Analysis Of Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis

1213 Words5 Pages
In the past seven months of school, we, as a class, read three different novels that focused on the many aspects of culture around the world. My novel, Persepolis, written by Marjane Satrapi, may seem like, at first glance, a revolutionary narrative about Iran and how similar it is from everywhere else. Satrapi’s goal in her novel was to defend Iran and try to make readers understand that Iran really, is not too different. It is important to note that it is extremely debatable to say that most people in western societies, especially the U.S, share a perspective, unfortunately a common one, that the country of Iran has a reputation for Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism. The information we take in from the news and media feed into our misconceptions…show more content…
A significant time in Marjane’s life was when she found that social classes played a major role in the oppressive acts at the time. Marjane’s family had a main named Mehri. Marjane grew up with Mehri, played with her, and Mehri took very good care of her. Mehri fell in love with the neighbor’s son. Satrapi said that “every night, they looked at each other from the window of my room…until the day he slipped her a letter.” (Satrapi, 38). Mehri did not know how to read or write, so she asked Marjane to write her letters for her. She did, Marjane called Mehri her sister, they were close enough to be. Once her father found out, he had to go next door and inform the boy that Mehri was only their maid, and they were not related. Once Marji finds out that the two cannot be together, she gets very upset and questions why social classes play such a strong role in Iran. It takes Marji quite some time to completely understand why such an event is happening. This makes Marji realize how important social classes were in post revolution Iran. Her and Mehri attended the next demonstration, which happened to be one of the most dangerous ones she could have gone to, as it fell on Black Friday and so many people died, it was rumored that the Israeli soldiers were…show more content…
What made her argument less strong, was that the main points in her graphic novel focused around the war and how it slowed society down, how heavy oppression was during the time the Iranian revolution and war happened, and the gender roles placed upon women during this time. Young Marjane went through a lot as a child, from the revolution, to the war, the sexism placed upon women, and the mass amounts of oppression. Satrapi did try her hardest to make Iran seem like a safe place to live, but her ways of trying to make readers think that way were not the best she could have
Show More
Related

  • Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis: An Analysis

    727 Words  | 3 Pages

    Would you like it if your dignity was taken away from you and you could not stand up for yourself? Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis considers the many different ways women are disrespected after the revolution in Iran. Women in higher class are different from women in lower class. For example, women in high class can pay off for the wrongdoings they have done; whereas women in low class have no debt to pay for her mistakes.Marjane is a young girl who will fight for her rights and the rights of those

    Read More

More about Analysis Of Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis

Open Document