Misconceptions In Persepolis

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In the light of past events and conflicts, The Middle East is viewed as a place of terror and destruction. All caused by the extremist groups known as the Taliban and ISIS. These groups are responsible for all that Middle East represents, which leads the world to think upon a terrible misconception, that all Muslims are evil and will not hesitate to bomb whenever the time calls for. This misconception is what Marjane Satrapi tries to counter in her book, Persepolis. She wants the world to know that not all Muslims are evil and that only a few groups are responsible for all this terror. Satrapi displays her life within these pages to make sure her audience knows who she is, where she came from, and what her country is like, correcting the misconceptions…show more content…
I will admit that before reading this novel, I thought every Middle Eastern country was all the same due to the fact that I was not educated in depth about it. By stepping into her world as an Iranian living in a country that is not much different than ours, we become more educated about Iran. Instead of everyone living in huts with dirt floors, having only one economic class, and all women are oppressed, as many common misconceptions hold, Satrapi helps us understand what her country is really like. Some of us in the West think all of the countries in the Middle East are third-world when, in reality, there are poor neighborhoods and wealthy neighborhoods, an obvious social class system, and Warren 9 some women are more independent and take advantage of opportunities than others. Even the nuns at her first boarding house in Austria give in to a stereotype of how Iranians are not educated, even though one of the main reasons Marji is in Austria is to continue her…show more content…
This Western influence is shown throughout Persepolis with parties, references to bands like Iron Maiden and the Bee Gees, as well as Marji‟s choice of dress. In Satrapi‟s memoir, one of the most important influences from the Western countries is their popular culture that includes music, books, movies and television, and games. Throughout the whole story, Marji is influenced by things that are not originally from Iran. She listens to Iron Maiden and Kim Wilde and reads comic books. Marji also expresses the influence the West has on her by dressing in denim jackets, Nikes, and tight pants. Marji is influenced by these things because she is a young girl who is susceptible to being impressed by everything around
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    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

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