Imagine if everyone had a pre-determined negative image about you? This is what life was like for Marji, the protagonist of the novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. The book is set in the year 1980, in Iran where Islam was a major religion at the time. This is also the time for the Islamic Revolution which kicked the Shau out of office and made Iran a theocracy. In Persepolis, Satrapi challenges negative stereotypes about Iranians through important characters who oppose the Islamic Regime. One way Satrapi challenges negative stereotypes about Iranians is through important characters who oppose the Islamic Regime because she shows individualism. In the chapter The Veil Marjane in the year 1980 shows she doesn’t believe in being forced to wear …show more content…
In this chapter Marjane’s parent had just gotten back from their trip with all their smuggled goodies for Marjane. The fourth panel on page 132 depicts Marjane walking down the street in her denim jacket singing about kids in America. Not only does her jacket and neck scarf oppose the Islamic regime but her singing cheerfully about kids in America does as well. In the background you can see angry adults yelling and pointing at her most likely because of the casual clothes she is wearing. This demonstrates opposition to the regime because it shows her going against laws in her own free will to show what she loves. It also illustrates a belief in personal freedom because she is wearing clothes that are frowned upon. In this panel, Satrapi is challenging the negative stereotypes about Iranians by showing that people do still want to be free and not part of the Islamic regime. In the book Persepolis the author shows many reason as to how everyone in Iran didn’t want the Islamic regime. Satrapi challenges stereotypes about Iranians by showing people still want a better life and also by showing Individualism in Marjane. One thing that I have learned in Persepolis is to not have pre-determined images of people because they may not be
One can view Islam as a terrorist religion, while another can view Islam as a peaceful religion. Neither perspective is wrong of Islam because perspective can be influenced by environment, personal experience, society, family, and a variety of other factors. This is why Marjane Satrapi’s unique influences affect her perspective on how she portrays imperialism, social classes, and revolution in her life and the book Persepolis. The photograph shows the United States and Europe taking the natural resources out of Africa.
People are like cameras and their personal experiences can be their lenses that change and modify the actual picture. This evident in Marjane Satrapi’s book Persepolis because the whole book is about a girl growing up, and forming her own opinions. Furthermore, Marjane has to mature in the turmoil of an Iranian-Iraqi war, she also has to survive the brutal Islamic regime governing her. This creates a very particular point of view considering that the parents raising Marjane are against the new form of government, and actively protest, risking their lives. As a result, this rubs off on her creating a very rebellious and dauntless little girl, who isn’t afraid of the new oppressors.
In the book Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, Marjane Satrapi illustrates what this was like, as she was a young girl growing up in Iran when revolution broke out. In one instance, Satrapi details how females were forced to wear a veil, covering all strands of hair from view.3 The veil was a way for females to project a sense of modesty and show dedication to conservative values. Dress code enforcement did not stop at just a veil. When out in public, women had to wear not only the veil but a robe covering their entire body.
One can view Islam as a terrorist religion, while another can view Islam as a peaceful religion. Neither perspective is wrong of Islam because perspective can be influenced by environment, personal experience, society, family, and a variety of other factors. This is why Marjane Satrapi’s unique influences affect her perspective on how she portrays imperialism, social classes, and revolution in her life and the book Persepolis. The photograph shows the United States and Europe taking the natural resources out of Africa.
It is possible to say that a stereotype is nothing more than a weapon. It exists merely in thought, but is able to hurt a person as well as a nation. Yet, it is what many people believe to be true, even despite the overwhelming lack of evidence. One of the more accepted stereotypes are those of the people of Iran, in Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, the author tries to redefine Iranian stereotypes by illustrating that when individuals and their hopes are taken into account, stereotypes are not as simple as they seem. Throughout the book, Satrapi portrays, dispels, confirms, and challenges stereotypes all to show that people are much deeper than stereotypes and to get to that truth, sometimes rejecting stereotypes is necessary.
Perspective’s influence in Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi Marjane Satrapi’s biography, written about her childhood in Iran, could not have been emulated by anyone else. Persepolis is written from Satrapi’s specific, personal account of the time, which means the entire story is laced with perspective and personality. The reader journeys through her upbringing and her growth, the ebb and flow of her life as she tries to grow up as a young woman in this unstable nation. This story is unique, special; it can’t be copied. This is due to her distinct perspective developed by her family, her class, her faith, and more.
With this in mind, It is obvious that Marjane’s Satrapi’s innocence is lost due to imperialism from Great Britain and the United States, nationalism from Marjane and her support for the resistance, and social class situations in Iran during the 1980s revolution. This photo
The theme of repression is an ever-present issue in Persepolis. The picture on the right shows a bearded Islamist explaining to children why the veil needs to be imposed to counter Westernization. However, Satrapi’s home was a place of liberal values and free expression. This is shown in the scene where Marji is split between
These are all negative stereotypes made about common day Iran. Stereotypes are an oversimplified image which creates a portrayal of a certain person or a group of people. As a result, these negative stereotypes create a single story about the culture, hence are difficult to be replaced in the mind. Marjane Satrapi writes Persepolis to tear the single stories created about Iran, to help outsiders understand what Iran truly is under the layer of current violence. In Marjane
The story of Persepolis outlines the educational oppression people faced during the Iranian Revolution. The focus around Satrapi’s childhood demonstrated the controlling nature of military government. According to the novel, the Islamic Regime forced Satrapi to leave her secular school and attend a devout Islamic school. Furthermore, she was forced to wear a veil over her hair to adhere to the religious standards. The veil is used in Islamic society
It is later that Marjane and her family watch a man decree on television that “Women’s hair emanates rays that excite men. That’s why women should cover their hair” (Satrapi 74). Women of Iran and around the
After the Iranian Revolution, it became compulsory for women to wear the veil as the Islamic dress code and all women were removed from government positions, leading to increasing oppression and inequality in Iran. The use of black and white on the first page of the book creates a very clear image that a lot of people are unhappy with the new rules that are introduced by the government. The use of images shows us the oppression of freedom in a way that it would be hard to imagine with words. The first panel shows Marjane in a somber mood, crossing her arms to show her defensive thinking against the veil and the world. In the following panel, the girl’s expressions range from neutral to dislike or discomfort, which shows the general thoughts from people on how they think of the veil.
Persepolis is the graphic novel which shows how Marjane grows up under a repressive government in Iran. After the Islamic revolution in 1979, many things were changed by the government such as school curriculums. They closed university to make sure that all books are following the true path of Islam (Satrapi 73). One of the important change, in Persepolis, was the obligation of wearing the veil. The veil is covered women 's skin or hair as a symbol of devotion and modesty for the Islamic religion (Lazreg 10).
The first volume of Persepolis (2003) addresses Satrapi’s (2003) childhood struggle of identifying with a traditional religious way of life and her modern parents’ way of living. Tarlo (2007) explains that some of the modern Iranian women transformed to simplistic choices of the fundamentalist woman that discouraged Satrapi (2003) from relating to their identity. Tarlo (2007) believes that Satrapi (2004) portrayed the fundamentalist that stood with the leader Ruhollah Khomeyni in symbols that represents their loss of self-identity. Woman drawn in full coverings and closing eyes is one way Satrapi strips a character from individualism. The full coverings symbolize the loss of human shape and form, while the closing eyes symbolize the fundamentalist
It was because of the use of graphic weight in the graphic novel Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi reinforced the distinct separation of the oppressed and the oppressors that was easily muddled during war time and contributed to the many changed perspectives of Iran. Not all Iranians want to force religion and extremism, some also want to play and have fun like the rest of the