Seth Ekberg Prof.

Anita Bravo World History November 20th 2010 Persepolis: Iranian life through a childs eyes Marjane Satrapis autobiographical masterpiece Persepolis is a very unique look into the daily life of a young Iranian girl and her family during the Islamic revolution in Iran. It portrays a very interesting tale of this girls and her families lives and exhibits how they are effected by the various repressive regimes. It strongly depicts what it was like to grow up in that time, and what sort of influences were at play. Being an autobiography, and as she is telling the story of her own life; there is a strong emotional charge to the story all the way through the book. Everyone through starts their life with a clean slate so to speak, completely innocent and trusting of those they are surrounded with as they grow up. This story is a prime example of how that strong impact parents and surroundings can have on a child. When you are young you listen to everything you hear and if it is coming from those you love you take it to heart and what they say and do becomes what you think. Persepolis is a book that exhibits a girls longing for a childhood unaffected by war and free to develop into a full meaningful life not just used to fight off the tyranny that was a constant presence in Marjanes life. In her youngest days at the beginning of the novel Marjane was a very religious girl. I was born with religion At the age of six I was already sure I was the last prophet (Satrapi, 6). When she was first born she was raised in a house that was full of religious teachings. She had written her own holy book, and was sure that she was

going to be Gods greatest prophet to ever have lived. God was her friend: she had a very intimate and personal relationship with him. Every night, I had a big discussion with God (Satrapi, 8). It was almost as if God, to her, was a very real and tangible thing in an earthly way, and he would come into her room and visit her every night when she was very young. This relation was very strong at the beginning of her childhood but faded substantially as her life went on and the tension in her country rose and got much worse, and so too faded her innocence. The year of the revolution I had to take action, so I put my prophetic destiny aside for a while (Satrapi, 10). God visited her less often after she became interested in war. She was still nave to the workings of government and the methods behind the revolution, but she wanted to be involved. She believed what she was taught in school. As for me, I love the King, he was chosen by God (Satrapi, 19). This greatly upset her parents because they had been demonstrating against the king every day. So Marjis father enlightened her on the events that brought the king to power and how he took away all of her grandfathers belongings. She began to understand more. There were other events that strengthened her desire to learn. One day her father came home late and told them a story about an old man who died of cancer but was called a martyr and a hero of the revolution. Her parents and grandmother were laughing about it, but Marji didnt understand why it was funny. I realized then that I didnt understand anything. I read all the books I could (Satrapi, 32). Marji began to educate herself. When I finally understood the reasons for the revolution, I made my decision. Tomorrow we are going to demonstrate (Satrapi, 38). Marji brought her maid with her to demonstrate their opposition to the separation of social class, but they accidentally

chose the worst day possible to do so. It was Black Friday, a day in which hundreds of their own people killed demonstrators. Marjis mother was infuriated with worry, and she slapped them. The bottom right panel on page 39 shows Marji and her maid sitting on her bed. They have the impression of her mothers hand on their faces, heads lowered, marking their shame. The use of shadows is very effective, emphasizing the shadowed handprints of her mother. The lack of words is also effective because their shame is clearly evidenced by their posture and reflective silence. Although Marji was getting more exposure to the conflicts, she was still immature in her actions. She led a group of friends on a mission to hurt a boy whose dad had killed communists, even though it wasnt the boy who had done wrong. Luckily her mother stopped her. Marji was then exposed to stories of torture in prison: whipping, cutting, and burning with an iron. I never imagined that you could use that appliance for torture. I didnt know what justice was, (Satrapi, 51). Still, she played games in which the one who loses will be tortured. She still did not understand the significance and the reality of the struggle around her. She used the stories about her Uncle Anoosh being in prison for 9 years to brag to her friends. Thats better than Llalys father! (Satrapi, 60). But then she began to pay attention and to listen to the discussions around her. During the time Anoosh stayed with us I heard political discussions of the highest order, (Satrapi, 62). Marji learned a lot about the revolution and the Islamic republic from listening to the conversations between her father and uncle Anoosh. Later, Anoosh leaves suddenly and Marjis father told her that he went on a trip. Afterward he says, I think we need to talk. The truth is they have arrested Anoosh, (Satrapi, 68).

Her father finally trusts her enough to tell her the truth about matters, recognizing that she is growing up and able to understand more. At the next demonstration, Marjis parents let her go with them. She should start learning to defend her rights as a woman right now! her mother said, (Satrapi, 76). It is at this demonstration against fundamentalism that Marji sees violence with her own eyes for the first time. Soon after, she sees fighter jets for the first time. Iran is at war, and it finally starts to become a reality to her. One of Marjis teachers says it well, Welcome, girls of Iran. The war has taken the flower of our nations youth, (Satrapi, 96). Marji started to lose her innocence. She saw war and violence first hand. She became rebellious, talking back to her teachers and skipping class in order to fit in with the older girls. She attended her first party and smoked her first cigarette. With this first cigarette, I kissed my childhood goodbye. Now I was grown up, (Satrapi, 117). Marji began to view the world and the war differently. The explicit events she witnessed changed her and forced her to grow up. One day, a bomb landed on her street. She feared it hit her home, but instead it blew up her friends house next door. She saw the remains of her friend among the rubble. No scream in the world could have relieved my suffering and my anger, (Satrapi, 142). The panel that accompanies this text is solid black. There is no picture to describe the feeling of despair that Marji suffers and it is reflected in the emptiness and the blackness in the panel. After the death of Neda BabaLevy, my life took a new turn. In 1984 I was fourteen and a rebel. Nothing scared me anymore, (Satrapi, 143). Marji recognizes a change and a loss of innocence in herself. She is not the prophetic imaginative girl she once was. Marjis parents arrange for her to go to school in Vienna, believing it would be to

her benefit to leave the country. Her rebelliousness will get her in trouble at the Iranian schools, and she has become so independent that they trust her to take care of herself. This experience helps Marji to prioritize the things that are most important in her life. I invited my girlfriends over to say goodbye. I never realized how much they loved me. And I understood how important they were to me, (Satrapi, 149). She also realized how much she appreciated her parents and her grandmother, even though she previously resisted their authority. Marjane was exposed to a lot of traumatic things at an early age. These experiences forced her to change and to abandon her childish ways. In order to survive, she had to learn the law and attempt to understand the revolution. She was introduced to adult conversation, she read books, and she taught herself in order to grasp what was going on around her. Marjane would not have lost her innocence prematurely if it had not been for her exposure to the suffering and the politics of war. The experiences she and her family went through and the exposure to the struggles in her society captured her innocence.

Work cited

Satrapi, Marjane, and Marjane Satrapi. The Complete Persepolis. New York: Pantheon, 2007. Print.