The world of comics enables comic-artists to create a whole other dimension of consciousness. The scale of emotions is enormous, allowing complete freedom for the comic-book drawer to paint a world of new understanding. As coming-of-age memoirs, Persepolis I and Persepolis II tell the story of Marjane Satrapi’s struggle to realize her true self in a world torn apart by civil unrest. Marjane Satrapi’s minimalistic drawing style enables the books Persepolis I and Persepolis II to convey the gruesome concept of death in a larger-than-life manner.
Though the softer depiction of death would seemingly weaken the concept, it in fact amplifies death to a more vivid level. Audience participation is a huge aspect of the technique, as the reader unites text and picture to envision a scene beyond the ink on the page. Scott McCloud explains the concept of “amplification through simplification,” stating than once something is broken down to its basic meaning, an artist can “amplify that meaning in a way that realistic art can’t.” Once an artist breaks down an idea to its bare minimums, only then is he allowed free range to the many different ways to visualize a concept. As a comic book artist furthers away from the “real life” depiction of an event, the reader is invited more readily to portray the sequence in whatever matter he wishes.
As the Iranian Revolution tears the country of Iran apart, Satrapi must learn to cope with the numerous images of death and decay rampant throughout the country. The audience can only imagine the tremendous amounts of death, exemplifying how small pictures extend their meaning out of frame. Just as outlined in Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud states that the “comics creator asks us to join in a silent da...
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...tion,” (86). Due to this clever technique, the Persepolis series leaves more of an intense and memorable impact on the reader. The amount of audience participation transforms Persepolis I and II into interactive stories. Satrapi’s depiction of death causes the reader to reevaluate his own perceptions of death, and realize the disastrous circumstances of the Iranian Revolution.
Works Cited
"Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988)." GlobalSecurity.org - Reliable Security
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McCloud, Scott. "Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art." Cartoon. New
York: HarperPerennial, 1993. 1-215. Print.
Satrapi, Marjane. "Persepolis 2." Cartoon. Persepolis 2. New York:
Pantheon, 2003. 1-187. Print.
Satrapi, Marjane. "Persepolis." Cartoon. Persepolis. New York:
Pantheon, 2003. 1-153. Print.
Because her parents were lenient enough to let her own the illegal American items, Satrapi was exposed to a culture that most Iranians were not. Objects such as those mentioned above not only presented her with an opportunity to rebel, they were responsible for demonstrating an alternative way of life; A way of life with more leniency and freedom to be who she
...humanize death and let the reader feel that death is a person who he can deal with. Also, she constantly uses imagery in her lines and she painted a perfect scene of what is going to happen when everybody dies, so the reader would have almost a clear image that will comfort him. Another literary element she was awesome in using is style. Dickinson’s organization had a hidden meaning of faith after death. Also, her punctuation use was so smart to show the eternity after death. Over all, using this combination of literary styles helped her to deliver her ideas easily and clearly after spending some time contemplating behind the lines. It is one death but different perspectives.
Persepolis is a inspirational story written by Marjane Satrapi in the perspective of a young girl’s life during a powerful, historical moment in Iran. The Islamic Revolution was a life-changing moment that impacted her view on the world around her and her innocence shaping her into the woman she is today. Not many people understand what it feels like to feel pain, hurt and abandonment as a child from major and minor things. The author writes this story and decides for it to be a graphic novel to allow the not only young readers, but also for those who do not understand what happens everyday in the world they live in. Satrapi uses all rhetorical stances, ethos, pathos, and logos to show problems, purpose and emotions.
The story Persepolis uses the medium of graphic novel and the perspective of a child to convey her message. The events of Persepolis are very dark and in some
In America, many have come to recognize Iran as a terrorist nation, but in reality, many Americans stereotype Iranians because they misunderstand the country and how it got to that point. In Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel Persepolis, she gives her readers an inside look of Iran by writing about her childhood during the Iranian Revolution and the changes in her life during that time. The frames in Satrapi’s graphic novel draw similarities and differences between advertisements and the Iranian culture. After analyzing the Satrapi’s graphic novel to advertisements we will look at the similarities and differences of how graphic novels and advertisements use words and images to establish the visual rhetoric.
