There are few things that traditional western culture values more than protecting the innocence of a child. It is not often considered, but many go to great lengths to guard this intangible element of childhood. “The Shabbat”, an excerpt from Marjane Satrapi’s graphic memoir Persepolis, chronicles young Satrapi’s loss of innocence in a terrible way. This comic tells the story of a little Iranian girl who is living through the Islamic Revolution, all from a first-person retrospective point of view. In other words, this story recounts the horrors that a little girl faces in a war zone. The art is simple, almost as if the little girl herself drew them, but do not mistake simplicity for poor quality. Each panel is distinct and serves a purpose within the story. The verbiage also remains accessibly simplistic throughout the tale, but at no point does it feel condescending. During the period in which the story takes place, the Satrapi’s home city, Tehran, is being targeted by Iraqi missiles. Most people do not have the experience of living in an actively missile-targeted zone, so it should go without saying that this is more than unsettling for her and her family. A large part of the population of Tehran flees to safety, but the girl’s family and her neighbors, the Baba-Levys, stay. She and her friend Neda Baba-Levy do their best to live the life of normal teenage girls despite being in this terrible situation. While in the middle of the stereotypical jean shopping trip with Shadi, another one of Satrapi’s childhood friends, Satrapi hears a resounding boom that fills her with terror. Satrapi comes to find out via a radio announcement that her block was hit by the latest bombing. She rushes home, finding her mother safe and sound, much to her relief. Her mother informs her that the rest of their family was out, so that they too should be safe. However,
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As the uncle of two young girls, I was simply heartbroken to read this panel. I cannot begin to comprehend the thought of my own family having to deal with the terrible situations illustrated in this book. I can only applaud her ability to put readers so effectively in the shoes of the protagonist that they feel exactly what she felt when she lived those events. Furthermore, when Satrapi hears the news that her home area was hit by the bombs, I can almost imagine the kind of belly-churning dread that must have set in. When my father found out I was gay, I spent the entire day out avoiding him, with a fear of inevitable loss of home and family. I am by no means trying to say this is as bad as what she experienced that day, fearing her family was dead, just that I know, to some extent, the feelings she must have been doing through. In the simplest terms possible, “The Shabbat” is a horror story. While many books terrify their readers with ghosts and monsters, Satrapi reaches into the depths of your soul and makes you fear a situation she had to fear in real life. She forces readers to accept that what they are reading is based on reality, which she utilizes in a masterful, yet subtle way to elicit empathy from the readers. Though few of us were children in a war zone, many of us have lost our innocence as children in a myriad of traumatic ways. This decidedly effective methodology is what makes “The Shabbat” so tremendously
As the uncle of two young girls, I was simply heartbroken to read this panel. I cannot begin to comprehend the thought of my own family having to deal with the terrible situations illustrated in this book. I can only applaud her ability to put readers so effectively in the shoes of the protagonist that they feel exactly what she felt when she lived those events. Furthermore, when Satrapi hears the news that her home area was hit by the bombs, I can almost imagine the kind of belly-churning dread that must have set in. When my father found out I was gay, I spent the entire day out avoiding him, with a fear of inevitable loss of home and family. I am by no means trying to say this is as bad as what she experienced that day, fearing her family was dead, just that I know, to some extent, the feelings she must have been doing through. In the simplest terms possible, “The Shabbat” is a horror story. While many books terrify their readers with ghosts and monsters, Satrapi reaches into the depths of your soul and makes you fear a situation she had to fear in real life. She forces readers to accept that what they are reading is based on reality, which she utilizes in a masterful, yet subtle way to elicit empathy from the readers. Though few of us were children in a war zone, many of us have lost our innocence as children in a myriad of traumatic ways. This decidedly effective methodology is what makes “The Shabbat” so tremendously