Juxtaposition In Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis

The Significance of Juxtaposition in Persepolis

It is not possible for a country to function when it’s people are against their own government. Persepolis is an example of just how problematic this can become, a world where the rule of the government is no longer accepted by the people. The people of Iran desperately search for solutions by revolting against their strict government, however their plans are often violently shut down. In the story of Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi the juxtaposition of color, size, and age is used to emphasize the hope of the people versus the violent oppression of the government.

Marjane Satrapi juxtaposes the dark color of black and the pale white within the story to contrast the simplicity of the people’s

hope and the dark ways of the government. Within Persepolis one of the major ways it used is the black veil against the people’s pale faces. It is seen that the women of Iran must cover their bodies behind this black shell the government forces upon them. The black veil takes away their freedom of expression and instead forces all Iranian women to be the same. The women that try to wear the veil differently, possibly showing part of their hair, or more of their face than permitted are thought of as whores. A government official speaks on the television about the need for the veil saying "women's hair emanates rays that excite men. That's why women should cover their hair! If in fact it is really more civilized to go without the veil, then animals are more civilized than we are (Satrapi, 74).” By saying this, the government shames women and compares them to animals. This tells society that it is not the man who must control himself but the women who must protect herself. It is things like this that often cause women to lose hope. This idea of hope against dark is also seen in Marjane on page 6 within the story. There is a panel that has Marjane in the middle white tools and gears and black swirls and a veil. The light white tools represent Marjane’s want to build her own path with her own ideas. The black swirls show her confusion and ideals being thrown at her. She as a child is forced to follow her parents and government. It is this same for the people under the Iranian government. They are all like Marjane, children in the hands of the government having to follow their rules. Whether they’d like to be or not, they are confused by the black swirls of oppression while all they hope for is the white tools to help them carve their own ideas. The people have hope for their opinions to be heard, but their faces have grown pale in comparison to the harsh overbearing government restricting them from all things that could make them individuals. 
Satrapi uses the aspect of foreground versus background to play with the sizes of characters and objects in order to represent and emphasize the power held by the people in the story. On page 96, the first two panels show this aspect. With a speaker in her hand, the large teacher shows her power and shoves her and the government’s words down the throats of the innocent students in the background. Depicted again in the second panel, the large speaker broadcasts the words of those above the children corrupting their innocent minds to believe whatever is told to them. In this panel there are emanatas of question marks around the student’s heads emphasizing their confusion towards the large loudspeaker. These innocent children are befuddled by the powerful speaker and teacher. They are small sized and mined under this oppressive rule. However, the children are not alone in this. In the last panel on page 114 and the first panel on 115 the government is seen big and strong oppressing the people. In the foreground of the panel, a hand representing the rule of the government is seen sternly pointing one finger at the group of people refusing peace and vouching for the conquering of Karbala. The finger points the people in the direction they want, what the government wants. The people must follow the government’s word blindly or face their violent consequences. The government and those whom work under the government will always be in front, large, and powerful. It is depicted throughout the story that the overbearing government falls over top of the innocent people influencing their every move.

The young easily influenced Satrapi is juxtaposed against the author of Persepolis, the older wise Satrapi who has lived through the Iranian war already, to provide insight within voiceovers to explain events in a wise reflective nature of the war.

The young Satrapi is the innocent and hopeful one. She speaks about the war in a simplistic and naïve nature. On page 37 a young Marjane is confused by the idea of separating social classes. Marjane cares about her maid Mehri and believes that is simply all that matters, that regardless of class she should be allowed to sit with them at dinner and love who she wants. It was the voiceover in the last panel on page 37, where the older Marjane accepts they are not in the same social class, but are still able to enjoy each other’s company. Young Marjane is also very emotional in times of distress. On page 70, Marjane is seen yelling at God as if blaming him for the loss of her beloved Uncle Anoosh and the war itself. Marjane seeks someone to take her anger out on, rather than defying the government; she blames her own beliefs and leaves her ideals of God in the past. Her future self, voicing the panel on page 71 in which she seems to be floating through space, reflects upon the moment she found out about war and truly accepted it. She is not really mad at God, but is rather upset due to her confusion and growing lack of hope for the future. This is also portrayed near the end of the book with the Marjane in the book starting to sync with the author’s voiceovers. It is in the end where Marjane’s innocence is forgotten and her independence is seen. On page 147, she jumps into this independence as she is told she will be going to Austria alone to study. This is where the character and voiceovers finally become parallel in their uneasiness about leaving their parents behind. Marjane is no longer the naïve child she started as, she ends up a sad young adult having to leave her parents to rot in an oppressive government that will

ultimately lead to their rights being stripped, jail time, or death. Marjane’s final self truly juxtaposes her original self for there is no longer innocence but rather a hopeless young adult struggling to make it out of the war alive.
There are many sides to the war that are compared and contrasted throughout the story in order to share just how dramatic this problem is. The pale people who start with an idea of hope are soon hidden behind the dark shadows of the oppressive government. The large powerful people within the government are seen slowly taking away the small people’s hope and individuality by influencing their actions and beliefs through speech and consequences. Marjane represents one of the many people who starts as an innocent child easily influenced by the government, but is turned into a hopeless, realistic, and fearful person trying to escape the government. It is clear Satrapi’s strategic use of juxtaposition creates a sense of hope being engulfed by the violent oppression of the government.

Word count: 1281

Works Cited
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. Trans. Blake Ferris and Mattias Ripa. New York, NY: Pantheon Books, 2003. Print.