If I took the text and images as separate elements, I might not have realized the levels of emotional Satrapi portrays or the significance of the larger context of the Iranian Revolution. It is only after reading several graphic narratives that I have realized the multitude of elements that must be acknowledged and understood while reading such texts. This mixture of unique image and text creates a versatile platform that can be an expressive form of art for marginalized persons who feel that they are trapped by the normative literary cannon. As Michael Pagliaro argues in Is a Picture Worth a Thousand Words?, graphic novels are useful as people from different backgrounds “can find their experiences authentically and respectfully portrayed” (35). I would further contend that people who occupy privileged positions can also, through graphic narratives, understand representations of marginalized persons who may appear separate or unlike them, as I was able to through Persepolis. Thus, graphic narratives foster a form of expression and understanding that is prime for working to debunk stereotypes, exploring authentic diversity in writing, and ultimately “writing against the
Through her devotion to the art and music of the United States, she was able to rebel. The encouragement of the pursuit by her parents created further inspiration for her to use it as a way to protest. Already having a deep devotion to American culture, the ability of Satrapi to use her passion to disobey the regime only strengthen her love. The affection she felt for American culture gave her the courage she needed to stand up to the harsh government of Iran. Despite the risks associated with possessing items from America, Satrapi did so anyway. She was willing to risk serious punishment to pursue happiness through the means of her favorite hobbies. The influence of said entertainments helped shaped Satrapi’s views. By providing her with experiences that were foreign to the majority of her peers, the culture that Satrapi enjoyed influence her open-minded opinions. Listening to the music of artists such as Kim Wilde and Iron Maiden and following the clothing trends like denim jackets and Nikes exposed Satrapi to ideals she normally would not have been growing up in post-revolution Iran. They provided a door into a different, more accepting world and a glimpse into the possibilities of what could
Satrapi’s use of the graphic element of caption is done relatively well. The captions sets the tone of how Marji idolizes her uncle Anoosh; him being the one that she connects with most. “Luckily, one day they told me about me uncle Anoosh” (54). The caption on panel three of page 54 shows how highly Marji think of her uncle. When the reader reads that caption it basically lets them know that Marji was very happy, if not fortunate, that she has met her missing uncle. The word “luckily” hints
After Marjane learns that her great grandpa was an emperor of Iran, she pictures him living an extraordinary life as royalty. Her image includes her great grandpa riding an elephant with a crown and the sun shining with a castle in the background (Satrapi 22). This illustration of her imagination is comedic because it shows Iran’s past being perfect through Marjane’s eyes when, in fact, it was nothing like she envisioned. Her limited knowledge causes her to perceive things almost opposite of how they really are, while distracting the reader from the conflicts occuring in the country. Futhermore, Satrapi uses comedy to demonstrate that Marjane’s personality is similar to an average child her age, despite the environment she is living in . When Marjane’s father goes out to take photos of the revolution, her mother and grandma become worried about him, and they start to discuss the matter. They are clearly not talking to her, but
The words written in the text of the novel is in capital letters that portrayed that someone is yelling and frustrated. This was due to the fact that Satrapi became angry about the Iranian Revolution and seeing death happen every day. She did not want to live in a society that killed people if they had different opinions than the government. The novel was written in black and white and this showed no self-identity because people were not allowed to be different. The graphic novel was shown for people to not judge whether the race of their skin.
Marji is depicted internally when she says refers to herself by saying “this is me.” Readers are able to use their imagination and the context of the scene to completely fulfill the face of the character in the panels. Satrapis illustrations do not incorporate much detail so this allows readers to fill in the story with their imagination. The cartooning in Persepolis 2 is simplistic and to the point. There is little distraction on the page and her layout of the panels is neat and read left to right. When looking at her work it is made clear that it is the reader’s job to fill in the illustration. Why would Satrapi do this? She presents her illustrations like this because doing so allows the reader to believe the characters more and get encompassed by the story. Moving forward, looking closely at the veils in the panel above, one can see that it is so much more than just an accessory appearing on the page. The veil attracts the audience to her features and expression allowing one to access her internal traits. The power of illustration and what you allow to show or keep to yourself is
There are many times when problems in a country affect one's life. Persepolis by Majarne Satrapi recounts the coming-of-age of a girl during a period of war. Utilizing a graphic novel to illustrate, Marjane recalls the struggles of her family and herself living in warfare. For instance, in Persepolis, Marjane's external conflict result in her internal conflict.
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return. Vol. 2. New York: Pantheon, 2004. Print.
Persepolis, a graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi, is not a run-of-the-mill comic book. It is written with purpose. Satrapi wrote and illustrated this book to show Americans that their perspective of her home country, Iran, is askew. She believes Americans are too focused on the “fundamentalism, fanaticism, and terrorism” (Satrapi ii), of the nation and that they forget to notice the normality and humanness of it. Since these two perspectives have vast differences, Satrapi wants to change their minds. Thus, it is crucial that she effectively communicate this humanness of Iran to the literary audience in America. Since the literary devices in a work are needed to correctly convey a message, she found it necessary to include these and manipulate them in her favor. Satrapi uses the innocence of a child along with morals in her pictures and a relation of cultures to effectively communicate her message. It is necessary to examine how she manipulates such literary devices in order to gain a full understanding of the text.
The full-page panel on pg. 120 in “The Cigarette” parallels Satrapi’s descent into the basement with Iran sinking deeper into the war with Iraq. To me, the one-page panel emphasizes the scale in which the violence and death devolved significantly. On the bottom of the panel, Satrapi leaves through a door, as if trying to put that out of her mind when she goes to smoke the cigarette. The leaving through the door also seems to signify the aftermath of the destruction, with Satrapi commenting, “When I think we could have avoided it all. . . It just makes me sick. A million people would still be alive” (Satrapi 120). Persepolis devotes itself to detailing the wasted and undesired loss of life found during the regime, from Niloufar to Taher to Uncle Anoosh . . . Rest in peace Uncle