Persepolis
Love of Country in Persepolis
The graphic novel Persepolis: The Story of Childhood offers a glimpse into the life of an expatriate of Iran, Marjane Satrapi. The work is detailed in its representation of the turmoil that was experienced by many people during the Islamic Revolution that took place from 1978-1979 and effected women disproportionately. Iran before the Islamic Revolution was notably progressive, with women and men able to mix in professional and educational settings and women had a conservative choice about dress and professional and personal development, after the Islamic revolution the nation was in turmoil and though as many if not more women supported the Islamic Revolution many challenges were faced. Some of these challenges are supported in Persepolis, such as the closing of Marjie's mixed gender secular school and the demand to wear the veil and for her to attend an all girls' school.
It is clear that these changes likely marked only the surface of a strange time when Marjie's normally very liberal family had to face many restrictions that were new to them and contradicted their internal openness and spirit. The work touches on these concepts relatively lightly, as the form of the graphic novel lends itself to the expression of limited memorable glimpses into life changing events for the writer, i.e. those things that to the writer form pinnacles of feelings and decisions. These include the effects that news stories of the turmoil had on the author and her life, as well as her desire to be a part of the revolution, something that her mother and father forbade mostly on the grounds of her safety. In context the family was supportive of the revolution, but like many people hoped it would allow more personal freedoms but mostly security, as the Shah, who was being protested was a harsh ruler who had been placed in power by Western forces, a situation that affected the family deeply as Marjie's grandfather had been a member of the ruling class prior to the Shah's reign and though he supported the Shah and became one of his ministers and he was imprisoned and tortured later as was his son Anoosh, Marjie's uncle who became a hero to her. (54)
This is not to say that Marjie had any real disconnect from the Islamic faith as she was remarkably religious in spirit, even believing that she was a prophet. Yet, when she was 14 her parents chose to send her to Europe, to protect her from the turmoil that still surrounded the revolution and a war with Iraq and to offer her a better education. (152) Therefore it is important to note that her initial experience as an expatriate was as a result of decisions she was only a party to, as the choice to leave and resettle in Europe was not hers but her parents'. Their decision was no doubt based largely not on ideology, as they hoped like most that the Islamic Revolution and possibly even the Iraq war would bring greater peace and tranquility to Iran and reiterate the ideals of Islam, but on Margie's personal safety, given her real propensity to join in the fray, attend protests and even bring along her maid and friend, Mehri. The side story of Mehri also offers a great deal of insight with regard to the culture as Mehri, as a member of a lower class was restricted in many ways leaving a contradiction to the normal liberalism in the family, as they had then to follow stricter ideations of the broader class struggle. All of this affected Margie greatly. (35) As did the countless examples of instability during the first few months of the Iraq war when ideation and fundamentalism as an ideal begins to evade even the most innocent places and in one scene children are given plastic painted gold keys and told they are the key to heaven when they are martyred in the war. (100) The situation was entirely to convoluted for safety and conflicts were bound to occur. Margie's parents chose to do what many who could afford to did, send their children but especially their daughters to the safest place they could afford as reality was remarkably unpredictable. Simple expressions of self, such as going to the market wearing western clothes becomes a threat to society and a cause for Margie to become increasingly rebellious. Of course the many tragic deaths around her also feed this...
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