As we talked earlier Persepolis is autobiographical memoir of Marjane Satrapi’s earlier life in Iran:
“From the time I came to France in 1994, I was always telling stories about life in Iran to my friends. We’d see pieces about Iran on television, but they didn’t represent my experience at all. I had to keep saying, “No, it’s not like that there.” I’ve been justifying why it isn’t negative to be Iranian for almost twenty years. How strange when it isn’t something I did or chose to be?”
– Marjane Satrapi
When People talk about these great ancient civilizations, always with her fundamentalism, fanaticism and terrorism together. Marjane grew up as an Iranian in Iran, knowing that this image is far from the truth:
“Unfortunately, it happened in a country where people were very traditional, and other countries only saw the religious fanatics who made their response public.”
– Marjane Satrapi
Persepolis Reconstruction. Digital image. The Clyde Fitch Report. N.p., n.d. Web. Nov.-Dec. 2014.
In her graphic novel, Marjane shows a real Iran, through the eyes of a true Iranian. People should not make judgments on the entire country based on the unacceptable actions of a few extremists. Marjane doesn’t want people to forget about those who defend freedom, who have lost their lives in prison, who were killed in the Iran-Iraq war; those who suffered tyranny and torture, or those exiled from both their loved ones and homeland. Marjane Satrapi once said:
“People can forgive, but never forget. ”
This is a book told through a child’s eyes and reveals to us: an understanding of the history of Marjane’s motherland, her personal growth; the effects of dictatorship and tyranny, witnessing revolution and violence, and ultimately the shift from a happy budding adolescence, into a distraught, frustrated, and sad teenager.
The history of Iran since the seventies, has revealed people of the Islamic Revolution in Iran’s dashed hopes: women are forced to wear veils, tens of thousands of people were thrown into prison. Through the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war, so many people were caught in endless fear. Marjane witnessed a revolution: along with the Islamic Revolution, it cost her several loved ones.
Marjane was born in 1969, has a warm, middle-class family. She was born to convert to God, she has a strong desire to set God’s justice and love and hate in one. As she was told at school that everyone should love the King, because he was chosen by God; until her father revealed the truth about the king and his regime. After Marjane met her Uncle Anoosh, a Marxist revolutionary; (he was kept in prison for nine years but under the Shah’s regime, was executed on charges of espionage) Marjane was left broken hearted. The death of her Uncle, was in essence a catalyst that caused young Marjane to shed her naivety; and thus begin to confront the realities of the world.
Persepolis, a black and white graphical memoir that tells us about a piece of history: portrayed through brutal politics, extremist religion philosophies, people’s struggles, and depicts the both the frustration and sympathy felt by a young girl caught in the middle.
Marjane Satrapi. Digital image. The Clyde Fitch Report. N.p., n.d. Web. Nov.-Dec. 2014.
Below is a link to an online pdf of Persepolis:
Posted by, Casey
Persepolis Memoir 
This post seems to focus solely on Satrapi’s Iranian experiences and influences which makes sense, but falls short in addressing the entire context of her inspiration. The external events that constantly transpired around young Marjane during and after the Iranian revolution, clearly affected, influenced and sparked internal conflict within her, leading to a dramatic change in persona over the course of a few short years.
Nothing is said on Marjane’s influences outside of Iran, for instance it is known that she was heavily impacted by Art’s Spiegelman’s MAUS. It is important not only to address the issues and topics that shaped Marjane as an individual, but to examine the ones that lead to her presenting her story in her chosen media/method.
Below are two links: the first is an exert that provides a brief summary of Marxism – a political ideology that permeated the minds of Marjane’s relatives, and a link that provides a brief summary and addresses various issues/influences within Art Spiegelman’s MAUS.
https://socialsciences.arts.unsw.edu.au/tsw/Marx.html
http://www.shmoop.com/maus/
posted by, bogart david-anthony
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