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. …show more content…
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. Significantly, Marji’s height in the mirror is taller than her actual self. Since height is commonly associated with adulthood, Marji’s reflection symbolically represents that compassionate actions make her
Persepolis Argumentative Essay In the memoir “Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi we learn the effects the revolution had on the Satrapi’s family. To summarize, Marji grew up around the Islamic War. This caused her to become very curious about why people act a certain way or do things. In the story, she is constantly learning from what’s right and wrong.
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” is a graphic-novel as well as a memoir, which molds the life of Marjane Satrapi with the use of illustrations and words. In Marjane’s second book about herself, she is living in Austria and speaks about her education there as well as a social life. Marjane lives in Austria for a span of four years where she experiences a lot of hardships and calamities. In this span of four year, Marjane has trouble housing herself when the fam...
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.
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
Persepolis is a book that centers on the author’s family during the Iran-Iraq war that lasted for eight years. Marjane’s experience of the war is quite innocent since she saw it from the eyes of a well protected child. She grew up with need to help and make things better for everyone without really understanding what it takes to make the world a better place. In her mind the only possible way to make a change is by becoming a prophet and using supernatural powers to make the world a better place. Marjane’s childhood is proving that children form defense mechanisms to deal with difficulties. These defense mechanisms take children to “happy” places where things are better and everyone is happy unlike in the real world.
Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis introduces the Islamic veil as an attempt by the Iranian government to control women. Islamic radicals promised safety and security for those who abided by their rules. Rebels who refused to wear the headscarf were threatened with beating, rape or death. These modern women who fought against religious oppression met the minimal requirements of the government rules to safely live in the hostile environment. Through being forced to wear the veil, the control of the Islamic government drives its people to a rebellion.
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.
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 appeal.
When Mrs. Nasrine is telling her dilemma of the key (99.3.1), Marji frowns and looks concerned but out of place, as if she doesn’t know what to make of it. She tries to show sympathy, suggesting that her privilege makes her unable to truly relate. She continues to look uncomfortable and bug-eyed when Mrs. Nasrine says, “Now they want to trade this key for my oldest son”. “Trade” connotes simplicity, an object, suggesting the government thinks of the lower class citizens as valueless objects. When arriving home from school, Satrapi draws Marji as a small figure in the distance (100.2.1), symbolizing the distance in economic status between her and the maid. This proves the separation of classes and the reason why Marji, not offered a key by the government, will not go to war in hopes of using a key to paradise. When her son says “I’ll marry her” while pointing a finger at Marji (100.2.2), it grants him a “whap” from his mother (100.2.3). Her reaction to his statement shows his ignorance and naïve behavior towards the social hierarchy; a maid’s son would never be allowed to marry a girl of Marji’s status because only rich people marry rich people and only poor people marry poor people. This shows the economic difference between Marji and the maid’s son, and the wall between them through government orders. When she asks her cousin Peyman whether or not the government offers his school the keys to paradise, he replies, “Keys to what?” (100.3.3) implying his equally high economic status. This suggests the government values upper class citizens more than lower class citizens. Satrapi also contrasts Marji and the poor boys in between the bombing panel (102.1.1) and the party panel (102.2.1) where Marji dances with her friends at Peyman’s birthday party. She jumps from discussing dying boys to having fun at a party to imply a difference between the poor and
There are many times when problems in a country affect one's life. Persepolis by Majarne Satrapi recounts the coming-of-age of a girl during a period of war. Utilizing a graphic novel to illustrate, Marjane recalls the struggles of her family and herself living in warfare. For instance, in Persepolis, Marjane's external conflict result in her internal conflict.
Mirrors, traditionally used for seeing a reflection, usually of someone’s true outer self. In Laurie Halse Anderson’s novel Speak, Melinda Sordino does not want to see herself. After Melinda was raped at a high school party by Andy Evans, she becomes severely depressed and unable to speak. In this novel, mirrors symbolize how Melinda despises her appearance, and show how she is unable to accept her own reflection after she was raped.
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
Even in our present time we can see how culture principles and characteristic drive can cause conflict. Within a society, an individual does not exist. If an individual does exist, then they are no longer a part of the society causing rebellion. In I and Thou, Buber explains that the self becomes either more disconnected or more unified through its relationships to others. The film Persepolis is an adaption to Marjane Satrapi’s The Complete Persepolis coming-of-age graphic memoir. It involves a young Muslim girl name Marjane as she comes of age within the environment of the Iranian Revolution. The film explores the actualization of Marjane through allegory to show how she must construct her identity within a foundation of westernization, religion, and gender.