The Shabbat By Marjane Satrapi: An Analysis

Sometimes, not saying anything is actually better than saying something. In the excerpt, “The Shabbat,” from the comic book biography, “Persepolis,” Marjane Satrapi uses the absence of text (dialogue) and images (visuals) to realistically emphasize and reinforce the ideas and emotions that she underwent during the war between Iran and Iraq. A handful of examples include, but are not limited to when she was walking on the street, when she found out that her neighborhood was attacked, when she finally reunited with her mother, and when she discovers that her friend passed away. In the largest panel of the whole excerpt, it shows Satrapi walking on a street. Although, there is physically no dialogue, there is a caption. The significance of the …show more content…
The onomatopoeia, “BOOM!!!,” always signals a change in the mood. The background color changes from white to black as it had done previously. The first time was when Tehran was attacked by missiles and she and her family were scared for their lives. This time she is scared yet again, worried for her family members’ lives. She hurried back home to the point that she does not take the jeans that she bought because they were not as important to her. Additionally, it shows her quickly giving the money to the taxi driver while at the same time, exiting the taxi. She is clearly worried amongst the people, with the black background indicating a gloomy atmosphere. She was very desperate to get through and to go into the neighborhood, pushing her way through the crowd. Even though there was a man armed with a gun, she was still able to get through, risking her life potentially. This would allow for a contrast of white and black in the next panel, in which she is slightly relieved that he allowed her to get through. Then, she has a prayer-like thought, “Let them be alive, let them be alive, let them …show more content…
Visual communication, which includes facial cues and body language, is just as important to pick up on as well. Additionally, Satrapi’s thoughts are of equal importance as well because it provides insight in her thinking (process). This is not a traditional, ordinary biography due to the fact that she focuses on less words and utilizes of visuals to effectively tell her story in her own unique way. If she had written an autobiography without illustrations, it might not have been able to get across her emotions to her audience like she wanted it to. However, since she does, in fact, use illustrations, she is able to get her audience to understand how she felt and what she experienced deeply without solely relying on