Monday, September 29, 2014
Persepolis and History
In the early half of "Persepolis," Marji begins to learn about the history of her family. As a history major, I have always been interested by history and enjoy exploring the history of my own family. In many ways, it seems like the history of one's family affects who that person is. Marji and her family are progressive because of her grandfather's personal history with the Shahs. In what other ways do Marji's family history play a role in her story of coming of age? Does her family's past affect who she becomes? Or does it help to create the ideal person she desires to be?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Her beloved uncle Anoosh plays a big part in her coming of age story. His execution marked the first real tragedy in her life, which also resulted in a loss of innocence. After Anoosh died, she renounced her faith in God and told Him to get out of her life. This moment in her history, shaped her outlook for years to come.
ReplyDeleteAnoosh was also the one that said, “I tell you all this because it’s important that you know. Our family memory must not be lost. Even if it’s not easy for you, even if you don’t understand it all” (60). This moment played a huge role in shaping Marji into the person who she was to become. I believe that one of the main reasons she wrote Persepolis was to honor her uncle’s message to her, and her writing this comic is her way of honoring the memory of her family.
I think that if you spend time with someone, you (more often than not) take on some of their characteristics. We see that in Marji's responses to her parents going out and protesting (she wants to protest as well.)
ReplyDeleteI thought one of the most interesting parts was when she was afraid she was going to die during the bombing. She talked about how she thought it made her weak, but through that, and after reading the rest of her story, we see so much strength emerge.
Absolutely her family's past affects who she became. And I would say it also helped create the ideal of who she wanted to be simply because she admired a lot of what she saw in her family.
As a genealogy buff, I have learned that our family history can have a profound impact on who we are and who we become. Certainly we all eventually begin to emulate our parents in one way or another, but familial influence runs deeper than that. Certain traits, perspectives, and attitudes can easily be passed through many generations, and Marji is no exception to this. Many of her relatives suffered and died as the new regime came to power because they stood up against it. They fought with all of their strength for what was right, doing what they felt they needed to do in order to succeed. We see this in Marji in her bullheaded determination to live her own life. Even at her low points, she is able to find strength to forge ahead with her life, deriving it from her grandmother's willpower and Uncle Anouche's courage.
ReplyDeleteMarji is extremely influenced by her family and if you look at the panels throughout her childhood, she is continually looking up or over at her parents or other relatives, such as her uncle or grandmother, to see how they will react to situations so that she will know how to react. It is obvious that she holds the opinions of her parents in very high regard and like most children, believes what they tell her, even if she expresses her frustrations in the next panel. I think the pride she found in her uncle and her parents ability to stand up against the Iraqis was instrumental in forming her own personality and her ability to question others when something isn't right.
ReplyDeleteLike Sebastian, I have also been interested in my family history and used to love listening to my grandma tell me stories about her life as she grew up. I also love listening to my dad tell me stories about his childhood. I think that everyone is influenced by their family history and I definitely think that the strength Marji's family possessed helped create the strong woman she became.
Marji is very much a composite of familial beliefs and learned experience. Her family's activist history sets her foundational beliefs apart from many others living under the Iranian regime, and doing so affords her a certain kind of worldview that might otherwise be absent should she have grown up with different philosophies. Marji's independence spirit, for example, is directly influenced by growing up in a family that actively rails against the social structures they live within.
ReplyDeleteThere are more direct influences, of course. Anoosh's death serves as a very immediate catalyst for pushing Marji's personality and set of world views into vastly different directions (specifically in terms of religious, as has already been touched upon by other class members).
I think that our familial history has an inescapable influence on who we become, even if we are not completely aware of our ancestry. There is a "trickle down" element in that history, which effects the people we are in large and small ways. And I think that Marji's story reflects that. Who she is, who she becomes, is influenced by her past. Specifically, her family's past. Though she is her own independent person, that independence was molded by her home life.
I think her family's culture is very important to who she is. She grew up in Iran, and even though she doesn't always agree with traditions, I think they've shaped her. Or at least, her conflict with tradition has shaped her. If her family were from another country, maybe she wouldn't have become so politically minded and outspoken. Because she has to butt against tradition (especially in a radical sense with the government) she is forced to grow up and become an educated and confident individual.
ReplyDeleteHer family's history is important insomuch that it has resulted in her parents' liberalism and opposition to the government. There is always going to be an infinite sequence of circumstance that contributes to one's identity. Most significantly, her family's history is a constant counterpoint to Marji's life and her perceived 'success'. It becomes a major source of guilt as she returns from her life in Vienna, and ultimately, she returns to this familial identity. Just as important as this history is the societal present, which, of course, is completely informed by all of history.
ReplyDeleteBecause of her grandfather's status and the sacrifices her uncle made Marji always had to be careful the decisions she made so as not to disgrace them such as in the incident when she falsely accused a man of making advances on her to save herself from being arrested for wearing makeup. This affects how much freedom of choice she has as she always has to consider if what she is going would ruin her relationship with her parents and especially her grandmother. But this caution is not entirely bad as he makes Marji a smarter person after her reckless venture in Austria.
