One of my favorite aspects of Persepolis is Satrapi’s tone throughout the novel. Much like Roy, she has a very innocent and somewhat juvenile writing style that brings out the beauty and terror of her time in Iran and Europe. What I find most interesting about the text is that Satrapi does not reveal more information about Iran than she herself knew at the time of the story. In this way, the reader learns of Iran’s progress (or lack thereof) as Marjane does. A great example of this occurs during Marjane’s stay in Austria. Strapi speaks of being ashamed and disconnected from Iran, choosing not to look into the events occurring in Iran at the time. This approach makes Marjane’s (and the reader’s) arrival in Iran even more intriguing. My response to Marjane as a character in Persepolis has been very mixed, however. For the most part, Marjane is a very likeable character—early on, she is a young girl with a thirst for knowledge and protest—however, as she grows up and reveals more of her “rebellious “side, she grows to be a bit more obnoxious and superficial. I believe Marjane had such a difficult time adjusting in Austria because she was given so much freedom. It is much easier to rebel when there are strict sets of rules to oppose. However, because there were no veil rules, restrictions on women’s dress, or mass oppression in Austria, Marjane ran out of things to rebel against. She couldn’t “Fight the Power.” This kind of goes back to your mention of fake punks in class on Thursday. Personally, I feel the teenage Marjane fit into this category. When she was finally given the freedom in Austria that she openly protested for in Iran, she yearned for some set of rules to help her get back on track. This isn’t to take anything away from Strapi or her accomplishments, but it should be noted that she laid out her failures for us to read. And if not being as punk as she thought she was turns out to be her greatest fault, it’s not a bad ticket.
As a side note, as an avid Captain America/Avengers fan, I was ecstatic to find the Hulk reference on page189. Costumed superheroes are always welcome in graphic novels (V for Vendetta, Watchmen), but there will always be a soft spot in my heart for Marvel.
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Good work. I agree that Satrapi is very skillful in keeping the youthful perspective consistent throughout the text. I'm also interested in your comment on the question of Marjane's likability.
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