Sometimes adversity can be the key to success, as Walt Disney once said:“The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare, and the most beautiful of all”. As seen in Marjane Satrapi’s The Complete Persepolis, James Baldwin’s If Beale Street Could Talk, and Sandra Cisneros’s The House on Mango Street, protagonists face and conquer different types of adversity. As seen in Marjane’s education in Persepolis, Fonny’s sculpting in If Beale Street Could Talk, and Esperanza’s writing in The House on Mango Street, all reflect In Persepolis, Marjane uses European education as her way to a life of freedom outside of sexist Iran. Marjane Satrapi’s dream of becoming an “educated, liberated woman”(Satrapi 74) is impossible in her home country due to …show more content…
Fonny and Tish are even born into a tough life. Tish states that her family“wasn’t as poor as we had been in the south, but we certainly were”(Baldwin 10). Both Fonny Hunt and Tish Carter are African-Americans living in Harlem, a predominately African-American neighborhood in New York that greatly varies in wealth. Both families not only face economic struggles, but racial struggles, as their children grow up in a pre-civil rights act america full of segregation. During this time, neighborhoods are segregated, making it difficult for Hunt and Carter to move up in the american social class system. . Even though they are faced with these difficulties Hunt uses money he has made from sculpting, and rents a loft in Greenwich Village, a nice neighborhood in Manhattan known for its contributions to the art community. They also face another issue when Fonny is wrongly accused of raping a Puerto Rican woman, and thrown in prison. Tish visits Fonny and states “I’ll always remember now, because he is in jail, and whenever I see him, I’m afraid I will never see him again”(Baldwin 4). Tish is worried that Fonny will wrongly spend a long sentence in prison, as she doubts they will win the case. Tish deserves to be nervous, as the justice system has a notorious racial bias against African-Americans, as their family friend Daniel attests. He was wrongfully accused of carjacking, even though he did not even know how to drive a car, he serves a year in prison. However, thanks to terrific work by Mr. Hayward, the family’s attorney, as well as the plaintiff's location being nowhere to be found, the trial is delayed until after the baby Tish and Fonny are expecting is born. By using his art career to move his family out to France, Fonny finally gives them the peaceful life that they deserve. In a
In the novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, Satrapi’s childhood was highly impacted by American culture. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the affect American culture had on how Satrapi viewed the Iranian Revolution.
In Persepolis, Satrapi develops the central idea of Marji and her parents rebelling against the social injustices held by the Shah and the government. This is demonstrated in chapters “ The Trip”, “The Passport”, and “Kim Wilde”. Early in the revolution, females were forced to cover themselves up. They were told to wear their veils because it didn’t show a sign of western American style or sexual
Today’s class discussion on Persepolis 2 (Marjanne Satrapi) revealed the importance of dependence and independence in forming one's identity. Persepolis 2 starts when Satrapi has been sent to Vienna by her parents to escape the oppressive Iranian regime. In doing so she is also separating herself from the dependence she had on her parents. In this separation Satrapi is left without inhibitions, her rebellious attitude consumes her. She becomes friends with anarchists and experiments with drugs.
Orientalism is a way of viewing the world as divided into two unequal halves: the Occident and the Orient. Occidental means Western Hemisphere, and Oriental means Eastern Hemisphere. These ideas of orientalism are challenged in Satrapi's Persepolis. A book about a young girl Marji who lived in Iran in the 1980’s, and therefore is placed in the beginning years of political and religious turmoil in Iran. Satrapi Juxtaposes the western view of Iran to Iran by showing similarities between America and Iran through Marji’s youth and adventures throughout the book.
