Analysis Of Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis

What do you think of when you hear the name of the country Iran? The book Persepolis, written by Marjane Satrapi is written about a ten-year-old girl named Marji living in Iran during the revolution. Although there are many apparent differences between us and Marji, the author was able to show that we and our ways of life are very similar. The Iranian revolution was a time of great turmoil and conflict, with a lot of violence, oppression, and fear. This may seem sound bad, but this is not far from how the united states were during the during the civil rights movement. Not only America, but other countries have suffered government change and revolution. Marji’s childhood is a lot like ours and the economic, political, and social condition is …show more content…
Many times as a child we were told what to do and not given an explanation on why it leads us to resent this unexplained thing. “Then came 1980: The year it became obligatory to wear the veil at school. We didn't really like to wear the veil, especially since we didn't understand why we had to.”(Satrapi 7).The panel begins with Marji and her friends, who look uneasy and discontent. They don’t understand why they have to wear the veil. They resent the veil. In the next panel, the girls are taking off their veils and using them as toys. One girl is using it to ride the other as a horse, and another is using hers to jump rope. This shows how similar they are to any other children because they had no toys, they used what they had to play. Marji and her friends were still normal kids. Marji loved Kim Wilde. Like any kid her age, but for her, it was hard to get posters and listen to the music, because it was contraband. “She tore out the lining. Then, she placed the two posters behind it… and then sewed it back in.” (Satrapi 131) In order for Marji’s dad to bring her Kim Wilde posters into Iran, he had to hide them in his jacket. You can see the look of worry and concern as he crosses because he knows the potential punishments for his crime. Marji also experienced the same feelings of self-doubt that many kids feel. Marji didn't know if she could be a prophet, she was scared and …show more content…
In Iran women were not treated equally to men, they were forced to cover themselves head to toe when in public, and did not have a voice. The women were controlled with fear, any women who rebelled, or would not conform, were killed, tortured, raped, and humiliated. “‘You know what they do to the young girls they arrest...it's against the law to kill a virgin so a guardian of the revolution marries her...and takes her virginity before executing her. Do you understand what that means?”(149). In this panel, Marji’s mother is angry with her. She is worried about the risks associated with Marji rebelling. She yells at Marji explaining to her what happened to the last girl. Marji didn’t know the extent of the way that she was killed. Marji instantly looks shocked and scared. She begins to realize the gravity of her whole situation. Before this Marji despite knowing more than most kids her age, she still had a childlike innocence in the way that she saw the world. Like most children, she never saw the complete worst in people. At this point in the book, I feel like this was taken away from her. The women in Iran at this time had become used to this type of treatment, of not being able to have a voice. There are many parallels to that have happened in America not too long ago. Women were not given the right to vote until 1920. Even today their women continue to be treated