Book Review

U - Persepolis intends to humanize Islamic Iran to Westerners and correct Westerners’

misperceptions about Iran and Iranians (not all follow fundamentalist, conservative and
extremist ideas).

Introduce the book (What/who/when/where/why)

-What: Persepolis is a contemporary graphic novel that tells us about the Iranian revolution
from the eyes of a little girl. She tells us about the process that was growing up in this context
and how the war marked her life.

-Who: The woman is the same protagonist of the novel is the same author, Marjane Satrapi is a
writer of Iranian and French nationality who presents us in an autobiographical way but with
fictional nuances what it was like for her to grow up before, during and after the Iranian
revolution, from his childhood in Tehran to his difficult entry into adult life in Europe.

-When: The story takes place around 1979 to 1994 and was published in the year 2000, in
French.

-Where: The story is presented in two parts or fragments, the first one is called ¨The history of a
childhood¨ where she intends to show how her life was from the early age of 9 years and so on,
where the Islamic revolution begins to rise and so did the cultural changes.The second part is
titled as ¨The history of a return¨ which takes place in Australia and Iran when her parents sent
her out of the country.

-Why: In Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi intends to humanize the Islamic Iran to Westerners and
correct their ’ misperceptions about Iran and Iranians as not all of them follow fundamentalist,
conservative and extremist ideas.

Tell about the most valuable chapters for you because of their humanizing potential.
"The Veil" - "I really didn't know what to think about the veil."

- There are two chapters of ¨The veil¨ in book 1 and 2

At the beginning we identify the veil as a symbol of repression, Marji is too young to understand it but
yet she questions the role of gender within these new rules. The veil stands for a physical object that
goes beyond materialistic means as it sets up a gender gap. As we know from book one, she tells us of
her beginnings from the early age of nine, in which she began to notice the cultural changes that
resulted from government adjustments. In the first instance, the change occurs from the educational
field, where they divide men from women and change their way of dressing, in this case the veil is the
garment that stands out since its purpose is to cover women's hair in order to avoid sexualizing the
female figure. Marji initially questions such an object and we can see that, as the story progresses and
her way of thinking changes, she sees it as a symbol of repression (by gender) of the regime, which
makes her come into an internal conflict as she does not feel comfortable with it (just like other women
who are not heard). In the second section, the chapter tells us about Marji's life in Australia as her
parents took her out of the country in an attempt to give her more opportunities and a better life, in
Australia she constantly enter into conflict with her identity since the cultural clash ends up being
abrupt and this makes her feel misunderstood and that she does not fit in their community.
Eventually her conservative thinking gets modified, she begins to adopt liberal ideas such as her sexual
freedom, in this chapter the important thing is that she shows us how she enters a moment of crisis
where she hits rock bottom after becoming a drug dealer and ending up a relationship, she feels alone
and she lost the close emotional support she needed to feel accepted. This is a point where we see
revelation, after being on the streets and in misery, on the verge of death, she realizes that she will not
be able to adapt to a new country because she feels that she cannot be herself and cannot find the
love or support needed. At the end we see her looking in a mirror, with the veil, where the
meaning of oppression takes a back seat by showing us this object as something that reminds
her of her roots and of what she longs to return.

- It also stands for the fact that society is veiled from Iran´s reality, so it lead to
misconceptions and stereotypes to revolve around them as they are isolated from other
countries

- For Marji the veil is a symbol that transforms, it becomes essential for her identity in
Iran. She finally felt that, after all, it makes part of her life.

This is why the chapter of "The Veil" is important and resurfaces with great potential for analysis in the
second book regarding its work to humanize the Iranians as it serves as a chronological guide that
shows us how after all what he has had to live and suffer changes his perception of this object. It
represents how the lack of opportunities that occurs as a result of the war and the government's
manipulation makes thousands of Iranians leave the country in search of a better life and that when
they arrive they are confronted with a different reality because they had been practically isolated from
the outside world, which is why they conflict with their identity thanks to the stereotypes that fall on
them because it creates a social pressure that makes them feel that they do not belong and in the end,
as is the case with Marjane, they prefer to endure the suffering in his country than abroad.
"The return"

This chapter suggests the development of identity in times of crisis and the fact that children are
forced to grow quickly and mature in Iran and the same time it manages to portray the effects of the
regime in Iran as a whole. Marji returns to Iran, once she returns she realizes how the regime has
taken over every corner of the country but even more importantly she realizes that in her time in
Australia she was part of the society that does not see what happens, that is veiled from in Iran beyond
the war and the martyrs, for this reason she feels guilty and self-centered or selfish when as she fails to
know what was happening in her country. The fact of leaving her family also shocks her a lot since they
were going through a very difficult situation and when she returned she thought that she would
disappoint them by not being able to settle down or take advantage of the opportunity they gave her
(which is given to very few) and so feels bad about herself. When she returns, she finds herself again
with an internal conflict to define her identity, she realizes that she is judged by her liberal ideologies
and she feels misunderstood. Bearing this in mind, in relation to the humanizing work that Persepolis
does, it could be said that from the process of Marji's return to Iran, the internal conflicts of the
Iranians are exalted due to their identity and the frustration of not being able to adapt or flow
economically. abroad due to the effects that the war has had on them, showing that not all are in favor
of extremist behavior or the government since they have to pay the consequences of it and suffer, just
like everyone else.