ReplyDeleteAnd it did help to create the ideal person she wanted to be. Thinking of her family’s legacy helped her to get back on her feet after her depression once returning home. She still had a long way to ago such as with the above mentioned incident with the false accusations but it drove her to see her way through school and to keep her going as she left Iran for France. Whether Satrapi feels that she succeeded cannot be said but her family’s legacy at least had her on the right path to her ideal self.
I think that in many ways the character of Marjane tries to define herself in opposition to whatever is around her, including the Iranian heritage she describes early in the book. Her parents are very contrary to what’s happening in the country, and I think that had the biggest impact on her as a person. It didn’t matter whether she was in Iran or somewhere in Europe, she was totally contrary to whatever was going on around her. I think a really good example of this is when she talks about how the second she was married she immediately wanted a divorce. So I guess to answer the question, I think her ‘family’s past’ affects her only in the sense that it was on a long list of things that she does NOT want to be a part of her identity.
ReplyDeleteHer family history affects Marji's life in many ways. Obviously he grandma's advice has stuck with her and her parents' history of rebellion leads to Marji's own rebellions. Her parents being on the opposing side of politics led to Marji's determination, although it is delayed for a bit. As soon as she set her mind to a goal (university) she went so far to work herself up to that point and actually made it into the university and was one of the top students. I think a smaller part of Marji's family that affects her quite a bit is her parents' money. Without this money she might never have been sent to Vienna or been released from jail after the parties. I also think the fact that her family is so loving and accepting led to her search for love. Her family has a unique history and she has seen many, many things, which I think probably leads to her studying Graphic Design, something creative. She likes to use her mind.
ReplyDeleteI think honestly Marji's family history influences everything that she "wants" her life to be, but sometimes not what actually ends up happening. Learning about heroes like Anoosh, and learning about her grandpa gives her the passion to rebel, makes her want to be a "heroin", or at least be attracted to the idea of heroes. Her grandma has a big impact on her, and it's not all from stories. Honestly, I think a lot of her life is around wanting to be the girl her grandma wants her to be. And she mostly follows that, and the only times she doesn't, we really see it affect her, and especially her grandma's relationship. But she always strives to fix that, to be better in her grandma's eyes. I think honestly, it both affects who she becomes, and gives her an ideal to strive towards becoming. Not always in good ways either. I see in several ways how she doesn't necessarily want to be like her parents. She loves them, but she doesn't love some of the things her mom does, like the way she stresses out, or her cynicism, etc. With her dad, it's a little different. I think she loves what he does for her whenever he does roundabout things like letting her get married to someone he doesn't think she'll love forever, etc, I get the feeling that, while those things are hard for her, she really respects them and her dad, and that she sees herself eventually becoming somebody like that.
ReplyDeleteI think that her family and her family's history plays a very large part in making her who she is. Every time she appeared to be taking a wrong path, her family would always remind her of what they lost and who they are. Her grandmother is a good example in how she reminds her of her uncle when she pretends that a man spoke to her in the wrong way in order to not get caught and in trouble for how she was dressed up for a date. Then later when her mother tells her of the sort of person she wished for her daughter to be instead of getting married on her wedding day.
ReplyDeleteHer family's experiences and history was the very foundation that made her who she is.
Sounds like the old Nature v Nurture debate! I think both forces are at play here; Marji (much like her uncle, Anoosh) is both an idealist and an individualist with rebellious tendencies. Life under the oppressive regime naturally brings this out in her. Even her parents are nonconformists, at times risking their lives to enjoy life (such as a party). Her grandmother plays a significant role in the novel as well. A turning point for Marji is when she stands up to her detractors in a restaurant. She is reminded of her grandmother's saying that if she is not comfortable with herself, she will never be comfortable. Would Marji be the same person had she not spent our years in Austria? Hard to say, but my feeling is that the experience helped shape her into the person we see at the end of the novel.
ReplyDeleteMarji's family history does play a huge role in her developing coming of age. The one that I found to be the most effective toward Marji is her Uncle Anoosh. Marji easily become inspired by Anoosh's life and experiences, and develops a sense of rebellious nature toward the Shahs. And when he is executed, she slips into a state of depression, like her whole world just collapsed. I believe that Anoosh's death was a major blow to Marji and her developing personality. When you lose someone close to you at such a young age, it enough to shatter you to pieces. She's even gone to the point of hating God for not helping her uncle. (pg70)
ReplyDeleteI think that Marji's family history played some part in who she became but I believe her grandmother's guidance was the most influential part. It seem to me that Marji listened to her grandmother more than her real mother. When Marji turned in the guy for the "obscene gesture" to take the focus off her make-up her grandmother scolded her. Marji's grandmother words stuck with her. The words were from things she told Marji growing up.She seemed to reflect more on what her grandmother said than any other advice given to her through out the story. Marji was also really hurt that her grandmother was angry with her this was something not shown in any other relationship Marji had in the story.
ReplyDeleteIn a way hearing about her family’s past, helps shape her into who she becomes at the cost of losing a bit of what she thought she was before. It’s similar to a child that learns about a parent that was sent to jail and learns this on early in life. The stereo-typical result is that the child believes that they too are bad for society (this could be pushed by their surroundings like parents preventing kids playing with the child because of their parents past; blame the child for the sins of the parents). Marji views her family’s past as a building block for her future place in society.
ReplyDelete