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The Role of the hijab in Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Throughout one’s life, one faces challenges of all sorts: emotional, physical and

mental. French-Iranian author Marjane Satrapi’s memoir Persepolis illustrates the story

of young Satrapi’s childhood in the midst of political turmoil within the country, and

explores how these challenges her life. As Marjane grows in age, she is forced to adapt to

her changing surroundings and accept the societal norms around her. Satrapi uses the

motif of the hijab in order to signify the effect of society on her own life and convey her

growth as a person. The hijab manifests itself as three different themes, initially establish

itself as devotion and revolution, eventually morphing into that of oppression following

the rise of the Islamists, and finally forming into redemption as Marjane returns from

Austria, which parallel Marjane’s own growing personality as she ventures through the

different stages of her life.

In the opening of the memoir, Satrapi utilizes her illustrations and her own

internal monologue in order to convey the hijab’s importance as a symbol of devotion

and the significance of religion in Marjane’s own life. Satrapi introduces her confusion

about the veil through the phrase “I really didn’t know what to think about the veil. Deep

down I was very religious…” (6). The use of the “really” in the phrase emphasizes her

uncertainty about her feelings regarding the veil (6). In addition, the word “religious”

here also implies the veil’s connection to Islam, suggesting that it is an integral part of

identifying as Muslim - however, due to the stark contrasts between her modern family

and traditional religion, she is unsure of her feelings towards the hijab (6). Her confusion

is further demonstrated by the illustration accompanied by this quotation – while one side

depicts objects related to science and modernization, the other portrays Marjane wearing

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the veil, further insinuating that the veil is an essential representation of one’s devotion

while also conveying the two significant aspects of Marjane’s life (6). Although Marjane

perceives the veil as an essential part of her faith, it also provides her with a sense of

confusion about her own beliefs, due to the contrasting nature of her traditional religion

and her modern family.

While the hijab is most clearly a symbol of devotion, due to its strong connection

with Islam, Satrapi also portrays it as a symbol for the revolution and thus shows her own

unawareness regarding the events around her. At the very start of the book, Satrapi

illustrates two panels: one, featuring a group of men revolting, and the other, a group of

children playing in a courtyard playing with their veils (3). The parallelism between the

image of the revolution and the image of the children in the courtyard and emphasizes the

contrast between the two scenes as one supports of extremism while the other innocently

‘protests’ it; the juxtaposition of these two panels highlights the unexpected nature of the

revolution, and how it is almost imposed upon society so suddenly. This is especially

highlighted in the caption “we didn’t really like to wear the veil, especially since we

didn’t understand why we had to” (3). The tone here seems to be a questioning one,

which Satrapi uses to highlight her own unawareness of the revolution, and in turn,

highlight her own naivety at the beginning of the novel. In an adjoining panel, Satrapi

illustrates one of the head teachers at her school forcing young girls to wear the veil by

shouting the phrase “wear this!” – the use of the exclamation conveys the imperative tone

of the phrase, and further suggests that the revolution seems to be imposed upon society

(3). Revolution is an integral part of the memoirs plot, as it sets the basis for various

conflicts. The hijab itself seems to signify the innocence of many young girls and how

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they are unaware of the situation at hand, evoking sympathy within readers for their

situation. !

Following the rise of the Islamists after the revolution, Satrapi conveys the fact

that the hijab has become symbol of the oppressive regime and consequently shows

Marjane’s struggle to retain her own individuality. On page 75, Satrapi illustrates a panel

comparing the fundamentalist woman, dressed head to toe in a veil, vs. the modern

woman, who shows her skin. The comparison and contrast between these two images

parallels Marjane’s own dreams being hidden and shadowed, such as her desire to study

chemistry or her desire to study in the US, as a result of the oppressive nature of the

regime. This idea of oppression is further suggested later on in the memoir, in a panel

illustrating many schoolchildren mourning the loss of war martyrs (95). The children are

