Persepolis In the graphic novel Persepolis by: Marjane Satrapi, many panels were wonderfully illustrated and full of detail. Overall, the one panel that most stood out to me was the one in which Marji smokes the cigarette. It’s truly a turning point in the book for Marji because she begins to consider herself as a grown up. Marji confidently exclaims, "with this first cigarette, I kissed childhood goodbye. Now I was a grown-up"(117). Prior to smoking the cigarette, Marji envisions the thousands of victims lost to the useless war. Many have been executed, and when she smokes the cigarette it resembles her childhood being executed. Analyzing the panel to discover a deeper meaning impacts the mood of the reader. There are many ways you could interpret …show more content…
In the beginning, Marji didn’t know what she wanted to believe. She had few opinions and mainly went with what her parents believed. The veil, dress code, and behavior expected all confused her, she didn't know right from wrong making it hard for her to create an identity for herself. Everyday she would hear controversial comments that would oppose what she was told at home, Marji wails, "And so I was lost, without any bearing"(75). Though in the beginning of the novel she was lost in the chaotic world, she eventually began to grow and develop her own beliefs and opinions. She was no longer afraid to state how she felt and now had strong opinions on the relevant topics around her, many of which would anger her. Marji had become more independent and less controlled by her parents. She was developing an identity. Essentially, Marji encountered many situations that caused her to have realizations about the world she was living in and alter her thoughts and feelings. She later on in the book while looking at herself in the mirror states, “I will always be true to myself”(155). Marji at last knows her own beliefs and by the end of the novel she has developed into a proud
Orientalism is a way of viewing the world as divided into two unequal halves: the Occident and the Orient. Occidental means Western Hemisphere, and Oriental means Eastern Hemisphere. These ideas of orientalism are challenged in Satrapi's Persepolis. A book about a young girl Marji who lived in Iran in the 1980’s, and therefore is placed in the beginning years of political and religious turmoil in Iran. Satrapi Juxtaposes the western view of Iran to Iran by showing similarities between America and Iran through Marji’s youth and adventures throughout the book.
Margi had been out shopping for jeans with her friend Shadi. Then all the sudden there was a big boom and Margi`s heart sunk when she found out that a missile had landed right in her neighborhood. ‘I didn't want to look up. I looked at my trembling legs. I couldn't go forward, like in a nightmare. Let them be alive. Let them be alive Let them…” (Satrapi 140). She quickly took a taxi to her house and found out that her family was alright and that everything was going to be ok. This made Marji reflect on how she acted to her mother and father and really question what she would do without them. If her parents had died then the last thing she would have said to her mother was for her to give Margi one thousand Tumans which was a ton of money because their currency value had dropped drastically. The bombing of the Baba-Levy`s house was one of the most influential parts of Margi`s life to that day. It forced her to reflect on how she has treated her parents and in the future she will remember that things could change any second so you should treat every second like it's your
In the graphic novel, Persepolis, the main character, Marjane, faces many coming of age moments. Each one of these change her in a way that impacts her view on the world around her as her and her family strive for a better life amongst a war that hinders their ability to follow their beliefs. Marjane learns to forgive, experiences pain and suffering, and changes her opinions on God and her own views on religion forever. Marjane’s life has been filled with hard times, but also glorious moments as well.
In Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, Marji regains her rebellious side when she is confronted with the sexist dress code and hypocrisy at her arts school, as well as her life outside of school. When Marji is called to an assembly, she is told that she must be modest, avoid makeup, and wear a longer veil, to which she is depicted as standing up for herself and others against this dress code, as is seen on the images from pages 296 and 297. Satrapi does an excellent job illustrating this when she draws Marji standing up in a crowd of veils, and defying all odds. By doing this, Marji establishes her sense of freedom once again and is granted the ability to make change in the system. Moreover, she is able to prove herself once again even through harsh
A major venue for identity formation is an individual’s homeland or nation. At the outset of the novel, Marji’s identity is ascribed to her because of her nationality and ethnicity. Being in an Islamic country, Marji adheres to her Islamic values and traditions. At an early age of six, the formation of her identity leans towards her Islamic religious values and traditions. Marji is convinced that she “was the prophet” (p. 6). Her words that she “was [a] prophet” (p. 6) demonstrates that Marji’s imagination and intelligence conceive thoughts that are very pertinent to her religious beliefs. At this early age, Marji’s relationship with religious thoughts and values are clearly defined. However, Marji’s thoughts and beliefs are not pinned to a static foundation. In her book A Reader’s Guide to Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis (2010), Heather Lee Schroeder writes “Satrapi lived through the civil and political unrest during the 1970’s and early 1980’s. Before the revolution, she attended a western style French school” (p. 41), which was a non-religious and westernized school. Marji is very well acquainted with the western or modern values, of freedom, liberty, ...
