The graphic novel deals a lot with reputation and public perception. There is propaganda, prideful storytelling, and a lot of "hero" and "martyr" being thrown around. How is this reflected in Persepolis herself? How about her shifting opinion of her parents, and even her own self-image?
There is obviously a lot of discrimination within the text, towards a litany of circumstances. So where does privilege lie in this society, and how can we see it operating through the first half of the graphic novel? (Effects, rebellion, acceptance...)
Giving respect to form, what are some of everyone's favorite panels in terms of aesthetic and visual content? How do its qualities lend themselves to the story?
How Marji perceives her family and the struggles they went through and are going through really reflects her idea of “hero” or “martyr” over time. At the beginning of the war anyone who was arrested or died in protest against the Shah especially within her family were heroes/martyrs and it isn’t until her uncle Anoosh is executed for being viewed as a spy that she begins to realize that dying in opposition of those in power did not make one a hero/martyr but an unnecessary end of one’s life. From then on she does not fall for the propaganda of heroes/martyrs but disregards the war as a source of loss. She begins to view herself as a rebel by way of dressing and regaling in Western pop culture with no faith in Islamic religion rather than the childhood image of the devoted prophet of God routing for the right side. It certainly causes her parents’ opinion to shift from support of the rebellion into fearing it and wishing that there had been another way.
ReplyDeletePrivilege lies in those who allow religion to dictate everything within society. It especially makes way for male privilege as it makes all male political leaders right no matter what because they were chosen by God and the right to make all women submissive. Male privilege is especially pervasive in terms of the veil as anyone who refuses to wear the veil can be treated anyway a man pleases including rape as her “hair emanates rays that excite men” (74). Women who perpetuate everything the veil stand for are also given their own kind of privilege though nothing like males are given.
My favorite panel so far is the one on page 71 which shows just how lost Marji was even at a young age. At twelve we don’t usually question ourselves so deeply but that is because none of us ever had to live through so much war and political strife at the age. War was never in our country so how would we know what it is like to be so personally involved and begin to lose faith in such a drastic way. I think it really leads into the later part of the reading in which Marji grows increasingly bitter and obsessed with such trivial things as blue jeans and band posters. She has very little to believe in so at the very least she want to revel in the freedom that Western society seems to provide with its pop culture.
Throughout the story, Marjane sees her entire family as heroes or martyrs because they support the revolution. During the war, anyone who is arrested or executed/killed for opposing the Shah are deemed as heroes. This is what everyone saw and how she saw it as well. Unfortunately, her views don't change until her Uncle Anoosh is executed for being viewed as a spy. Then she finally realizes that dying for the rebellion is not heroic at all.
ReplyDeleteThere is a massive amount of shameful discrimination within the text of this book. The only area in which privilege exists in this oppressive society within those that have the power to dictate and control everything. More specifically the men. The male population of the society has been favored so much that they have gone to the point where they believe that they are always right and those that say otherwise are wrong and must be executed. This heightens the oppression of society because if you believe in something that doesn't fit into the society, that's it for you. No exceptions.
One of my favorite panels in the book is the fourth panel on the first page of the chapter 9 (I believe). In this panel, Marjane explains to her father and uncle her 'political opinion.' She says; "On TV they say that 99.99% of the population voted for the Islamic Republic." I obvious this knew that this was a giant load, but when looking back at the title of the chapter, I realized that this was symbolic. The chapter is called The Sheep because it refers to her being a sheep. Marjane is a sheep because she believes whatever she hears. True she is a child and most children believe anything on TV, but this symbolizes how she shouldn't believe in everything that she is told. She needs to find her own ways. But in this society, that will be difficult.