Class, politics, and gender were all very influential in terms of shaping Marjane Satrapi’s point of view in Persepolis and her recount of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Obviously the revolution in Iran impacted the lives of millions, and Marjane’s account only provides one point of view, a point of view with its own biases. It is important to that Persepolis is a subjective
In Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi’s childhood experiences allow her to demonstrate the cultural changes that occurred in post-revolutionary Iran, as well as those perpetrated by western culture. In Persepolis, western culture plays a major role in the author’s attempt to dispel the
Warm air and the sickly sweet smell of the swooning cherry blossom trees. This is the place where I grew up, where I took my first steps, said my first words, and had my first haircut. As much as I hate small towns, without growing up in Madison I don’t know where or what I would be doing right now. In both books The House on Mango Street and Persepolis the main characters had to deal with growing up in a slightly damaged society but they managed to push past it, just like everyone else who has struggled with a past but not brave enough to write it down.
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of an oppressive regime on the child Marjane Satrapi as depicted the graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi.
Due to the serious tensions looming in the air, many people would think it is strictly forbidden to laugh a little or have fun in Iran. The constant political instability makes it seem like the citizens live like robots under extreme oppression. However, in Marjane Satrapi’s biography, Persepolis, she gives an inside look at her experiences growing up in Iran and adds comic relief throughout the novel. As the main character, Marjane, evolves from an innocent girl into a mature woman, Satrapi adds bits of comic relief to highlight her typical personality while living in the midst of an oppressive society.
The novel Persepolis, written by Marjane Satrapi, portrays a diverse amount of symbolism throughout the novel which contributes to the protagonist developing into a young women. The main character, Marji Satrapi flourishes at an early age in her life due to the setting of the novel. Satrapi acquires knowledge about different insights of the Iranian government which constitutes her self judgement. Satrapi reckons that the individuals that make up the population of Iran should all support the idea of the government before the ministry of Iran can commence a war. “For a revolution to succeed the entire population must support it" (Satrapi 17).
Persepolis 2: The Story of Return is anchored around how Marji is affected by the social injustice that occurred during the Islamic Revolution. Growing up as “a westerner in Iran and an Iranian in the West,” (Satrapi 274) changes and molds her into the young woman she is at the end of her journey. In this second chapter of Satrapis life she moves away from the comfort of Iran and finds a life in Vienna. Marji desires to find her purpose and identity during her brief time here and faces many battles with language barriers, people and herself. Marjis past from Iran haunts her and instills the idea that she needs to make something of herself while in Austria. Finding that Austria took her down a darker path where the light was scarcer and the
(Bible)The picture shown resembles loss of innocence because it features Adam and Eve after they realized they were naked. In Persepolis Marjane lost her innocence when the regimes “ became more repressive” (Satrapi pg.117) by smoking a cigarette. Marjane had to learn to accept that she needed to grow up faster than most children would because of the struggles her family and her country faced. These “struggles” were not easy for Marjane to overcome because everything happened so fast. Marjane wanted to have a childhood where she could do whatever she wanted and not have to worry about new laws, revolutions, and wars but instead her childhood was the exact opposite! She had to accept how her family members moved to the other side of the world,
“The reason for my shame and for the Revolution is the same: the difference between social classes.” (Pg.33) These are thoughts expressed by Marjane Satrapi in her book called Persepolis. This book is about Marji’s childhood in Iran as she faced many issues, ranging from the Islamic Revolution to the process of growing up during political turmoil. Among the many issues encountered by Marjane, one important political issue raised in the book is the division of the social class difference in the societies of Iran as illustrated in the quote.
Religion, government, and social organization all played a part in Marji’s journey in Persepolis from childhood to adulthood. Religion caused many arguments between Marji and parents, friends, and teachers. The Iranian government affected Marji by making her more rebellious than she already was. Social organization was a big issue in her life, because she had a good relationship with her maid and was angry that she could not have the same opportunities. The revolution in Iran has changed Marjane Satrapi’s life, in ways good and
Marjane Satrapi in her memoir, “The Complete Persepolis” enlightens readers with the reality of living in Iran, as she tells her journey through her life of becoming a woman during the Islamic Revolution. Iran similar to other countries has made different prescribed roles for their women and men based on their cultures religious and traditional set of laws. Society to them was a depiction of what their people were expected to look, and act like when in public. When trying to understand the importance of gender along with their roles in society, it’s crucial to acknowledge outside factors, for instance things like culture and social class. The characters throughout her memoir illustrate how their