Throughout the novel Marji is constantly trying to figure out who she is and who she is going to become. But by the end of the novel Marji evolves into an independent woman who does what she wants with her life to make her happy, something that would never have happened without the influence of women throughout her life. Works Cited Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. Pantheon; First Edition, 2004
Marla becomes narrator’s obsession. She is his power animal; she hides in every corner of his head. She is his inner child and she is his greatest fear to be thrown away from the place where he feels much better than others. She understands that well and says her conditions. She will not tell on the narrator, but he has to be silent as well. They are very similar in their behavior and this fact makes them closer to each other. Both of them belong to the same cast of liars. The narrator hates her and...
When writing any sort of narrative, be it novel or poem, fiction or non-fiction, scholarly or frivolous, an author must take into account the most effective manner in which to effectively convey the message to their audience. Choosing the wrong form, or method of speaking to the reader, could lead to a drastic misunderstanding of the meaning within an author’s content, or what precisely the author wants to say (Baldick 69). Even though there are quite a bit fewer words in a graphic novel than in the average novel, an author can convey just as much content and meaning through their images as they could through 60,000 words. In order to do that though, their usage of form must be thoughtfully considered and controlled. Marjane Satrapi, author of the graphic memoir The Complete Persepolis, took great pains in the creation of her panels in order to reinforce and emphasize her narrative, much like a novelist utilizes punctuation and paragraph breaks. Through her portrayal of darkness and lightness, Satrapi demonstrates that literary content influences, and is primary to, the form.
Religion, government, and social organization all played a part in Marji’s journey in Persepolis from childhood to adulthood. Religion caused many arguments between Marji and parents, friends, and teachers. The Iranian government affected Marji by making her more rebellious than she already was. Social organization was a big issue in her life, because she had a good relationship with her maid and was angry that she could not have the same opportunities. The revolution in Iran has changed Marjane Satrapi’s life, in ways good and
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of an oppressive regime on the child Marjane Satrapi as depicted in the graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. The life stories follows its central character, Marjane, from childhood to young adulthood and as such traces the effects of war and politics on her psyche and development. By her own admission, Marjane thinks that the moment she comes of age occurs when she smokes a cigarette she stole from her uncle. However, by this point Marjane has encountered so much sorrow, death, and disaster, with enough grace, dignity, and sympathy, that her tiny act of rebellion against her mother’s prohibition of cigarettes comes across as hopelessly childish—as more of a defense mechanism against the repression enacted by the state than an act of maturity.
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.
Satrapi is able to illustrate the characteristics of the characters as well as reflect on the past. Having the ability to incorporate past and present is a vital element in fully understanding and following her story. The past events in Marjis life reflect how she makes her descions in the present. It is imperative that one must always build from the bottom and work your way up. Having a strong foundation is the vital element in creating something successful. Marji often refers back to her past to make reference of why she believes this or why she is trying that. She learns by her mistakes of the past and it is noted through the illustrations. This visual image below from Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis series allows the readers to see Marji both internally and
Have you ever looked at a friend, a teacher or even a complete stranger, and asked yourself what they could have experienced so far in life? Think about that for a minute. Think about your experiences then think about the possibility of theirs. Everybody has different experiences and they’re usually based on someone’s environment. Environment.
There are times enveloped in tragedy when people feel that all hope is lost. However, humanity has prospered because humans possess the heart, not the physiology of a chambered muscle, but a heart capable of compassion to allow people to recover and thrive even through tragedies. Especially during obstacles in life, attitudes of cynicism, anger, and fear seem especially enticing, but a truly responsible and mature human being, is one who can chooses kindness. In the graphic novel Persepolis, Marji is a girl who grows up in an unstable society and quickly adopts feelings of resentment, but does not grow up until she lets go of the negative feelings. Through her forgiveness of Ramin and her experience with a Guardian of the Revolution, Marji learns that she must become compassionate before she can experience coming-of-age.
Marjane starts out the novel talking about how at the age of ten years old she