Who is an ordinary person? This is a question that has numerous answers depending on various circumstances. Some of the conditions may include; the environment, the culture that surrounds the individual or what the person or society at large has been led to believe by their doctrines and each other’s expectation. One of the many definitions of an ordinary person is a person who often settles for expectations of the society and does whatever it takes for that approval. They put their wishes and desires aside fearing that changes may occur. They settle for less than what they deserve, but they still won't take steps to change the environment around them and continue to reside in their monotonous and mediocre way of life. If asked, a politician or an aristocrat would classify an ordinary person as one who is not part of the government, or one who does not belong to the upper class in that particular society. To some extent, ordinary people are exactly what the society thinks of them; people of no exceptional ability or quality.
As stated before, ordinary people bow down to society’s expectation and are afraid to do something that might catch the attention of the public, whether good or bad. Planting trees, to many, may seem to be an extraordinary thing, not normal. For example, the ‘ordinary people’ may complain that there is an increasing rate of reduced forest cover in the world that is causing global warming. This they know, but they are always reluctant to try and remedy the problem, yet they are aware of what should be done to prevent it. Ordinary people find it irresistible not to complain about anything that is not right in their surroundings. They love it when someone comes to their aid to solve problems that they themselves can. That individual may end up being idolized for doing that particular deed. In the case of forest cover, they wait till an ‘extraordinary person’ appears and directs them to do what needs to be done.
Similar to the many comics that exist today, people find it hard to live without someone or something that they can hold on to or give them hope for a better living and a future. A comic is a publication, art in the form of sequential puts side by side that corresponds to individual scenes. Panels are time and again together with a brief expressive prose and a written account, usually a dialogue enclosed in word balloons. Comic books can accommodate content as profound, moving, and enduring as that found in any of the more celebrated vehicles for human expression. Comics were once regarded as one of the lesser forms of mass entertainment; currently this is not the case as comic books are extensively considered to be capable of complex and reflective expression as both literary and visual art forms.” (Duncan and Smith). As proof of this, Art Spiegelman’s novel, Maus, won a Pulitzer Prize for literature in the year 1992. The Pulitzer Prize is considered to be among the highest honours in the world of writing. This shows that the society is appreciating the role that comics have, which is to be used as a medium of communication.
Perseporis gives a short historical account of Iran, describing the initial Indo-European occupation, Persian Empire establishment and the Islamic uprising in 1979. The author adduces that the purpose her book fulfils is to illustrate that the country of Iran is not occupied by radicals and that the West give an erroneous description of the country. She opens a window into the mystifying and misconstrued human race of Middle East Iran. The comic succeeds in providing a comprehensive story by effectively using the unique artfroms and approate color. As Duncan and Smith assert;
Most of the mise-en-scene elements present on stage or screen
can be depicted in a comic book panel: background details, color,
“lighting”, distance, angle, and “movement”. Comic books also
have some uniques elements of composition: visualized sounde,
the blending pictorial and linduistic, and art style (Duncan and Smith 141)
The book is used as a medium to communicate to the world about the events that take place in the author’s country. In the same way as comics were considered to be lesser forms of writing, so is Iran. People think that it is a country that has nothing to offer and that people there are different from those in other parts of the world. The author uses the book to contradict the general perception that is currently viewed by the majority. The flames in the comic assists the reader in creating a mental imagery of the actual situation in Iran. Essentially, this creative use of flames and lighting helps in attracting attention and creating a comprehensive story.
with skilful use of shading and color, a comic book artist can
simulate many of the lighting techniques employed on a stage or
film A comic book artist can use chiaroscuro, a stark contrast of
light and dark, to funnel attention to a particular point in a panel (Duncan and Smith 143)
As a young girl, the writer is affected by the Cultural Revolution that takes place in Iran, where she is coerced, by the revolutionist, to wear a veil when attending school. Consequently, demonstrations ensue, where some support the revolution and others remain against it. The French non-religious school, which she used to attend, is done away with and boys and girls are separated in school while receiving their education. The author’s mother complains against the alterations, and her photo is put in European newspapers. This makes her feel frightened. The writer believes that she will be the final prophet one day. She has dialogues with God in which she envisages the existence of cultural and societal fairness and that the aged citizens will not go through the pain. After she publicly makes known her plan, her classmates and teacher scorn her, but she hangs on to the hope that she will one day be the sign for righteousness, love, and the rage of God. The comic makes use of distance, an element that assist the audience to visualize the scenary. “The distance from which readers perceive themselves viewing the scenary or action in a panel can influence attention and interpreatation” (Duncan and Smith 143).
