Marji's Loss Of Innocence In 'Persepolis'

The world is full of violence and war and is something that no one should have to endure. However the people who do experience war besides the soldiers fighting in it are regular civilians, including children. The children who are caught in the middle of it are changed and do not experience the things that normal children experience such as playing with action figures or having barbies. The children stuck in the middle of conflict are forced to mature faster as the things around them are so brutal that to comprehend them the children end up maturing faster and losing their innocence, Marji is no exception to this. In the book Persepolis the violence against innocent people, the strict religious rules, near death situations, and her own rebellion

Marji is no exception to this as she disobeys her mother all the time. This is the case on page 117 when she smokes the cigarette in direct conflict with her mother. She even says “with this cigarette, I kiss my childhood goodbye.” This is a big case of her loss of innocence and her advanced maturity as she now will think for herself and she will make her own decisions for the rest of her life. This is important as it is her own form of rebellion against her mother's “dictatorship” and she is just following in her parents footsteps of rebelling against things that she does not agree with and she is now proving her independence. Another example of her rebellion is on page 113 when she rebels against her mother and ditches class. Then when she gets home her mother yells at her. This makes her more rebellious, independent and less likely to listen to her mother in the future as she believes she can make her own decisions as she believes she is an adult. It also loses more of her innocence as she does not want to listen to her mother at all as she is ditching class for her friends and boys, compared to a child who does everything their mother says as they can not think for themselves. Another example of her rebellion is on page 143 when the teacher strictly tells Marji that she can not wear jewelry yet she does it anyway. Then when the teacher catches her again Marji

However the effects of war on a child is something much different. The violence seen every day, religious strictness, the conflict with themselves, near death situations that people living in war experience change, and not for the better. Experiencing these events as a child can make them irritable and it will cause them to grow up really fast and may cause them to become irritable or non-existent as they are so scarred from seeing blood, dead people, and violence that they mature fast. Marji is no different as she lives in a corrupted, and war struck country that she can not escape it. All these things lead Marji to become a full women by the time she is 12 and become independent enough to lead her own life. These are not things a child should ever have to go through yet war is a terrible thing, and it inflicts damage upon all of