Essay On Persepolis

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The outcome of any Leninist-Marxist revolution is seldom in the interest of the ordinary citizens, the only accomplishment is the mere changing of the oppressors. The graphic novel Persepolis by author Marjane Satrapi is a poignant story of the Iranian revolution from the perspective of a precocious little girl, the author. The novel showcases the transformation of a nation, going from a relatively progressive culture to becoming a deeply religious and intolerant society. On a lighter note, the parallels between the Iranian Revolution and Animal Farm by George Orwell are just too compelling to ignore. The window-washer turned hospital administrator, rewarded for growing his beard, is similar to the pigs in human clothing trotting about on their…show more content…
Anoosh himself is an enthusiastic and a whole-hearted revolutionary. With a PhD in Marxism-Leninism from Moscow, he is very obviously motivated by his creed and is driven ideologically to participate in the revolution. Too bad, Moscow University did not have Animal Farm on its curriculum, otherwise Anoosh might have realized the pointlessness of a Marxist-Leninist revolution, and perhaps realized that he might himself sooner or later suffer the same fate suffered by Snowball in Animal Farm. Even with the religious mullahs rapidly consolidating their political power, Anoosh idealistically proclaims to Marjane and her father that “the proletariat shall rule,” Lenin’s words from “The State and Revolution” (62). Unfortunately for Anoosh, Lenin is the moral equivalent of Snowball (no offense intended), and pretty much the same fate did come to pass for all of these characters. Unless the good of the people is deeply rooted in the ideals of a revolution, as it is entrenched in the principles of a democracy, revolution fails miserably to uplift the conditions of the masses and, in fact, merely replaces the peoples’ oppressors, oftentimes with even more ruthless and brutal

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