To respond to the question of shifting notions of self-image, I think the aim of the author is to describe both herself as a growing, changing person and Iran as a growing, changing country. With each swing of the political pendulum Marji is forced to reconcile all of the conflicting ideas and information she is receiving, just as any child does as they grow up and begin to understand the world. Basically, Satrapi is describing the process of growing up, using the setting of her specific upbringing (unstable 1980s Iran) as a vehicle to do so.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the visuals, I have to be honest that I am very critical of Persepolis in this regard. The overall page compositions are extremely stale and give the whole product a very plodding, mundane feel. The composition at the panel level is also underwhelming, with the biggest culprits being any time Satrapi is depicting a conversation. Her ‘shot’ selection is SO flat, and it makes it very difficult for the reader to inhabit the spaces she is depicting. Her ‘splash’ pages carry the exact same amount of detail as a normal panel which means she just made them bigger for the sake of making them bigger. If you’re going to blow something up that large, use it as an opportunity to make a visual impact to drive home the narrative point you’re trying to make.
I think there are so many missed opportunities here to actually utilize comics as a medium to tell her story.
I agree with Devon. At the beginning she sees her family full of heroes because of their drive to support the change that the revolution is to bring. Then when her uncle dies in and she’s finds that being heroic is not easy. Heroes become lies to her and her family is scared of the change that is happening around them.
ReplyDeleteThe privilege lies in the male part of society. They have full control of women and especially women that refuse to wear a veil.
Marji is a very young girl in this story up to this point. She is constantly repeating what she hears and competing with her classmates on who has the most heroes, martyrs, and prisoners. While Anoosh is telling her stories, she is preoccupied with how her uncle compares to her friend's father. As she grows older, this seems to happen less and less. She starts to somewhat grasp the danger in some capacity even though she is quite rebellious and naive still. It is interesting to see the effects of war and revolution on a young mind as it develops. It is a very convincing story from the perspective of a child so far.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite panel is when Marji is wrapped up in God's arms, only a head peeping out over the soft swirls of God's hair holding her in safety. I think this very accurately portrays a child's understanding of the presence of God and the peace he brings them. As the story progresses, I am interested to see how Marji thinks of God and how the artist depicts her adult feelings. (compare to how she is floating in nothingness when she tells God to leave)
Marji really starts out idolizing heroes. She wants to be a prophet when she's little, which I think she thinks of as a hero. But her perception of hero certainly changes throughout the graphic novel. Later on, she starts to think of heroes as people who survive great harm for a cause, and idolizes that. Always though, she wants to be a hero. This seems to be her life long dream, just to be thought of well, really. Eventually, she starts to think of hero and martyr as one and the same, and though she is hesitant to really want to die for something, she finds the idea noble. That is, until she comes face to face with almost dying. Suddenly, she isn't so sure she wants to be a martyr, or hero really. It'll be interesting to see this hero battle rage on inside of her as the story continues.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot of confusing politics and class struggles going on in this story, and I think it's meant to be confusing slightly, since we're coming from a child's perspective. I like that when we hear her parents discussing things, it doesn't always necessarily make complete sense. I think it's appropriate that Marji is seeing that there are problems and there are things that are definitely getting in the way of equality, but maybe she doesn't quite understand how it's all actually playing out. Yet.
One of my favorite panels was when the Shah went to appeal to Cyrus' grave, and he's acting all lofty, and yet we see the dead "Cyrus" underneath him with a glare of sorts on his face. I thought this was a genius panel. It's just got the perfect amount of irony and sass, with the Shah trying to look all lofty and good and smiley, the guards behind them look straight up out of place, and Cyrus just looks hilarious.
I feel like it's definitely meant to be a bildungsroman (coming of age story.) As other commenters have said, the things we see and hear coming from her parents don't always make sense, but through that we see Marji making her own opinions and really coming into her own. As the book goes on, we see her start to become more and more informed, and as a result of that, we see her opinions of herself and her parents and etc. start to change
ReplyDeleteA panel that really got my attention was in the chapter or part of the book called the "The Key". The panel takes up about 75% of the page. The panel shows young Iranian boys being blown apart in a minefield with the plastic keys around their necks. It was especially powerful to me because of the back story to the panel. The book also talks about how the boys were hypnotized and sent in to war. Sorry if this offends anyone here as this is not to offend but, it made me think of the young men and women involved in the Iraq war. There was not much difference there to me.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite panel can be found a the end of the chapter entitled "Sheep." I find this picture - Marji floating alone in the void of space - to be quite symbolic. This is a loss of innocence. We see her denounce God; banishing him to the realm of make-believe as nothing more than an imaginary friend of childhood. This coincides with the fundamentalist regime overtaking Iran in the name of religion. I found this bit of irony to be both powerfully haunting and scathing.