Ideologies aren’t hidden—unless they may be considered to be hiding in plain sight—as they are composed of taken-for-granted assumptions about the way the social world is supposed to work. For instance, most of us hold some ideas about people’s gender roles, sexual preference, class distinctions, racial characteristics, ethnic qualities, and national origin, among other markers, that inform how we perceive and interact with them. Ideologies emerge as groups of people develop ways of thinking about relationships between themselves and others in the world. Matton’s reading is certainly an instance where critical interrogation points out the assumptions displayed in a comics narrative, using pictorial and linguistic blend. This is an important aspect in creating an intriguing story. Duncan and Smith observe that “pictorial and linguistic blending makes the comic a special form of communication” (Duncan and Smith 145).
The Hero: Although Superman was and still is the purest embodiment of the superhero, the concept was not born fully formed that spring day in 1938 when Superman made his debut in Action The familiar aspects of the superhero the powers, the costume, and the dual identity had all existed before Superman made the scene, although not quite in that combination. Even the superhero’s liking for individual initiative and “regeneration through violence” has always been engrained in the American myths. The author’s mother is an individual that takes the initiative to change the society. She sees that what is going on is not in any way fair and just. She comes out in the open to protest about it, which makes to be known in public when her picture appears in the European newspapers.
The book challenges and addresses the world's observation of Iran by illustrating how Western ways and trends are built-in into the customary culture. Seeing a teenage Marjane dressed in a denim jacket, Michael Jackson button, and Nikes alongside her traditional covering is to a certain extent comical and invigorating to see some individuality in the midst of a sea of black. The same funny image is relevant to Marjane head thumping in her room to Iron Maiden music, and resonating Kim Wilde on the streets. Despite the fact that these things would be entirely regular for a young adult in America, it was not only outlandish, but not allowed in Iran. This merely demonstrates that the typical Iranian national has been just similar to us, a human being who has feelings, way of thinking, curiosity and leisure pursuit. She is demonstrating that young people are the identical all around the earth, and the citizens of Iran are not a mirror image of their government.
The Bicycle: Revolution is alluded to a bicycle, where some momentum is required to maintain balance. She and her acquaintances often imagine themselves to be revolutionary people like Che Guevara and Fidel Castro. She has knowledge of world history because of books that her guardians give to her, and her most preferred book is a comic book that is called, Dialectic Materialism, where Marx and Descartes dispute over the legitimacy of the substantial world. One night, while chatting with God, she eavesdrops her parents discussing about a fire at a neighbouring theatre that made 400 people die. The fire, they say, was the work of the Shah and the citizens plan to protest. The writer pleads with her parents to let her go to the demonstration, but they deny her the chance the reason being that she is too young. During the revolution, a significant number of people succumbed to deaths. The Shah's reign deteriorates hard and so he moves to the United States, something that Mr. Satrapi explains as the greed of the world's oil by the United States. While in school, Marjane and her friends attempt to beat up a boy who engaged in the secret police service, which was commanded by Shah. The boy blatantly expresses that he is proud of her father’s effort in eliminating the communist groups. Marjane is informed to oblige to forgiving those perpetrating torture. Marjane leaves her comics (entitled "Dialectic Materialism") and enjoys the comfort granted by her imaginary God who is her friend.
The Party: During an occasion planned to celebrate the birth of a cousin, attacks by the use of bombs ensue. The aunt to Marjane feels very scared that she runs away leaving her child under the care of Marjane's. The party goes on where people dance and drink wine, regardless of the restrictions imposed by the government. The family of Marjane stops on their way home by the guardians under the authority of rebellion. Detecting wine in Mr. Satrapi's mouth, they follow them home, and conduct a house search. Marjane and her grandmother a rush into their apartment with the intention to get rid of the wine that was in the house. The soldier is interested in only receiving a bribe. The search of the house is halted, but the family loses their wine.
The guard can be likened to a villain in a comic whose main aim is to tyrannize the weak by using the authority he has over them. The guard has the responsibility to report all ‘unlawful’ things that he may come across. He does what is not right and asks for a bribe instead of reporting them. This adds to the injustice in society. In the end, it is a loss to both the nation and the family. The nation loses the ‘discipline among its guards who are greedy while the family loses the wine they had to celebrate.The Iranian ruler opens the borders, giving an opportunity for Marjen’s parent to move out of the country and go land in Turkey. During their return, they carry presents that depict western culture for their daughter. They sneak into the country a poster showing the Iron Maiden rock band and the Rockster Kim Wilde. Women guards attract the attention of Marjane because of her dress code, which was against that stipulated by the authority. They make threats of apprehending her, but they leave her to return home unscathed. Marjane deliberately keeps silent as regards to the incident because she feared that her mother would restrict her from using items from the West.
