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Iranian culture and western culture in the complete Persepolis
Persepolis essay by marjane satrapi
Iranian revolution persepolis
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In Marjane Satrapi’s memoire Persepolis, the chapter “Kim Wilde” suggest that people perform small acts of rebellion in order to express their desire for freedom from Iran’s oppressive regime. Marjane lives in a country whose regime seeks to ban Western cultural influence, however, Marjane continues to engage in Western clothing, music and lifestyles even though she is becoming more aware of the severe consequences that she may face upon doing so. In “Kim Wilde”, Marjane’s parents visit Turkey because the borders have opened to travel. There is irony in the way that passport pictures are taken. Women have to wear their headscarves in the picture, however, passports are supposed to identify individuals. Instead Taji’s passport picture was “unrecognizable” (126) to Marjane upon seeing it for the first time. As well, Marjane points out her mother’s angry expression which can be due to Taji’s anger towards the regime and their expectations on women and their clothing. This expression of emotion in the passport picture subtly shows her opposition to the Iranian government. At first Marjan...
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
In Marjane Satrapi’s memoir, Persepolis, the characteristics and qualities of revolution are portrayed through rhetorical devices such as visual text, similes, and pathos. Satrapi’s use of rhetorical devices enhances and supports her expression of the revolution in Iran. Persepolis was Marjane Satrapi’s way of allowing people to see how the revolution in Iran affected her family's lifestyle and her upbringing. This memoir also allows the readers to analyze how war changes the way of the people and government in a country.
The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is a graphic novel that depicts the life of Marjane Satrapri during the Iranian Revolution. Satrapi tells her story as a child growing up during the time of the many drastic changes forced upon women and the effects of the new laws made by the Shah. During this time people in Iran were banned from reading, or listening to music that was not approved by the regime. Schools were separated by gender and women were forced to wear veils to protect themselves from being molested or raped by men. The middle class women in Persepolis are prescribed the most important roles such as rearing their children and the duties in the home. But most importantly because they are in the home they are unable to attain legal rights for women in Iran. “In no country do women have on have political status, access, or influence equal to man” (Kazemi, 2000). The divorce of a man and woman lies solely in the hands of men. Though the women in the Satrapi family were oppressed outside of the home they continued to live two separate lives, one inside the household and one on the outside. They often had gatherings and drank alcohol even though it was not allowed. The roles that were prescribed to the women were not effective because they had no opinion, and because there were no laws in favor of women who sooner or later begin to give up and inherent the man’s thoughts.
The false belief that, other than the rebels, the general public is totally oppressed by the government. This is disproven in persepolis with Marji’s trip to the black market. On her walk on Gandhi Avenue illustration states that “The food shortage had been resolved by the growth of the black market” (136). Satrapi introduces the black market into the story to challenge orientalism. Another way that Satrapi shows that the general public was not under complete control was through how rebellious Marji was to the Guardians of the Revolution women. These women were a branch of government to arrest women who were improperly dressed and veiled. If the government was fully oppressing the public then marji would have been to afraid to wear the items that her mother got her from turkey. When marji was aggressively approached by the guardians of the revolution she simply lied to them about what she was wearing say that the Michael Jackson button was “Malcolm X, the leader of the black muslims in America” (137). When the lying did not work she cried until the women gave up and went
In this particular story, the author’s emotions in Persepolis are not just her own, but also the feelings,emotions, and opinions of her people and their country. Throughout the expressiveness can not only be felt but they can visually be seen. The opinions of the Iranian people is expressive of their emotions which led them to demand that their voices be heard to the point where they cannot be ignored. The demonstrations shown on page five, first frame shows the strong opinions that the people have regarding the addition of veils. Their opinions are filled with so much emotions that it eventually lead them to protest publicly. On one side of the protest were those for the veil and on the other side were those who opposed it. Those against the veil felt as though it took away their freedom and the visual representation of their personality; those for the veil felt as though the veil was a representation of order which to them was what their country needed. The author’s emotions are seen throughout the story on various occasions. The year of the revolution was a very difficult time for Iran; even though she knew very little about the dangers of the revolution, she still very much wanted to be apart of it. After speaking with her parents and being told that she could not participate in it she began very upset and somewhat angry. This made her feel as though God had abandoned her which hurt her little heart very much. Emotions are expressions that are a way to show who people are on a deeper level and different situations present different
“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.
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 the graphic novel, Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, Satrapi’s childhood was highly impacted by American culture. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of American culture on Satrapi’s view of the Iranian Revolution.
A major venue for identity formation is an individual’s homeland or nation. At the outset of the novel, Marji’s identity is ascribed to her because of her nationality and ethnicity. Being in an Islamic country, Marji adheres to her Islamic values and traditions. At an early age of six, the formation of her identity leans towards her Islamic religious values and traditions. Marji is convinced that she “was the prophet” (p. 6). Her words that she “was [a] prophet” (p. 6) demonstrates that Marji’s imagination and intelligence conceive thoughts that are very pertinent to her religious beliefs. At this early age, Marji’s relationship with religious thoughts and values are clearly defined. However, Marji’s thoughts and beliefs are not pinned to a static foundation. In her book A Reader’s Guide to Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis (2010), Heather Lee Schroeder writes “Satrapi lived through the civil and political unrest during the 1970’s and early 1980’s. Before the revolution, she attended a western style French school” (p. 41), which was a non-religious and westernized school. Marji is very well acquainted with the western or modern values, of freedom, liberty, ...
The religion of Islam was imposed upon Iranians, whether they liked it or not. Marjane and her classmates “...didn’t like to wear the veil, especially since we didn’t understand why we had to”(Satrapi 3). The young girls were against wearing the veil because they were not practicing
Despite the fact that Marjane is born and raised in Tehran, Iran, she is as much a product of Western customs as of Middle Eastern customs. The younger Marjane showed how the Iranian Revolution affected her life. The Iranian Revolution was the exiling of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi and its concluding substitution with an Islamic republic under the Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the revolution, supported by a mixture of leftist and Islamic organizations. The new government became more suppressive by enforcing Islamic laws into the constitution and prohibiting westerner influence of any kind. On the contrary Marjane is raised by Marxist parents, who believe in freedom and tend to adapt to a more westernized upbringing. Marjane is similar to any other teenager, she starts to grow up and rebel against her elders and her traditions. Her revolt takes the form of a better awareness of and interaction with western culture. Marjane have many items ...
When she was young her maid, Mehri, fell in love with a neighbor but because she was not in his social class, the love was “impossible” as Marji’s father put it (37). This causes Marji to realize the despair social classes bring which leads Marji to her first demonstration and major act of rebellion (34-39). Marjane describes her desire to be like Marie Curie, an independent, women scientist who went against what was sociably acceptable at her time. This idolization shows Marji’s want to be educated and independent even at the risk of cancer (73). Marji realizes that even though Curie died as a result of her work, at least she was not afraid to be different, and at least she did not stop just because she was a woman. Marji watches her neighbors turn from modern, “miniskirt” wearing women to completely conforming and wearing a “chador” (75). Marji sees how religious laws have changed the people she once considered friends and is determined not to let them change her individuality. Marji is constantly trying to display her individuality, but after she is stopped by the two women from the guardians of the revolution and called a “whore” for wearing a jean jacket, pin, tennis shoes and jeans, Marji’s desire to become more western increases. The Guardians, instead of making her straighten up only give Marji more of an incentive to be rebellious and westernize (134).
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
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.