Persepolis is a fascinating autobiography of Marjane Satrapi detailing her childhood life as she lived in Iran in the course an aftermath of the Islamic war. She chose the title for her book in honor of one of the ancient cities in Iran where the fierce battle took place. The book presents a story of Marjane forced to wear a veil as she goes to school by her family in honor of Islamic culture though her family was secular. It provides an edifying glimpse of hardships and violence that Satrapi, the main protagonist, had to endure as a young growing up in a country torn by a religiously instigated conflict. The book features an ideologically masterminded conflict between the mainly Persian Iran fighting with the mostly Arabic Iraq. The book describes the major tension between these two states that might have led to the conflict from eyes of Marjane. Consequently, the paper analyzes the ideological and social aspects of culture demonstrating it’s impetuous in the revolution as it was ingeniously presented by Satrapi, a ten-year-old living in Persepolis.
The representation of women as veiled has become one of the most critical issues for the feminists in the postcolonial era who often want to lay an emphasis on the historical and religious significance that it played out in the entire revolution. As is the case with most Islamic states and culture, wearing a veil was one of the ways the women could be honored and respected in the society. It was a socially unacceptable feat for a woman to appear in public especially in front of the men without a veil on her head as that would be considered disgraceful to societal values and a transgression of culture beliefs. It was considered as one of the ways the women would be identified in the society largely dominated and controlled by the men. All the women irrespective of their cultural heritage were supposed to wear a veil since it was also one of the ways of respecting Islam that was flourishing in the Iran at the time of the revolution. In the novel, Satrapi also presents an incidence where she was also told to wear a veil by her largely secular family or risk facing the harsh Islamic laws.
In the entire novel, the veil is most synonymous and a prominent way that author attempts to present the Iranian cultural and cultural stereotypes. For instance, the book describes a scenario where it was made mandatory for all the women throughout the country to wear veils. In fact, the opening sections present a portrayal of the frames of the women covered with veil portrays how important it was it was in the revolutionary Iran. Apart from a demonstration of culture, it became a critical part of societal norms demonstrating the hegemony of the Iranian political and religious ideology. Although the veil was considered a show of societal, cultural values and identify by the authorities, Satrapi portrays it as a symbol of repression and a consequential loss of identity.
Despite the fact that Satrapi does an ingenious representation of this veil in a way that is broadly consistent with what the west would consider as logical representation of the woman in the society, she also examines the cultural stereotypes that they had to face at the hands of a largely patriarchal society. She presents the Eastern women as being mostly passive, monolithic and largely oppressed by demonstrating the oppression they had to face if only they were to resist the traditional veil that they were supposed to get accustomed to. From a satirical point of view, Persepolis is like a gaze from behind the veil of the injustice and the political oppression that the citizens of Iran had to encounter in the mainly Islamic revolution that saw the consolidation and concentration of power and authority at the hand of Islamic clerics. The book describes how the ideological differences in religion and culture between Iran and Iraqi could lead to a violent conflict accounting for the death of so many people’ lives in its course.
Apart from a description of the Iranian culture from the perspective of the veils, the novel also portrays the western culture in the description of the posters of the rock band and clothing in her room. Furthermore, she describes an incidence where she visited the black markets and saw that people were selling items that are widely known to be western for instance audiotapes (Satrapi, 131). Such a representation of western culture portrays the importance and influence that was attached to culture. The description of such allows her to represent her true personal and western identity especially her family political and social beliefs that suffered at the hands of revolution demonstration a clash between the Western cultures and those in the East.
Thus, such a clash in the cultures served as a major catalyst that fuelled up the conflicting loyalty that Satrapi even towards the school rules. For instance, at the beginning of the novel’s last chapter, Satrapi gets involved in a confrontation with the school principal because he tries to confiscate her Jewelry. In the clash, the principal accidentally gets pushed to the ground prompting an expulsion to be issued for Satrapi. The scene further portrays how Satrapi tries to use her personal identity mainly influenced by the west in rebellion against culture and tradition.
Works cited
Satrapi, Marjane. The Complete Persepolis. New York: Pantheon Books, 2007.