ReplyDeleteI think Marji's perception of self and her parents fit a natural, progressive arc; idolization at a young age, followed by a phase of rebellion, finalized with reconciliation. I think this arc is nearly universal in a coming-of-age story, only this one is set in the Iranian Revolution.
Marjane feels confused by all the propaganda and her parents. There are times that she feels swept up in the Islamic regime and desires to become a "martyr," but then there are times where she despises the regime and wishes it would pass. Having always seen herself as something of a prophet, Marjane longs to change the world. But having witnesses the extremist Islamic movement in Iran, Marjane begins to doubt herself and her life-long ambitions. Similarly, Marjane wants to see the fall of the social class structure and attends an anti-Shah protest. But it seems that later on, she regrets supporting the Islamic regime. Although her shifting opinion of her parents is not uncommon amongst young women at her age, Marjane's situation is compounded by the political complexities of the time. When she grows up, Marjane begins to suffer extreme insecurities about her appearance, finding herself unattractive and wishing to look more Western.
ReplyDeleteHaving read Persepolis before, I am going to jump ahead and say that one of my favorite panels is the one showing Marjane's drawing of Michelangelo's Pieta depicting Mary with a chador and Jesus in an Iranian army uniform, symbolizing the martyrs of the revolution. I just love how she uses her knowledge of other religions to make a point about her respect and sympathy for dead soldiers and their families, even if she does not agree with the government. And to top it all of, she disguises this highly offensive Christian imagery in a veil of Islam. I just find that really cool.
Marji is so young in this first part of the book and I think the main point we are supposed to take from this is how the change in laws is so simple and lacking of sense that even someone as young as Marji could spot the trend. She is so impressionable at this age, yet strong, that she shifts her beliefs easily when she is told the different things to believe. So far, what we have read is a story about our ability to hold onto our innocence through change and uprising. Marji is confused about what makes a hero and whether she should be proud of her family or not. I think anyone living through this rapid social, political, and economic change would be affected, especially the impressionable and rebellious youth; naturally, Marji turns toward rebellion.
ReplyDeletePrivilege in this society seems to lie in the police and politicians, as well as the ones who accept whatever policy they are told is the correct one. The revolution is quick, but as quick as the politicians are, the rebels are always ready. It is certainly easiest to just accept everything, but then everyone would lose themselves.
As far as a favorite panel, I have two I would like to touch on. The first is when the Shah leaves and everyone is celebrating. I just love how the vibrant patterns on their clothes allude to bright colors; I do not even wish there was color in this panel because Satrapi does such a great job with the patterned allusions. We get a sense of the unity of the country one last time before the changes begin.
The second image is from Marji's imagination when she finds out her grandpa was a prince. I think this is interesting because I am not sure this is how I would picture my grandpa as a prince. It is an important cultural difference to note. This is no Prince William picture here.

The cultural changes between my life as a kid and teenager and that of Marji have left me totally baffled. I have a very hard time even imagining these events and how I would act in these situations.
Marji changes so much over the course of the first book. At first we see her as this deeply religious young girl which was funny because of how secular her parents seem. What's interesting to me, is that the "correct" opinion to teach at the school changes almost as frequently as Marji does. When the book starts, they teach the kids that the Shah is ordained by god, but after the revolution she's scolded for saying it.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of book 1 we see a very rebellious Marji. As a teenager being raised in a family that focuses so much on education, I don't know how Marji could avoid being so rebellious. That's where we see Marji's privilege as well. We don't get much insight to the rest of Marji's peers' lives though so it's hard to say how better off her family is. Before the revolution and the war, Marji's family had a car which set them apart from most of the families in Iran. The fact that they are able to go on vacation and buy Marji jeans, tapes, etc. says to me that they're still doing relatively well financially. However, we see from her mother's friend that financial status can change quickly when ones house is destroyed.