"The Sheep" - "You are the little girl I always wanted to have"

Marji used to think of an ideal of a hero who sacrificed himself for his country, the people in Iran usually
romanticized the suffering so that it would be accepted and war could be accepted as well. This
chapter focuses on his uncle Anosh, who was persecuted and finally executed, this is how she tells us
the story between him and little Marji and how he changed her way of thinking and was fundamental for
raising awareness about the regime and its cruelty. Marji began to see him as a hero and this gave her
many illusions and happiness, but one day when he was captured and executed, she lost not only faith
in her country but also in religion since she had been a believer all her life and doesn't understood the
concept of death since it was something bad, she blames god. Here is the suffering of the families that
were persecuted by the regime. Fear and death were always present for these people, as a
consequence the families separated and suffered a lot. The fact that the family nucleus is addressed
gives us an indication that the author is trying to humanize these people by showing how they have
families and that thanks to the war and the revolution they suffer and are exposed to very difficult
situations.
"The Socks" - "When we're afraid, we lose all sense of analysis and reflection."

From this chapter it seems pertinent to return to this quote where Marjane describes how the Islamic
regime controls its citizens by strictly regulating their appearance. They spend so much time worrying
about the length of their pants, the makeup and the placement of their veils that they do not have time
to question the actions of their government or their degree of satisfaction or happiness in their lives, so
it is fear that it prevents people from defending themselves against oppression, which is exactly what
the fundamentalist government wants. Once again, but in a more concise way, it shows us how they
feel fear and that the government controls every aspect of their life.

"The End" - "We're crushed not only by the government but by the weight of our traditions!"

She realized that the problem was always in Iran and that for a real change she must leave the
repressive lifestyle behind, in this case the culmination point between her and the government
is due to gender inequality since she realizes that it is something that is not going to change
and therefore must go so she decided to go to France and start a new life. She realizes that
she doesn't want to be in a place where she isn't valued as much as her husband, nor where
the fact a woman is getting married means that she becomes less of a person and that it's her
time to leave Iran.

- This time is less painful, she fulfills her parents dreams of her but for these she have to
leave her family and life behind.
- This comes at a price, not being with her grandmother in her last years, this
demonstrates the feeling of guilt of Marjane towards her grandmother who who was one
of the most elementary characters during the course of history, who accompanied her at
every stage of her life, giving her advice and reminding her about her roots, what is
correct and being true to herself without being influenced by others .
- The death of her grandmother represents the closing of this cycle in which Marji finds
and installs a new life in France.
- Her parents, as we have seen, support her until the end, they represent the family
nucleus that will always be there for her even if the rest of the people are not.

To close, the last chapter seems important to me since at the end of the day it is the result of
both books, of all history. Marji has come and gone to end up leaving because the situation
becomes unmanageable, in this chapter we find a mixture of feelings in which Marji finally finds
his purpose in life and identity but for this he must leave everything behind. She went from
being a girl fanatic of the regime, to a revolutionary who identifies with the country but
disagrees with its rules so she leaves to make her life out of the conflict that she thought was
part of her identity. War marked her life, the way of being and relating to people and the world.
In Persepolis we see a clear intention on the part of the author to humanize the Iranians since
in Iran they suffer the consequences of war and abroad suffer the consequences of war but
due to the stereotypes that fall on them, Marjane Satrapi refuses to dismantle these
assumptions and misconceptions.

Comment on one theme

Identity - freedom vs oppression

The theme of identity is the common thread of the story, the protagonist from the beginning
tries to shape her identity but due to the changes that are happening around her, they remain
halfway since the oppression given by the government does not allow her develop freely as it
opens the way to the creation of gender and racial stereotypes, conflicts, barriers, and ideals
that constantly affect their day-to-day life at a fundamental stage of their life. The contrast
experienced by the author between Iran and Australia demonstrates the freedom vs. repression
given in her country of origin, the culture clash demonstrates how Iran is isolated from the rest
of the world and how the traditional and conservative ideology contrasts with the liberal
ideology in Europe in yes. Identity is linked to Marji's life purpose, she creates a conflict
between both aspects since she does not feel accepted by society just as she was not
accepted by the government, it is a result of growing up with fear. In the end, she decides to
leave Iran since she feels limited to the ideology that has already been established in the
people, this time she does not feel pressured because it is only her decision, at this point she
finds true freedom since she is not obliged to to return but to fight for a life abroad.

Share your final perception about Persepolis’ approach to revolution (Persepolis 1

initiated with a political revolution and ended in Persepolis 2 with a cultural or personal
revolution).

After reading Persepolis, I would say that the book initiated with a political revolution
but ended up with a personal revolution because it tells basically the process of
interiorization of this political revolution which ends up changing every aspect of their
society from the deep part of their culture with religion for instance. For this reason,
once he enters the most essential of the community, he manages to create an impact on
the way of thinking and acting of people, especially in the young people who are
building their identity. Making this revolution end up being personal, in terms of the
construction of identity of each individual after being influenced by the effects of the
revolution.

Give a recommendation (e.g., If you like..., you will love this book or I recommend this
book to anyone who likes...).

I recommend this book to anyone who likes autobiographical productions with a bit of fiction
which makes it even more interesting. This book helped me to know many things about the
history of Iran and about their culture as its format makes it easy to read and practical for
extracting essential ideas for further analysis. I think it's a very nice book that leaves many
lessons and definitely changes our way of thinking towards Iranians, opening us towards a
more critical thinking that will help us in future readings.