gave up and went
For some women wearing a veil is not something that is forced on them but rather a choice of their own. Martha Nussbaum and Maysan Haydar are both authors that try to explain their reasoning that veiling isn't an oppressive tool used against women. Martha Nussbaum's article “Veiled Threats”, is a political and philosophical take on why banning the burqa is a violation of human rights. On the other hand Maysan Haydar’s article “Don’t Judge a Muslim Girl by Her Covering”, is a more humorous and personal take on why veiling shouldn't be as judged or stereotyped. Though Nussbaum and Haydar have equal goals this essay is being used to understand the main argument, claims and whether or not each article has any weaknesses.
Furthermore, Haydar expresses that she has been able to embrace the modesty in veiling and that it allows her to be seen as a whole person. She addresses the fact that “many Americans see veiling as an oppressive tool forced on Muslim women by the men in our culture” (414). Yet, Haydar informs the readers that veiling isn’t specific to the Islam culture and is also a choice for many women. She even points out that many other religions promote and advocate for modesty in
Women have always been thought of as something that needed to be controlled in Muslim culture. Their bodies are a source of shame that must be covered during prayer and also in the public (Mir-Hosseini 2007: 3). Veiling, done by a hijab or chador, is when women either wear a headscarf to cover themselves or they wear a veil that covers their entire body, excluding her hands and eyes (Mir-Hosseini 2007: 1; Mir-Hosseini 2003: 41; Berger 1998: 93; Smith-Hefner 2007: 390-391; Brenner 1996: 674; El Guindi 1999: 6). Veiling is used as a tool for oppression. By having women veil themselves, it enforces the control by the male run and male dominated society (Mir-Hosseini 2007: 7). Also, the punishment for women appearing without a veil transitioned as the concept of veiling was addressed, transitioning from seventy-four lashes, to being arrested and held between ten days and two months for being “immodest” women and offending public morality, or fined 50,000 to 500,000 rials (Mir-Hosseini 2007: 8). The oppression of veiling is perpetuated through the thought that it is a woman’s religious duty to wear one, condemning foreigners and women in society if they refuse. Although it is a tool for oppression, there was resistance the oppression. In ...
Satrapi’s first chapter in “The Complete Persepolis,” The Veil, guides us through her country’s revolution against the
...a visit with Aziza, Laila saw a middle-aged woman, with her burqa pushed back…Laila recognized the sharp face… Laila remembered this woman once forbidding the female students from covering, saying women and men were equal, that there was no reason for women should cover if men didn’t” (322). To see a woman who was as close to a feminist as a woman in Afghanistan could get, to see her fall to level that the government wanted her at was crucial point in the novel that allowed us to really see the affect that the government had on the women in controlling every aspect of their lives.
There are many examples throughout the text that specifically focus on the overbearing treatment of women. During the country's revolution there is a shift to extremely conservative religious conviction that force women to cover themselves head to toe while in public. Ultimately, Nafisi refuses to wear a veil while teaching at the University of Tehran which leads to her expulsion. These examples presented throughout the text along with various outside sources, can be a tool to interpret and scrutinize the oppressive treatment of people in unjust societies like that of Iran's.
the veil, took away the effective power of the Majles and did not permit any forms
The religion of Islam was imposed upon Iranians, whether they liked it or not. Marjane and her classmates “...didn’t like to wear the veil, especially since we didn’t understand why we had to”(Satrapi 3). The young girls were against wearing the veil because they were not practicing
In fact, the graphic novel opens with Marjane professing the fact that she and her friends did not understand the meaning of the veil newly imposed by the Islamic Republic; they only knew it as a change from the time before, when they did not need to cover their hair. This alerts us to the fact that for a child born into this new rule, the rule will seem perfectly normal, just as not wearing a veil felt normal for Marjane before the Revolution. Children, to such a degree, take their cues about what is normal in the world from the adults around them, and Marjane and her friends throughout Persepolis emulate in reality or imagination the roles of soldiers, torturers, demonstrators, prophets, heroes, and political leaders. Rather than thinking rationally or sophisticatedly about all the different players in this societal moment of crisis, Marjane at first follows or reveres anyone with power and popular
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.