Out of the first book, my favorite panel would be when Marji's family goes to Italy and they're on a magic carpet. The swirls are whimsical, and I think it illustrates to the reader how relieving the trip must have been for the Satrapis. I disagree about the illustrations being underwhelming. I find that the simple illustrations complement the heavy subject matter. The drawings of burning Iranians trapped in the movie theater was haunting to me, despite that fact that it was somewhat abstract.
The perception in this book is one I find interesting because of the way Marji deals (or doesn't deal) with the issue. Because of the deterioration into full-blown war, everyone has an opinion. Everyone has to take a strong stance one way or the other. Although she is young, Marji feels that she too needs to take some kind of a stance, so she does what most kids do: she emulates those around her. But like most kids, she also has no way to grasp what is going on and doesn't know how to properly react. Her shifting opinion of herself and her parents is further evidence of this; like most kids, she often questions herself and her parents, trying to understand what is happening and choose the correct path.
ReplyDeleteThe discrimination is equally interesting because it is something we see far too often in the world. Throughout both ancient and recent history, we have seen countless examples of fanatics seizing power. Their first acts are almost always to silence anyone they consider inferior. The regime tries to silence many people in Marji's neighborhood and forces its cultural views on everyone, such as forcing women to weir veils. Yet we see that many still have some privilege, usually those with money, such as Marji's family. They are not terribly wealthy, but they have enough for some luxuries (jeans and posters), even when they are illegal (alcohol). The only others with privilege are those who at least appear to be adhering to the new regime, but most notably men.
As for the artwork, I am most intrigued by the panels depicting the masses. While the context in the runs the gamut from praying to openly defying and subverting the regime, the art remains largely the same: a large group of nameless people who look largely the same. Showing crowds like that is ironic when you consider that the protestors are protesting a government that insists on grouping people together for purely external factors (race, ethnicity, etc.).
Marji shifting in opinions and her own self-image seems to be part of her growing up. She definitely buys in to the propaganda when she was younger at first, but then goes to speaking against the propaganda. I think this aspect of the comic is done well because kids and teenagers are impressionable, and their views change often as we can see in the reading.
ReplyDeletePrivilege is giving to the wealthy and the educated. For example, the maid’s relationship with the neighbor was broken off because she was not an actual member of Marji’s family. Also, in the story, it was noted that young boys from poor neighborhoods were recruited by the army and sent to the front lines.
I like the passage on pages 114-116. In this passage, she’s heading down the basement which she refers to as her “hideaway.” The steps seem never ending, and on her way down we see the image of a martyr “injecting their blood into the veins of society.” Then we see her walk through a battlefield while recounting all the lives lost on a preventable war. Finally at the end, she denounces her childhood by smoking a cigarette. This scene definitely marks a transition from the old way she though (believing that martyrs were heroes) and her belief now (that these deaths were senseless), and begins her rebellious phases at the same time.
As children, we often look at our parents as being almost divine beings; heroes incapable of fault or failure. It's only as we grow older that the imperfections of our elders become more evident. To that end, Marji largely parrots the belief of the elders around her. Her understanding of the concept of a "hero" is not fully formed by her own experiences yet.
ReplyDeleteWhere this becomes more complicated is the historical events that surround her childhood. Growing up under the Iranian regime in such a time of great, sweeping change clearly muddles the clarity of her perceptions. Add the overarching element of religion, and it becomes even less clear.
To that end, we see Marji begin to carve out her own understanding of these things: of her family, of the country she lives in, of faith. By the end of the first book she has changed fairly significantly, having become more confident in her own beliefs - even when they don't quite jive with those of the world around her.
