Persepolis

I read Persepolis over the break before the semester started because I was so excited. Although I haven't seen the movie yet (I can't wait to,) I'd heard a bit about the story and was intrigued. Reading through it a second time in preparation for class allowed me to pick up on a few things that eluded my grasp the first time through, most likely as a result of my initial horror at some of the occurrences described in the novel, and due to my naiveté on the subject. Marjane Satrapi does an excellent job explaining in simple terms the complex and frightening history of Iran and the Islamic Revolution. The storybook quality of the text catered to my ignorance. While the narration is reflective, and clearly delivered by a much older, more mature Marjane, the language and the tone used in Persepolis is didactic and incumbent on the way children digest information -the subject material, however, involves the kinds of things children should never have to be confronted with. The disparity between the playfulness of the narration and the atrociousness of the subject matter is creepy. When I was a child, I played horses- I didn't play torture. I wanted to be a mermaid when I grew up, not a prophet.

The appearances that God as a character in the novel makes are crucial to understanding Persepolis in terms of a Bildungsroman. He makes His last appearance on page 70. Marjane yells at him, "Shut up, you! Get out of my life!!! I never want to see you again!" In this instance, Marjane doesn't want to believe in a God that could allow her "beloved Anoosh," her hero, to be executed. The next page reveals that "It was the beginning of the war" (71). It seems to me that the message embedded here is that people tend to lose their faith or question it most in times of war. On page 99, Mrs. Nasrine exclaims, "All my life, I've been faithful to the religion. If its come to this... Well, I can't believe in anything anymore..." It is around this time that Marjane ceases to view figures like God, Karl Marx, Fidel Castro, Leon Trotsky and Che Guevara as characters, or imaginary friends. Her proximity to war has sobered her.

The role of capitalism in Persepolis is important. One thing about the way the novel is written that I appreciated while reading, was that although the history lessons seem simplistic, they are considered from multiple angles, rather than merely the one that Marjane was subjected to in her own schooling. The way the book is written is such that describing a viewpoint automatically opens up a discussion for an examination of an opposing one. America is viewed as "decadent" by people in positions of authority. In the beginning of the novel the enforcing of the veil coincides with the closing down of bilingual schools in 1980, two things that from a child's standpoint felt oppressive. Children didn't understand why they had to wear the veil or why they had to be separated from their friends. Interestingly, it is America that Marjane ultimately gravitates towards, and it is American fashions and the American music scene that constitute Marjane's rebellion in her teenage years. Marjane chooses a new uniform of tight jeans, a denim jacket, Nike's and a Michael Jackson pin, and she proudly displays her Iron Maiden and Kim Wilde posters on her bedroom walls. Punk becomes the identity that Marjane chooses in order to set herself apart from the rest of her veiled schoolmates, and it so happens to directly conflict with the ideals she was raised on. Can't wait to see where this leads in Persepolis 2!