Persepolis is an autobiographical graphic novel about the life of Marjane Satrapi. The story talks about her growing up years in her native Iran, where she witnessed the changes it went through as part of the “Cultural Revolution” (Satrapi 4) which was a result of the Islamic revolution. The book started when Marjane or Marji was only ten years old. Her stories during that time were based on her recollection of the events the way she remembered them, such as how they were forced to wear a veil in school (Satrapi 3), or why they were separated from their boy classmates when just the year before they were joined together in school (Satrapi 4). She explained how at that time, she was full of questions about all the changes going on around her but did not really get the answers. Although these stories were told from the point of view of the ten-year old Satrapi, the issues she was discussing were far too serious and complicated for young learners to understand.
This characterisitic is seen all throughout the story as her thoughts started getting filled with things which are new and foreign to her. On page 4, as she talks about them being made to wear the veil for some reason they did not understand, she showed through the frames of drawings how they played with the veil. This graphical representation of her confusion also carries with it a sense of sarcasm and protest regarding issues that affected her when she was a child which she was not able to express when she was 10. Her interpretation of those events during her childhood contains the ideas that she has attached to them now that she is an adult. These reasons, in addition to the gravity of the issues of religion, politics, and culture, she presented in the first few pages of the book suggest that age restriction should be placed regarding one who can buy and read the book. Much older students, perhaps those who are in high school, would be able to understand and interpret her interest and knowledge about religion and politics, her display of a rebellious streak towards her parents when she was a teenager, or how her peers from school were too sexually active. High school students who are teenagers themselves would understand what she was going through, and would by then have been exposed to the various issues about religion and politics. Satrapi was a precocious child who had an earlier introduction to subjects about the darker side of human nature, largely because of the events she witnessed and how her parents took active participation in the said events. Her parents were there to explain to her what is going on and encouraged her to pursue whatever it was she found of great interest. Children her age these days in most parts of the world are mostly concerned about other things such as music, games, and the current trends. For Satrapi, who did not have the luxury that technology offers today, she had more opportunities to see things around her clearly. The lessons in life she learned are more understandable to someone who was able to learn about them, whether by experience or through school. For instance, the idea of social class is not as strong as not being able to marry someone who is not within your class but in certain situations, this can still be observed. The things she learned about torture, of rebellion, and all the learnings that come with these ideas would only be useful to someone who had a clear understanding of history and the current situation of the world. These days, children are more likely to be protected from these horrors, but Satrapi was not because she was there when they all happened.
For one, it is healthy to have your own personal political ideas and beliefs so long as they were developed by you alone and not an influence from the people around you. It is inevitable that one would get influenced by others, but it does not mean that one should follow what others believe in. One’s belief and views should come from how one understands the things and events around her, more than just following what others stand for in order to belong. At such a young age, Satrapi’s idea about revolution were impressive, especially when she told her parents “For a revolution to succeed, the entire population must support it.” (Satrapi 17). Her understanding of the chaos caused by the revolution prompts the idea that her growing up years were largely influenced by her parents. Her father’s explanation about how “God did not choose the king” (Satrapi 19) but that the emperor got his title after foreign forces came to the country with the intention of taking control of the oil (Satrapi 19, 24) and establishing monarchy to ensure that his family would stay in position. This complicated idea about politics and the economy can also be learned by a young elementary learner, but their importance in terms of how they influenced the present and the other events in history will be more appreciated by an older learner such as a high school student or even older.
Satrapi’s method of presentation of the events in her life delineated from the usual, which was mainly in the form of texts in a book. Her use of graphic images to show how she saw things when she was a child gave her a better opportunity to present some topics which are rather sensitive, as well as the confusion, and sometimes sarcasm, that she felt about certain things in the past based on her perspective now. One instance, would be when she learned about how Ahmadi, one of her parents’ friends, was caught, tortured, and eventually dismembered. Her words, “I never thought that you could use that appliance for torture” (Satrapi 54) shows how she was introduced to new concepts that she wouldn’t have learned if she didn’t witness the revolution. Our memories are a very good reminder of all the things that we wish to remember and forget. The color scheme of black and white, a representation of her understanding of the world from a child’s perspective. Her childhood memories, all filled with the major social, political, and cultural changes that she was able to observe were vivid enough to understand. This provides the premise that her illustrations are based on how she felt in the past, but perhaps some embellishments were already added, either to increase excitement or illustrate important points clearly. Someone young would not be able to discern the difference and see the extent of the reality that the author experienced from those that she interpreted now that she is more mature to better understand them. This reinforces the idea that the story is best suited to a more mature audience.
Our memories prove that there is a recording of events in our lives that we mean to remember. Although some details may be forgotten, as a result of the years and the numerous experiences we were able to go through, those events that stood out in our memories are usually remembered in clear details. This was true in her story about her younger days when the family had a maid who took care of her. She remembered much of the details of her life with her, about how the maid play with her, how the maid would eat her leftover food, as well as her fear of the jackals (Satrapi 34). These memories were quite exact and vivid which explains why she was able to tell them with great focus even on the most minor details. This makes memoirs important. However, it should also be kept in mind that as people grow up and go through many different things, the narration of certain events may or may not be influenced by the belief and reasoning that one has developed. In such cases, the reality of the memoir gets tampered and memory becomes a representation of the mature self.
Marijane Satrapi lived a very interesting life rife with the discovery and understanding of various important, yet complex concepts that she was able to observe around her. As she grew up, she carried with her the things that she was able to gain from her growing up years and used them as a springboard for every other new thing that she was able to see and experience. These complex ideas, though may prove to be a difficult subject for young learners her age. This is highlighted in her conversation with Fereydoon, where he mentioned about having a doctorate in Marxism-Lennism. When Satrapi asked “Dialectic materialism?,” Fereydoon asked in surprise how she knew about it (Satrapi 59), proving that it is surprising for someone like her to learn such ideas. Satrapi learned about those things at quite a young age, which according to her, she did through reading the comic book version. Her autobiography in graphical narration embodies her personality: artistic with a deeper understanding and appreciation of the things she experienced and learned at such a young age.
Work Cited
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: The story of a Childhood. Web. 4 March 2016.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7Qh3fHsQjzsQXNiWmdwYmFDUlU/view?pref=2&pli=1.