all pictured wearing the veil with scared and shocked expressions on their faces, as

suggested by their wide open eyes and frowned smiles, suggesting that the children are

unhappy with what they are doing. This in turn reflects upon Marjane’s own feelings at

the moment – that of fear. In the caption of the same panel, Satrapi writes “they lined us

up twice a day to mourn the war dead. They put on funeral marches, and we had to beat

our breasts” (95). the use of the word “had’ suggests that these children are being forced

to mourn and do not necessarily want to do so. It can be seen that the hijab inherently

bans women from being able to express themselves and their own opinion, as if the

regime is watching their every move. It instills a sense of fear and worry within these

women, who subject themselves to the uniformity that the regime desires in order to

protect themselves from further prejudice.

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Under the oppressive regime of the Islamists, like many other women, young

Marjane struggles to maintain her own individuality. This can be seen much later in the

memoir, when she decides to wear her new denim jacket and Michael Jackson pin, and

listen to her music outside. Her stroll is halted by the Guardians of the Revolution, who

proceed to interrogate her. Satrapi illustrates these women as tall and overshadowing,

looking down upon dressed up Marjane (133). This parallels Iranian society as a whole –

the regime is constantly looking down at its citizens. The women then proceed to call

Marjane a “little whore”. The negative connotation behind the word “whore” suggests

that Marjane’s youthful way of life is frowned upon in the Islamist regime. Eventually,

Marjane is forced to return home and is unable to wear these items in public. This clearly

shows the struggle between Marjane’s own individuality and the regime. Marjane is

unable to express herself in any way. Even if she attempts to embrace both equally, as she

does in this event by wearing the hijab and her Western items simultaneously, she is

barred from doing so – the hijab oppresses her.

While the hijab remains dormant for a period during the novel, it eventually re-

enters Marjane’s life as she leaves Austria. Satrapi portrays the hijab in this part of the

novel as a symbol of redemption for young Marjane, and hence way to reconnect with her

Iranian roots. This can be seen in the scene when Marjane starts to return home – the

panel illustrates Marjane putting on her veil (247). The fact that this action is given its

own individual panel emphasizes the importance of putting on the hijab once more,

signifying Marjane’s return to her roots. This is further exemplified in the subsequent

panel – Satrapi writes “and so much for my individual and social liberties… I needed so

badly to go home” (247). Here, it suggests that Marjane has matured past her youthful

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and Western idolizing days, and is desperate to redeem herself and move on from her

Austrian days. Marjane finds solace in the hijab, as it connects her back to something she

longs for and is comfortable with. However, eventually, Marjane grows to embrace the

Western side of her as well as her Iranian roots, as seen through Satrapi’s illustration of

the new uniform (300). Satrapi illustrates Marjane’s design of a new, more liberal

women’s uniform with wide pants and a shorter head-scarf. This shorter hijab reflects

upon Marjane’s own personality in two different ways. On one hand, it symbolizes

Marjane using her past experiences in Austria to improve upon her life in Iran, and on

another, it shows Marjane’s attempt at proving herself – her own redemption. Such

growth in her character exemplifies how Marjane has grown into a thoughtful and

sensible young woman, who accepts her flawed past and looks to the future – something

she was unable to do in the past.

As Marjane Satrapi matures into a woman, it becomes apparent that Satrapi’s

characterization of the hijab morphs itself into a symbol for a variety of different themes,

which aids Satrapi in conveying Marjane’s growth as a character throughout the novel.

Through the incorporation of the larger thematic ideas of devotion, revolution, oppression

and redemption, Satrapi successfully conveys her growth through the change of the hijab.

Life poses many challenges for young Marjane, however it is not how we contemplate

the past that achieves growth, but it is through the strength to overcome such trials that

we grow as a person.

Word count: 1528

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Works Cited

Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. Trans. L’Association and Anjali Singh. New York, NY:

Pantheon, 2003. Print.

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