Persepolis Literary Analysis

Graphic Novel Considerations

“A picture is worth a thousand words” is an idiom most of us have heard in our lifetimes. But, what if those thousand words could create a more meaningful image in someone’s mind through their imagination, that in turn fosters a personal connection with the text. Marjane Satrapi chooses the graphic novel format for her personal memoir, Persepolis, which enables her to add emotion, relay meaning, and visually imply unsaid information into her story. However, this may not be as easily achieved by all authors and in every context. When considering whether to choose the graphic novel format for your own novel, there are many considerations to be made that may vary depending on its genre and intended purpose. For

Specifically, because if the interdependence between text and graphic is not cohesive, the readability may suffer. For example, the story would most likely need to be told in a linear format to enable the reader to effectively follow the storyline, without the graphics becoming a distraction from the text or vice versa. Satrapi moves in a non-linear format in the first few chapters of Persepolis, which may have instantly created confusion for readers who were not familiar with this format or the subject matter, Iranian history, in these chapters. Furthermore, to produce an effectively written graphic novel, the author would need to also be a good artist that not only has a thorough understanding of art elements, but who can very purposely create images that display meaning not already generated by the text it accompanies. If considering working with an illustrator one would have to also consider if they could recreate your intended meaning effectively. This seems like it could be a very time consuming process and if not crafted carefully, the book’s readability could

Even though in Satrapi’s work her graphics may have added to the validity of her personal experiences, she strategically created them to reinforce her motivation for writing the book as mentioned in the introduction. It can even be argued that due to Satrapi’s personal opinion and perspective on the issues addressed in Persepolis being projected on the reader , a one-sided view may have developed. Marjane’s account has also been described as “sketchy” and readers are suggested to further explore her background in context with issues she discusses by critics (The Complete Review). Satrapi begins to project her personal beliefs beginning on page one, which sets the tone for the reader’s experience. One critic is quoted, “Although Satrapi stays fairly true to the historical timeline of the political revolution, she had a distorted perspective on events due to her social class standing as well as religious beliefs” ( Barzegar 8