Using an animatic graphic novel form, the author Marjane Satrapi pictures and depicts her childhood to the grown-up period under dramatic change of Iran vividly and less oppressively with this biography of “Persepolis”. During the years of dramatic changes, no one living in the city of Tehran would have thought of the idea that Islamic leaders would rise after the failure of the dictator emperor of Shah, and aim for another autocracy government that rules the whole nation, as they who leads Islam believers announced they are not interested in secular power of a social government. During the last years of the king the Shah, human rights problems rise tension harshly after harsh inflation and a cruel ruling system of secret police arresting progressive individuals or anyone who oppose Shah’s ruling. “Down with the Shah” was shouted by demonstrators and painted on slogans, Marji(Marjane) and her friends mock this action for her parent’s involvement in the demonstration. Coming from a wealthy family, Marji’s parents are both educated and economically self-supportive. Besides, Marji’s Grandmother holds strong faith and affection for people, and she supports the freedom and rights of demonstrations against Shah. During and right after the revolution against Shah, people all seem to feel confident about a new government with free, open-minded laws and non-oppressive leaders. In the story, even Marji’s neighbor was barging about her birthmark on her face as an injury from a bullet. During this phase, Marji has her own wish of being the last prophet and talk to her own god. She wanted to stand up against inequality and demonstrate human rights, but she hasn’t completely understood the point of standing out.
The stories continue after the revolution, while everyone is still celebrating the collapse of the Shah, the Islamic power of Mosques returns. After the Shah left Iran, his system of secret policies and the strong army were left with no one in command, during this period the Islamic leader Khomeini returns from his exile. The author didn’t focus on the change at a dramatic level but put attention to people near her. Her uncle who stayed in Shah’s jail for nine years being a communist and progressive activist was arrested and executed again shortly after the Islamic government came in power. Her friends’ families left the country and a war started between Iraq and Iran, and she was sent to study in Austria by her parents as she holds ideas of freedom as she was taught before Islamic reform happens in schools. In a conservative group, the ones who hold progressive ideas and want changes or new things are considered hostile. TV propaganda pictures any popular culture from outside of Iran as addictive drugs that poison everyone. In this phase, Marji uses herself as a symbolism of a progressive individual, being raised in a modern family makes her unsuitable for a closed society. Meanwhile, biases appears around Marjane as she began studying in Austria. As Adichie says in her TED talk of “The danger of a simple story”, stereotypes or first impressions of individuals often come from assumptions, and they could be very wrong. Many people Marji meets at Vienna assumes Iranians are all barbaric and are always fighting with each other, but religion is only a fraction of Iran’s culture and tradition that Marji is not part of it. Her fear made her hide her identity of being an Iranian during the very first months, but after she went through cultural collisions of parties in Vienna, prejudices of Nuns at her school, and judgments from other students in the café. During her toughest times, she still holds the belief in her Grandma’s words “Always keep your dignity and be true to yourself”, and she keeps her life going.
Being lonely and tired of having no place to stay, Marjane return back home and attended college to keep her life going. Meeting with little human rights and freedom besides her boredness after marrying her new husband, Marjane decides to move away from Iran forever. For fear to be arrested by soldiers on the streets and never free of having entertainment activities, she decides to live her tragic wandering life in a happier way. Always remembering her Grandmother’s tellings and her smell of Jasmine flower. It reminds her of where she came from and what she had been through. In this phase, Marji understands why she should fight for faith, and why she cannot stand out in Iran as one individual. She chooses to leave the country but remembers her identity always, of her childhood and wandering years. “One can forgive but one should never forget”.
Works cited:
Satrapi. 2000. The Complete Persepolis. Pantheon.
Olsen, N. (2019, September 5). Revolutionary religion: Shia Islam and the Iranian Revolution. E-International Relations. Retrieved October 1, 2021, from https://www.e-ir.info/2019/09/03/revolutionary-religion-shia-islam-and-the-iranian-revolution/.
Adichie, C. N. (2009). The danger of a single story. TED. Accessed October 1, 2021, from https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.
Afary, J. (2021, March 25). Iranian Revolution. Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed October 1, https://www.britannica. com/event/Iranian-Revolution
I think you did a great job summarizing this weeks reading, Persepolis. I feel that I have gained a new insight on what this book really means to its readers. Furthermore, I found your comparison to Adichie’s “The danger of a single story” very interesting. Thinking back to the reading, I never made this connection but now I can see it. Unfortunately, Satrapi was stereotyped based on her religion and culture which does not seem fair. Her ideas of wanting to create a life and education is much different then what most people perceived. Overall, great job this week and I hope others learn new information from your presentation.
Your presentation is awesome. Marji had such a unique story to share. The opportunity she was gifted to study within Austria shows her dedication to her own beliefs, practices, and influences she had. This is a strong message within itself of following the dreams that are meant to be chased and achieved. However, alike nearly all other stories, Marji had a very tough transition with the students there within Austria. The beliefs they had of Iranians and those of that origin became a subject that was applied by those students to Marji. I believe this is another moving part of the story. Because Marji doesn’t lose faith in what she was told by her grandmother. She holds the words of her (grandmother) close to her and her heart, which helped for Marji to remain true to herself and the background in which she was from. This is a major learning experience for Marji and is taken with her as her life continues. Many lessons from this story can be applicable in many aspects of others’ lives, too.
Before introducing Marji’s growth, your introduction to the background of the Iranian revolution is particularly key. This presentation is very good. You mentioned the reasons for the people’s Revolution: “During the last years of the king the Shah, human rights problems rise tension harshly after hard inflation and a cruel ruling system of secret police arresting progressive individuals or anyone who opposes Shah’s ruling.”, The lower class will want to speak. This reminds me of the issue of the subaltern’s right to speak, which we discussed a few weeks ago. After that, you have a detailed understanding of Marji’s life and ideological difficulties, and let me realize the impact of the revolution on people’s life and ideology. Overall, it was a very wonderful presentation.
I thought your presentation gave great context to the story. Explaining the revolution in particular was very helpful in understanding the rapid changes Marji and her family were experiencing. The changes in which both her and her family had to make under the rule of a new government were hard and went against a lot of how Marji’s family went about life. This shows how impactful a revolution can be on someone’s life. I feel like the negative affects are always more aired out than the positives, but in this case it is hard to see any positives as someone’s life was completely altered. However, it did strengthen Marji’s beliefs, it is just a shame it had to happen in such an intense way.