Examples Of Rebellion In Persepolis

The characters in Persepolis feel the need to rebel since they believe it is the only way to escape the feeling of being controlled by someone else’s authority. In the novel, Marji smoked her first cigarette to rebel against her mother’s dictatorship, and to prove that she does not have all the power. On page 113, Marji yells to her mother, “Dictator! You are the guardian of the revolution of this house!” Marji compared her and her mother’s situation to the government and the people during the Iran-Iraq war. Later on, Marji smoked her first cigarette in rebellion to her mother when she told her that she was too young to make her own choices, while Marji herself believed that she was mature enough to do things on her own. Although this is a …show more content…
On page 76, during the protest, the people involved chanted the words, “Guns may shoot and knives may carve, but we won’t wear your silly scarves!” The demonstrators refused to obey the government’s strict rule of wearing the veil, and since they did not allow the people to have a voice, it resulted in these ongoing, public protests. Since the government did not allow the people to make their own choices during the time, they were not able to do anything to get their point across, except rebel. It was their only form of sending a message to the government to complain about not sharing their authority with the people, and not making decisions without addressing the people first. Looking at these acts or rebellion, the author, Marji, is trying to teach us about the idea of personal power and self-control. Since the government was completely controlling the people, the author is trying to showing us that everyone has their own sense of power and it should not be abused or taken by anyone. Giving the people a say and a voice is essential in order to prevent any major conflict that could lead to war or