Symbolism In Persepolis

1074 Words5 Pages
Satrapi shows the importance of unification of a nation and ends the book showing the outcome of a disunified nation; escape. In nearly every situation that we encounter two sides to it. From breaking the law, to a small fight with a sibling, everyone is entitled to their opinion and Marjane Satrapi is no excuse. Satrapi portrays Iran very negatively in her graphic novel, Persepolis. She was on the receiving end of the attacks of the revolution while living in Iran. Like any war, there were two sides of the revolution. One side being the Islamic government and those defending the attacks. These people supported the new government when the fighting broke out after the Shah was taken down, but then there was the side who wanted true independence,…show more content…
In order to become independent from the British Crown, Franklin and many other colonists knew that the colonies needed to unite as one. Some of the colonies though, did not particularly like each other. For example, many of the New England colonies disagreed with the Southern colonies in reference to their farmers relying on the free labor of their African American slaves. The people from the two regions (North and South) did not want to unite because of this disagreement. When writing the Declaration of Independence, the south would not sign the document unless Thomas Jefferson and John Adams agreed to remove the paragraph that freed the slaves. The men knew that it was the only way to cut of their mother country of England. Nothing unites a country like a common enemy, this is seen in both the American and Iranian Revolutions. The Islamic government and supporting citizens of Iran could not seem to understand why so many people rebelled against them, the same scenario was seen in the American Revolution with England. While Marjane was dumbfounded by the efforts the terrorists took to get rid of the western influence on the people of…show more content…
America wanted-and still wants-the oil from the middle east. With the Imperialism from America, came the influence of western culture. The supporters of the Islamic regime used the western trends as an association with betrayal. This is seen when Marjane sarcastically called a necktie a “dreaded symbol of the west.” This is also seen when Marjane is stopped for wearing her “punk” Nike shoes, skinny jeans, denim jacket, and Michael Jackson pin that her parents got her while on vacation. Before Satrapi was stopped, her parents had to first get the items into the country. Her parents hid Marjane’s poster inside of Eby’s jacket. If her parents have to go to that extent to smuggle in western items to the country, who knows how much western culture is looked down upon. The Revolution is not about Nike and Michael Jackson, it’s about the war of oil brought by America that tears a country apart. The picture at right represents England’s Imperialism to many of the other countries. One master country controlling and even completely taking over other, smaller countries. The cartoon shows England with twelve arms, ten reaching out to other countries and two with a complete grasp of a couple countries. The two stolen countries would represent countries that England had direct power over, while the other ten represent countries that England had indirect power over. Iran would be one of indirect rule
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