Not Just a Story of a Childhood

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Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis is one of the most intriguing books for not only students of history, but for anyone who can enjoy the historical time that was taking place in Islam through the late 1970s’ and 1980s’. Through the eyes of a child, Marji shows the underlying issues dealing with war from a child’s perspective, moral uncertainty and the impacts on class differences.
War from a child’s perspective in Persepolis is so unique compared to other literary works because it is giving the details from a young Iranian girl who is getting first hand accounts from not only her experiences, but also from her parents and other members of the family and the community. There is little information involving ‘’actual events’’ that had taken place, which makes it more so of a personal account of the historical time instead of other literary works that would be factual and more detailed on the actual events itself.
The child, Marji, has a mind that many people may consider to be made of some sponge type material. She is constantly and consistently eager for knowledge and soaks up the information like water in a sponge. Just like a child whose mind is soaking up information, the children typically repeat information that they tend to overhear from their parents, and from the apparent falseness or inaccurate accounts of the media. During one point of the book, Uncle Anoosh basically defends Marji by claiming that ‘’ She is just a child who repeats what

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A second underlying issue is the idea of moral uncertainty. The book gives a bit of a hint of that right off the bat. In the first page of the book, it shows ...

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...d question on what they are supposed to believe or not.
Class differences really gave the idea on the supporters and opposing citizens of the revolution that was taking place. It was these class differences that provided soldiers for battle and gave the idea on just how bad war is and the revolution in general. War through a child’s perspective, moral uncertainty, and the class differences, every one of these underlying issues that Marji shows in the book had such an impact on the people within this historical era. It is a breath of fresh air to really get an input on how these everyday issues

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Bibliography
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. New York, NY: Pantheon Books, 2003.