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Coming of age essay introduction
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Tragedy is a part of everyone’s lives, no one is left out. Often it leads to one’s coming of age, where the tragedy left a person changed, often they’ve matured, but not by choice. We have all gone through tragedy, and have had our own coming of age moments. These moments are what help us as humans to mature and develop our own personalities, and we eventually learn to question life and we begin to rebel at young ages, sometimes to defy our parents, and other times to defy yourself. We rebel to find ourselves, to defy the norms of society.
In Persepolis, the author Marjane Satrapi who played the main character had to experience horrible tragedy at such a young age. The book starts off when she was only 10 years old, and throughout the story she explains the horrors she’s seen, some of them so horrible for anyone, nonetheless a 10-year-old to see. Marjane observes the oppression by the Shah and learns about revolutions and socialism, at the time she is still too young to understand, she reads often to learn more. From a young age she became engulfed in politics and war, at the same...
When individuals face obstacles in life, there is often two ways to respond to those hardships: some people choose to escape from the reality and live in an illusive world. Others choose to fight against the adversities and find a solution to solve the problems. These two ways may lead the individuals to a whole new perception. Those people who decide to escape may find themselves trapped into a worse or even disastrous situation and eventually lose all of their perceptions and hops to the world, and those who choose to fight against the obstacles may find themselves a good solution to the tragic world and turn their hopelessness into hopes. Margaret Laurence in her short story Horses of the Night discusses the idea of how individual’s responses
Adolescence marks the turning point of an individual's life, establishing the foundation of their development. It is during this phase that individuals leave behind the comfort of childhood and enter a reality beset with new perceptions of life. There are many stages of life, each enclosing its own distinct characteristics. As evident in the short story, The Master of Disaster, written by Guy Vanderhaeghe, adolescence involves growth as an individual, both physically and emotionally. Although each phase has its own challenges and difficulties, adolescence proves to be the most difficult stage of life to overcome. Through examination of the situations in the story, it becomes apparent that adolescence involves experiencing emotional conflicts between friends, searching for one's identity amid a period of change and overcoming the negative influence of peer pressure.
In the graphic novel, Persepolis, the main character, Marjane, faces many coming of age moments. Each one of these change her in a way that impacts her view on the world around her as her and her family strive for a better life amongst a war that hinders their ability to follow their beliefs. Marjane learns to forgive, experiences pain and suffering, and changes her opinions on God and her own views on religion forever. Marjane’s life has been filled with hard times, but also glorious moments as well.
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi captures life in Iran during the 1980’s through a child's eyes. Marjane Satrapi grew up during a time when both the Islamic Revolution and the Iran/Iraq War took place. Personal experiences are expressed through themes including revolution, imperialism, nationalism, religion and loss of innocence and affect Marjane personally as she grows up.
After reading and evaluating the works of T. S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club, there are various discussion points pertaining to the connection between tragedy and human conditions. Herein, tragedy is the result of a specific human condition, disengagement. This essay aims to identify and explain the behavioural traits between characters in two literary works which leads to a disengagement by the characters from a typical social environment.
“Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return” by Marjane Satrapi is a memoir that depicts the troubled life of Marjane Satrapi. Marjane Satrapi, the author, was born in Rasht, Iran in the year 1969. She was born to a rich family in Iran and grew up in Tehran during the revolution and revolt against the Shah, the ruler at the time. She lived during the era where Islam was emerging in Iran and becoming the predominant religion. Marjane lacked academics for two years in Iran and suffered indeed from the bombings of Iraq. These horrific events impacted her and her parents, so as a result was sent to Austria for a better life. Her juxtaposed life in Austria and emergence of maturity is described in Marjane’s second installment of Persepolis.
Adversity provides the fundamental stimulus for the development of integrity and a mature mindset, allowing the amelioration of former errancies and expansion of perspective on life, and this furthers society’s progress towards idealism.
A tragedy is a wretched event that puts a person in despair. Tragedy is a genre which consists of continuous tragic happenings that ultimately lead to an unhappy ending. Arthur Miller expresses that what makes a tragic hero is their attempt to take fate into their own hands, which ends up being the reason for their ruin; while those who accept their fates tend to be the lucky and are spared a demise. Miller claims there are tragic consequences for a man who questions his position, regardless of whether he wants more or thinks he deserve less. The film, Crash, is an example of a tragedy, because one character tries to alter their own fate, and other characters have reservations of where they lie on the social spectrum.
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).
Adversity is the forerunner to kindness: a progenitor that encompasses the suffering of the raw, human experience. With the understanding of tribulations comes a greater empathy to share with others: the commonality among all living things that surpasses appearance and material. The renowned journalist William Allen White once stated, “If each man or woman could understand that every other human life is as full of sorrows, or joys, or base temptations, of heartaches and remorse as his own…how much kinder, how much gentler he would be”. This tragic lesson is apparent in both Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Ernest Gaines’ A Lesson Before Dying: liberation is only available to those who seek beyond the surface of a “monster” or “hog”,
When it comes to culture, different views can cause major conflicts, and these said conflicts occur in the novel Persepolis. The book is a memoir about Marjane Satrapi, also known as Marji, growing up in Iran under the Shah’s rule and the Islamic rule. Even with the many different cultures in Iran, she stuck up for what she believed in and rebelled against the things she thought were wrong. In Persepolis, Marjane’s growth is affected by various aspects of culture including religion, government, and social organization.
Persepolis is a book that centers on the author’s family during the Iran-Iraq war that lasted for eight years. Marjane’s experience of the war is quite innocent since she saw it from the eyes of a well protected child. She grew up with need to help and make things better for everyone without really understanding what it takes to make the world a better place. In her mind the only possible way to make a change is by becoming a prophet and using supernatural powers to make the world a better place. Marjane’s childhood is proving that children form defense mechanisms to deal with difficulties. These defense mechanisms take children to “happy” places where things are better and everyone is happy unlike in the real world.
Tragicomedy is life enhancing because it tries to “remind the audience of the real need to face existence ‘knowing the worst,’ which ultimately is liberation, with courage and humility of not taking oneself or one’s own pain too seriously, and to bear all life’s mysteries and uncertainties; and thus to make the most of what we have rather than to hanker after illusory certainties and rewards” (Esslin, Theater 47).
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. To begin with, Satrapi writes Persepolis from a child’s point of view.
People don't truly accept life for what it is until they've actually tasted adversity and went through those misfortunes and suffering. We are put through many hardships in life, and we learn to understand and deal with those issues along the way. We find that life isn't just about finding one's self, but about creating and learning from our experiences and background. Adversity shapes what we are and who we become as individuals. Yann Martel's Life of Pi shows us that adverse situations help shape a person's identity and play a significant role in one's lief by determining one's capabilities and potential, shaping one's beliefs and values, and defining the importance and meaning of one's self.