Iranian-American Contrast in Persepolis

During the 1970’s, Iran was not the most ideal place to live in, with the abundance of restrictions placed upon its citizens. In Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, Satrapi documents her life and what it was like to live in such a place from childhood to adulthood, giving the reader a direct look at life inside Iran. While the Iranian government made it a point to restrict many freedoms and desperately oppose westernization, there were other places that were open to change and allowed freedom for its people, the main one being America. The contrast between America and Iran is perhaps the most prominent example of contrasting places in the novel, since once area promotes freedom while the other seemingly obstructs it. The two contrasting countries are the key representation of opposing forces in Persepolis, and they perfectly show Satrapi’s struggle through discovering herself and fighting the restrictions that her home of Iran enforce.

Throughout Persepolis, America and Iran are shown to be two drastically different countries, with each aspect of one country outwardly opposing the other. As soon as the novel begins, the reader is introduced to the first of many controversial topics in Persepolis: the veil. Those forced to wear the veil did not like it, especially because they did not understand why they had to wear it. In 1979, Satrapi had attended a French non-religious school, which allowed both boys and girls to mix freely. However, in 1980, all bilingual schools were closed down because they were considered “symbols of capitalism.” (Satrapi 4) Capitalism is a government idea that is mainly American, which is why the Iranian schools banned anything having to do with it. They tried so hard to get rid of any signs of American influen...

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...here had to go through, then contrasting that with the country of freedom, as well as documenting the departure from Iran of so many people close to her, she contributes greatly to the idea that the meaning of the work is to describe how different it was to live in Iran compared to other countries like America.

Comparing two different places and seeing how they contrast with one another is a prime way to represent the meaning of the work. By contrasting America and Iran, Satrapi showed the readers what it was really like living in Iran, and she accomplished what I believed to be her goal of showing her audience that Iran is not just about terrorism. With America representing freedom and Iran representing the obstruction of freedom, the differences between the two countries was perhaps the best way to develop the novel and properly explain the meaning of the work.