Gender Roles In Persepolis

Persepolis is the picturesque diary of Marjane Satrapi, author of this book highlighting the details in the life of an Iranian. In the beginning of her story, a revolution is happening as the Iranians overthrow the emperor, however a war breaks out between Iraq and Iran following these events. In Iran, social differences between men, women and children appear to be affected by a war that was going on during Marji’s childhood. During this time, many people died so her parents force her to leave Iran due to fears that it will be a danger to her safety living in the midst of a war. Marji experiences social differences between men, women and even children that emphasize differences in social class through religion, income, and gender. The class …show more content…
Marji was born into the wealth of her parents, when many people in Iran were not that wealthy, in fact the majority were from the lower class. Marji’s first encounter with social differences was in the chapter “The Letter”, when she read a book from Ali A. Darvishian on lower class children slaving it out in order to get by. This book made Marji aware of what social class she was part of and feels bad about it because she does not think it is fair. For example, Mehri, Marji’s maid was adopted as a child worker so she was uneducated, hence did not know how to read and write. The mixture of emotions and illiteracy forced Mehri to ask Marji to write a letter on her behalf to give to their neighbor, Hossein. When Marji’s dad heard about this, he went to go talk with Hossein telling him she was their maid. The difference in social class caused Hossein to cut her off. Marji did not believe in differences between social classes according to this quote, “But is it her fault she was born where she was born?” (Satrapi 37) Marji thought they were equal because they were grew up together and she thought it didn’t matter where you came from, but she begins to realize that it is a harsh reality. ‘’…We were not in the same social class but at least we were in the same bed. (Satrapi 37) Her father, who for the most part is an advocate for equality states that ‘’…their love was impossible…because in this country, you must stay within your social class.’’ (Satrapi 37) I guess in this situation, where you come from does affect your social ranking because she is even banned from eating at the table with the Satrapis during meals. This seems to be contradictory to their thoughts on equality and freedom. Another scene in Persepolis projects a young man being carried out of the hospital as a hero but as he is carried out, no one stops to check