Persepolis is a coming of age story written by Marjane Satrapi in 20001. Depicting a young girl growing up during the religious revolts in Iran. Throughout the story the main character loses her innocence. The author uses the appeals of genre, ethos, pathos, and logos, historical context, and illustration to depict the loss of innocence in the main character. The introduction to Persepolis gives a great deal of background information to the unrest in Iran leading up to the Islamic revolution. Iran had been in a state of unrest for “2500 years” (page11). Iran was ruled by foreign nations and exploited by the western world for its rich expanses of oil. In 1951 the prime minister of Iran tried to take back his country’s wealth by nationalizing …show more content…
A few years later in 1979 the Islamic revolution began, causing the Shah to flee (introduction pages one and two). Historical context is the main reason Persepolis was written. Marjane Satrapi wrote Persepolis one year after nine eleven. The main reason Persepolis was written is to paint the people of Iran in a different light. At the time many people associated Iran with terrorism. Satrapi was able to depict the everyday people of Iran. Most people in Iran are average law abiding citizens. Unfortunately, like every other country Irian has the few people of deviant nature that commit unthinkable acts. The media has focused on these deviant individuals and consequently depicted the Iranian people as whole in this negative light. The story Persepolis uses the medium of graphic novel and the perspective of a child to convey her message. The events of Persepolis are very dark and in some …show more content…
Ethos is used throughout page five. The second panel on page five depicts the narrators mother protesting the veil. This shows the narrator is trustworthy because she was directly influenced by the protest of the veil. For example, panels five and six depict the narrators mother disguising herself due to photos of her protesting being published. Pathos is used throughout this excerpt. The first panel on page four depicts the children playing at recess before the religious revolution. In this photo all of the young boys are wearing shorts and girls are wearing light weight dresses. These children are smiling and look to be happy. The fifth panel on page three shows recess after the religious revolution. Schools are now segregated by gender, so boys are not depicted in this drawing. The school uniform has changes from light weight dresses to what looks like trench coat, a veil, and long tights. The children seem to be unhappy and lethargic compared to the previous depiction. This could be due to heat exhaustion caused by the new uniforms. A girl is even depicted saying “it is too hot out!” in this panel. These contrasting depictions make the reader sympathize with the children. Logos is mainly used to set up historical context for the excerpt. Pages one and two are the primary source of this context. For example, the history of Iran and its many invasions. The use of ethos, pathos, and
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 is a graphic novel depicting the life of author Marjane Satrapi’s life throughout the Islamic revolution, starting from her childhood. At one point in the story, the Shah of Iran has left the country, and Marjane’s parents think that they will have new freedoms. Later, however, the country is bombed and fundamentalists occupy the United States embassy. After these events, Marjane is ultimately forced to leave the country without her parents to live in Europe. This was foreshadowed in arguably the most significant panel in Persepolis, the 7th panel on page 43. It features Marjane and her parents, sitting in the family’s living room, the news on a television in the background. They are discussing the fact that the Shah recently left Iran to live in Egypt. Around the panel’s frame is a serpent-like creature. In this panel, Marjane Satrapi uses the frame, and contrasting facial expressions and dialogue to show that the Shah is not the only problem in Iran, foreshadowing the unexpected events of unrest that fill the rest of the story.
In Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi’s childhood experiences allow her to demonstrate the cultural changes that occurred in post-revolutionary Iran, as well as those perpetrated by western culture. In Persepolis, western culture plays a major role in the author’s attempt to dispel the
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi captures life in Iran during the 1980’s through a child's eyes. Marjane Satrapi grew up during a time when both the Islamic Revolution and the Iran/Iraq War took place. Personal experiences are expressed through themes including revolution, imperialism, nationalism, religion and loss of innocence and affect Marjane personally as she grows up.
Education is an important part in the development of young woman’s life. In the novel’s The Complete Persepolis and A Woman’s Story, the culture of the young woman affects the education they receive, allowing for a strong emphasis on self-education, which helps shape the relationship between mother and daughter. In A Woman’s Story education is the key component to social development, while in The Complete Persepolis education is imperative for enlightenment. This social development through education in A Woman’s Story helps establish the importance of self-education between mother and daughter.
In light of the analysis of the graphic novel of Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi, it is clear that the events portrayed in the novel represent the tribulations and tragedies that various Iranian citizens experienced during the downfall of Reza Shah, the Islamic Revolution, and the Iran-Iraq War. In terms of plot, the story is told through the memoirs of middle class Tehran female citizen, Marjane Satrapi aka “Marji”, as she recounts her perceptions and views of the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the success of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of the war with Iraq in relation to her transitioning beliefs on matters and how they affected loved ones. Each of these events showcased an extensive change in reforms and Iran cultural values which shaped what views, lifestyles, and choices were supported and vilified by the masses. Furthermore, the story showcases the
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.
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of an oppressive regime on the child Marjane Satrapi as depicted the graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi.
After the deposing of the shah by revolution, the people of Iran elected a democratic l...
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. Thus, it is crucial that she effectively communicate this humanness of Iran to the literary audience in America. Since the literary devices in a work are needed to correctly convey a message, she found it necessary to include these and manipulate them in her favor. Satrapi uses the innocence of a child along with morals in her pictures and a relation of cultures to effectively communicate her message. It is necessary to examine how she manipulates such literary devices in order to gain a full understanding of the text.
...tion,” (86). Due to this clever technique, the Persepolis series leaves more of an intense and memorable impact on the reader. The amount of audience participation transforms Persepolis I and II into interactive stories. Satrapi’s depiction of death causes the reader to reevaluate his own perceptions of death, and realize the disastrous circumstances of the Iranian Revolution.
Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi is a non-fiction graphic novel about the author and about her experiences growing up in Persepolis, Iran. While the structure of the story is jumbled, it is presented in chronological order and describes events in the main character’s history. Marjane, the narrator, is often witness to numerous events and speaks to the reader about the lessons she learns. As religion and the government play a major role in shaping Marjane into the person she becomes, Marjane remembers specific events from her childhood and develops a better understanding of how these events shaped her.
Persepolis 2: The Story of Return is anchored around how Marji is affected by the social injustice that occurred during the Islamic Revolution. Growing up as “a westerner in Iran and an Iranian in the West,” (Satrapi 274) changes and molds her into the young woman she is at the end of her journey. In this second chapter of Satrapis life she moves away from the comfort of Iran and finds a life in Vienna. Marji desires to find her purpose and identity during her brief time here and faces many battles with language barriers, people and herself. Marjis past from Iran haunts her and instills the idea that she needs to make something of herself while in Austria. Finding that Austria took her down a darker path where the light was scarcer and the
With all literature, the role of the writer’s voice carries throughout to induce an emotion, so that as the reader a connection can be made. With some writers, it is easier to transmit these emotions through visual cues that give the reader another sense of depth. With the writer of Persepolis taking advantage of this assistance of images Marjane Satrapi can add another level to the meaning she is trying to get across. With this addition to the imagery of this graphic novel “name” can infuse more emotions. While she adds imagery to her novel, she adds another sense that there is a misunderstanding between the youth and what is occurring in her story. This demonstrates that there is a misinterpretation of specific information due to their lack
Imperialism, nationalism, revolution, social classes, and rebellion are all themes shown in the graphic novel Persepolis. These themes explain how corrupt Iran was. Iran used some of the religious beliefs and twisted them to work within the government, which caused the government to be corrupt. The government scantily followed the Islamic Law. For instance, they would arrest young girls and have have them be wed and stripped of their virginity before they killed them.