Persepolis: Global Issues

Global Issue #1:

Politics - Due to the story of Persepolis taking place in Iran, as well as being based on the
Iranian authors' experiences growing up in Tehran in the 1970’s to 1980’s, the graphic novel
focuses heavily on the politics of Iran during its 1979 Revolution and onwards. It does this by
providing insight on the 1979 revolution through the eyes of the civilians living there at the time,
discussing the various ideologies present during that time period, and explaining the
government's crucial transformation, from a strict religious dictatorship of the Shah to a
conservative, theocratic government known as the “Islamic Regime”

Global Issue #2:

Justice - Throughout the book, the author puts on full display the injustice the people of Iran
had to go through during the 1970’-1980’s. The graphic novel does not hesitate to hide the
horrible actions of the Shah, portraying to us the numerous reporters, civilians and everyday
men who were thrown in Prison, horribly tortured or even killed for no other reason than having
a different ideology than that of the Shah. This injustice, however, doesn’t only affect the
matured adults of Iran; Marjane, the main protagonist, also has a great amount of exposure to it,
which causes her to try to take matters into her own hands and bring Justice. Act of taking
justice can be especially seen by the audience when Marjan puts nails in between her fingers
and plans to attack Ramin, whose father worked in the Shah’s secret police, as a means to get
revenge for those his father killed.

Global Issue #3:

Beliefs - Early on in the book, the audience is able to see the various beliefs conflicting inside
Marjane; her more conservative ideas, such as wanting to be a prophet, clash with her parents'
more “modern and avant-garde” ideas. We see this time and time again, with her differing
opinions on wearing the veil, her secret desire of being a prophet that she has to continuously
hide from her parents, as well as the numerous lectures her parents give her about the Shah
and her more conservative ideas.

Global Issues #4:

Power - The Dad not wanting to move, the constant wars for Persia due to it’s extremely good
location, as well as the exploitation of Iran by the U.S, the U.K and even the Shah and the
Islamic Regime.