In terms of privilege, we see a constant discrimination of women (the book basically starts with an examination on the laws enforced upon women by the regime). Power definitely rests exclusively in the hands of the men.
In terms of visual presentation, I absolutely love Satrapi's use of negative space. It's a bold move to fill so much of the individual panels with blank space (either black or white), but it works really well for this particular book in that it keeps the eye focused on where it should be: the people. There's quite a few scenes involving crowds where we have a jumble of black-clothed bodies set against stark white backgrounds, but it serves to draw our attention to the faces of the crowd. And it's for the best: Satrapi is very gifted in expressing character emotions. She has a great talent for getting faces "right."
I too think the progression of Marji's feelings towards her parents follow that natural arc of within a coming of age story. Which might be Satrapi's goal to show.
ReplyDeleteAs for the art through out the book, I really dig the style of Satrapi's use of primitivism and the graphic contrast to illustrate the story. Her backgrounds are what grab me though, they evoke such great emotions when she really needs them too. Most of my favorite panels are the ones that are larger in size, where she can play with these abstract styles. My favorite to say though are the scene's of the families going down to the basements for the bombings. They provoke a good sense of panic and anxiety while staying graphically interesting.
There is something very exotic to Marji about a hero and I think she develops her first crush on her Uncle Anoosh. I love when her parents come in and say he's tired and she holds up her hand saying, "Don't worry, we're fine." I love the panel where Anoosh finishes his story and asks if she's alright and she says, "Ehh... do you have other stories like that?" The way she's laying on the bed and the expression on her face make her look like she's in total ecstasy. (At least, as much as a young girl could experience ecstasy.) I thought it was pretty cute and hilarious. But what is most interesting is her idea of what a hero is. I love this chapter when she's talking about this. She says, "So my father was not a hero. If only he had been in prison." I find it interesting that she equates a hero and someone who has been in prison. It shows a lot about her culture and what they were dealing with. In America, most children I know would be ashamed to admit their father was in prison but she wishes hers had been. However, at the same time, I'm sure children would be proud that their parents had been in prison in the US if they were there because they were fighting against a government that was trying to control its people. So... it is interesting that the cultural context defines whether it is something to proud or ashamed of.
ReplyDeleteWith respect to the visual presentation, I agree with some others who've stated that the minimalistic approach she uses is very successful. Her use of blank space, whether black or white as mentioned, makes the reader focus their attention where she wants it and I think it is extremely well done.
Marji’s character is consistently portrayed as someone deeply affected by the conflicts surrounding her. She’s enthusiastic about protesting and openly mocks the strict rules being enforced in school and at home. Although, her immaturity frequently gets her into trouble as she is still a little naïve and delusional about her situation. For example, she and her friends hunt the character Ramin with nails because his father supposedly killed millions of people. Marji also feels a sense of completion with the other kids in regards to how much suffering or involvement their parents have in the conflict.
ReplyDeleteSome of my favorite panels involve Marji’s whimsical interpretations of the world around her. For example, in the section titled The Water Cell, there is panel at the bottom of the page depicting her princely grandfather. The drawing is very stylized and reminiscent of the types of drawings you see stuck to refrigerator doors. Also, in the section titled The Party, while being scolded by her mother, Marji imagines an image of herself nailed to the wall by her ears. These types of panels help us get into the mind of the author because they aren’t based in reality; they are the aesthetic and expressive feelings coming from an unreliable narrator. This adds a great deal of depth to the story because as readers we get a strong sense of the internal and external conflicts.
I think the back and forth of perceptions within Persepolis beautifully demonstrates the turmoil that led to the revolution in Iran. It is also an interesting method to portray Marjane’s development as a child. Growing up and trying to define your own views of the world within a country that is redefined though violence must be a dramatic experience. Her father sums up her shifting perceptions in the last panel of page 62 when he says “she’s just a child who repeats what she hears.”
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