The Shaabat gives gives an account of the warnings given to Tehran because it was the target of the missiles. Several people move from the place. During a day (the sabath) when Marjane had gone to purchase a pair of jeans, a bomb exploded. She returned home and found one of their neighbours demolished. Among the debris, she saw the arm that belonged to Nevada Baba-levy who was her Jewish friend, and who died during the bombing attack.
Totalitarianism is a political philosophy that promotes devotion to authority and subverts individual rights to the interests of the state. To one reading, the typical superhero story shows a democratic face in that the protagonist is Everyman, yet holds a pop-fascist dimension in that these unelected, law-transcending figures exercise superpowers to overcome fears. Scholar Walter J. Ong even went so far as to label Superman a Nazi. Other readers’ worry that comic books are espousing a secular progressive agenda and will serve as “a gateway medium into heavy metal music, soft-core pornography, and anti-religious propaganda” Some of the most blatant propaganda is produced during times of war. In the following section we will consider how comic books have employed propaganda images and concepts both in support of American war efforts chiefly during the Second World War and the Cold War that followed and in powerful explorations and condemnations of the tragedy of war. The war comic book has existed since 1940, but it has generally been a marginal genre, and even during the years of World War II, the most vigorous propaganda was found not in war comics but in superhero comics (Duncan and Smith).
Marjane’s father makes it clear to her, the history of the Revolution: Reza Shah had been a foot soldier combating against the ruler of Persia so as to set up a republic. This had been in a time when Western democratic ideologies were being formed in a lot of countries in the world. Her grandmother visits and unfolds with her more about the Shah, Who is a very bad ruler and sees himself in the line of Cyrus the Great and other great Persian kings. When Marjane's grandfather had been captured, her mother and grandmother were very poor, at times boiling water on a stove just so that other people would think that they had food. Marjane's father goes missing and the family thinks he is dead. He later returns late to tell an incredible story about a mob that seized a dead man's funeral in order to demonstrate against the Shah.
The Sheep: Marjane comes to know that her Uncle Anoosh had also been once in a prison and she becomes proud that he is a hero of the revolution. Anoosh had challenged the Shah's reign by taking a position in a government that was independent from the Shah. He moved to the Russia where he became a Marxist and got married. His wife left him and he returned to Iran where he had been caught and put in prison. Anoosh advises her that her family's memory must live on through such stories.
Marjane spent her last night with her grandmother who tells her not to carry resentment or hatred towards anyone. Kurtzman’s war comics is different from most of the market was that he resisted glorifying war and employing racist stereotypes of the enemy.
Standard war comics portrayed the death as a noble sacrifice, but Kurtzman uses death to indicate the futility of war. Scholar Leonard Rifas believes “Harvey Kurtzman’s reputation as an anti-war cartoonist is largely based on the unusual degree to which he insisted in his stories that the enemy is as human as us. Kurtzman refused to romanticize and praise the acts of war (Duncan and Smith). The ordinary person is expected to be forgiven no matter the circumstances that may perhaps arise. In the book Persepolis, we observe that the author’s grandmother is a forgiving individual who advises her granddaughter not to have any form of umbrage towards anyone. In the book, The Power of Comics, a type of comic known as an anti-war comic advocates for peace in society. Theses comics also show the consequences that are negative and that are associated with war. Kurtzman is a writer that shows the need for peace. He brings to light the effects that are connected to the war. We are all human beings and none of us is special than the other. No one is supposed to be viewed as the enemy because we all have our blemishes. Instability in the general public will not lead to any form of positive development. The people will not live in peace as is depicted in Persepolis when the author’s family cannot have a celebration of peace first of all due to the bombings and the secondly because of the guards who make them spill the wine they had in order to avoid being caught with it. Dancing and wine are forbidden, the people do not live their social lives at the full and in peace. During the war, the food is low and tensions run very high among the people.
According to the power of comics, non-sensory digetic image depict specific memories, emotions, or sensations occurring within characters of the world of the story but undetectable by the senses.Marjane is potrayed on the first page covered with a veil. In the beginning, before chaos she tears off her veil before going to the playground, as the political environment continues to become more brutal and oppressive, the author uses the non-sensory digetic image to reflect the brutal revolution where her outfit keeps on changing. The bold drawing of her outfit diminishes as the time goes.
Marjane, while running covered completely with the veil and her modest outfit, her behind moves leading to a torturous response “ don’t look at my ass.” Therefore, the Iranian woman tries to break down her culture from the oppression she receives due to her outfit; her outfit from the beginning to the end symbolises how torture and oppressin can change an ordinary person for the sake of freedom.
Works Cited
Duncan, Randy and Matthew J Smith. The Power Of Comics. New York: The
Continuum International Publishing Group Inc, 2009.
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