Throughout this book, Marjane Satrapi brings in the conflict of social hierarchy in Iran that appears to be second-nature to them. ”He told sad but true stories: Reza became a porter at age 10. Leila wove carpets at age 5. Hasa, 3 years old, cleaned car windows... I finally understood why I felt ashamed to sit in my father's Cadillac...”(Satrapi pg. 33). In this juxtaposition, this shows the discrepancy of the social hierarchy in Iran. “The reason for my shame and for the revolution is the same. The difference between social classes, But now I think about it... we have a maid at home.”(Satrapi pg. 33). The evident message from Satrapi was that the social classes in Iran are particularly distinctive, therefore, has created an internalized norm
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.
With such a unanimous resentment, particularly in the dominating religious sect of Iran, it is important to address the ideologies within the religion enforce the country’s patriarchal social structure, i.e. the “form of social organization in which males dominate females” (text 38). Furthermore, with the Islamic Revolution of 1979, these attitudes were the driving force behind many of the discriminatory laws that confined women in Iran to a life defined by its limitations.
She chronicled her journey as a young girl living in her father’s andarun until her escape from Iran after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Sattarah’s account offers an important perspective of the pressures she encountered from her family to conform to the mold of being an ideal wife. Furthermore, it provides an insightful perspective as to why she was able to escape social conventions. Sattarah was raised to believe that marriage and bearing children was what gave women value, standing and respect. Her father, Shazdeh, believed that women, being the weaker sex, or zaifeh, were ruled by ungovernable passions and as a result needed to be protected from themselves and strange men by fathers, brothers and husbands. Sattarah noted: “A woman by herself was nothing, a nonentity, a creature who without a father, brother, husband, or son to guide her was incapable of making important decisions, looking after herself properly, or even leading a moral life.” The supposedly weak state of the female mind was the reason why her mother, Khanom, always thought women should be submissive and obedient. In order to find Satti a husband, due to her weakness, Khanom had to ensure she was conditioned to behave like a “proper” woman. Due to her families conservative opinions, it seemed as though Sattarah’s future as
The introduction to Persepolis gives a great deal of background information to the unrest in Iran leading up to the Islamic revolution. Iran had been in a state of unrest for “2500 years” (page11). Iran was ruled by foreign nations and exploited by the western world for its rich expanses of oil. In 1951 the prime minister of Iran tried to take back his country’s wealth by nationalizing
Thesis Statement: I want to show Iran’s dramatic change of regimes and the way its people were treated starting with Pahlavi’s authoritarian rule. I also want to discuss the turbulant realtionship bewteen Iran and the United States, and how this all makes the Iran Hostage Crisis.
As revealed in Azar Nafisi's book Reading Lolita in Tehran, Iran's radical religious and political views are the driving force behind the domination and maltreatment of the country's people. Throughout the book there are many examples of this oppressive treatment which is enforced because of strict religious convictions. Nafisi compares the oppression happening during a tense period of revolution with various works of fiction that mirrors what is becoming life in Iran. The tyrannical treatment of Iranian people can be analyzed by uncovering themes found throughout Nafisi's book.
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
In the 1970’s Iran, under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was a very centralized military state that maintained a close relationship with the USA. The Shah was notoriously out of touch with working class Iranians as he implemented many controversial economic policies against small business owners that he suspected involved profiteering. Also unrestricted economic expansions in Iran lead to huge government expenditure that became a serious problem when oil prices dropped in the mid 1970’s. This caused many huge government construction projects to halt and the economy to stall after many years of massive profit. Following this was high rates of inflation that affected Iranians buying power and living standards. (Afary, 2012) Under the Shah, political participation was not widely available for all Iranians and it was common for political opposition to be met with harassment, illegal detention, and even torture. These measures were implemented by the Iranian secret police knows as ‘SAVAK’. This totalitarian regime combined with the increasing modernisation of the country paved the way for revolution.
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.
To understand the changing role of women starting during the Islamic Revolution, it is important to briefly review the lives of Iranian women and the role of Islam during the final years of the secular regime of the Shah. Mohammad Reza Shah was disliked by the majority of Iranian population, but his secular and prominent Western attitude allowed for some reforms of women’s rights in Iran. For example, in 1963 he created a reform program which would eventually be known as the “White Revolution,” which included suffrage for women (Beck and Nashat 114). This decision led to a violent reaction, especially from strong Islamic leaders such as Ayatollah Khomeini, whom would eventually play a pivotal role in the revolution and women’s rights. Although the Shah allowed for women’s reform, he was popularly known as a dictator and appeared to be in complete favor of maintaining a traditional patriarchal society.
This specific moment in Satrapi’s life also made me compare our upbringings as individuals. It made me realize the extent to which one’s environment has on his or her development. Satrapi’s upbringing in tumultuous Iran caused her to become a rebellious adult. Her growth into an adult is one of the most distinguishing events in her life, and made her into the person she is
Although there are some rights that are undeniable to humans, it is not always the case that they are made available. This is especially prominent for the rights of women, who since the domestication of plants and animals have been sent to the bottom of society, and used to carry out the purpose of men. One way in which men have taken the power away from women is by taking away their education, and in turn their ability to develop independently and to be. functional parts of society. In her book Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi described the struggle of growing up as a young girl in Iran, as well as the support given to her by her parents. They encouraged her to pursue education so that she was able to develop her own ideas. Similarly, Margaret Fuller’s father stressed the importance of education and he pushed her to study and pursue knowledge. As a result, both these women used literature to fight for the right to equal education promised by “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights”.
Bani-Sadr, Abol Hassan. My Turn To Speak. Iran, the Revolution, and Secret Deals with the U.S. Macmillan Publishing Company. New York City. 1991. William Ford
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
Class society, is a set of concepts in the social sciences and political theory centered on models of social arrangements in which people are grouped into a set of hierarchical social categories, the most common being the upper, middle, and lower classes. In the book “Persepolis”, Satrapi explains her life in the corrupt society of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Satrapi and her parents fight to maintain normalcy and stay safe in the dangers of the outside world. All around the country, citizens are being killed, raped, and beaten because of accusations of communism and threats against the Regime. The main message that Satrapi is trying to portray is the effects of social classes in a society, specifically Iran. The same influence of social