Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

3568 Words8 Pages

Growing Up Satrapi

It is hard to tell the story of a “typical” youth and it is hard to write a story that

relates to experiences in everyone’s lives, but this is exactly what Marjane Satrapi

accomplished in her memoir. Persepolis is the story of a child’s growth from

preteen to adult. The specific challenges that Satrapi faces are unique to her

situation, but we can ask whether they accurately portray the psychological

development that children go through. Do her reactions to situations resemble the

reactions that most children have to similar problems? While reading Satrapi’s

story, it is necessary to understand that the circumstances she encounters and her

reaction to these circumstances parallel how youths around the world react to

similar situations. Throughout her memoir, Satrapi uses stepping-stones that all

children use and reaches the same stages of development that psychologists believe

most children reach. For these reasons, Persepolis is a believable coming of age

story.

Throughout a child’s life, many factors influence their socialization. In Persepolis,

Satrapi demonstrates the three major microsystems1 that influence a child’s

socialization; family, education, and community. As a ten year old child, Marjane

lives in a typical nuclear family, her community is currently in the midst of a

revolution, and her school is teaching her how to look and act like a proper woman.

It is important to understand how these three microsystems are crucial in

Marjane’s development as a young adolescent.

In American society, schools are used to educate children on how to become

independent members of society. Children are expected to abide by rules that are

established in the classroom, and they are taught to mo...

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