Persepolis
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi ISBN: 0-224-08039-3, Pantheon Books, 2003
Plot Summary:
This graphic novel is an autobiography of Satrapi’s childhood in Iran in the early 1980s. The main character, Marji, is dealing with an increasingly rigid Saudi regime. Marji is ten years old at the beginning of the story and loves American entertainment like Michael Jackson and Dallas. Marji has to wear a veil to school and makes it known that she doesn’t like it. The new regime forces women across Iran to wear their veils at all times. The people of Iran begin to hold demonstrations of protest, and Marji asks her parents if she can go. Her parents say no, but they are deeply involved in the protests. Marji’s parents tell her that the new King came to power because the British want to use him to take control of Britain’s oil. The ruler that was dethroned was Marji’s grandfather, a prince. Eventually, Marji convinces the family’s maid to take her to a protest. Marji’s uncle, Anoosh, spends time in and out of prison during this time as a political prisoner due to his dissent from the regime’s laws. It is up to Marji and her parents to either stay in Iran or leave and find a safe life elsewhere.
Critical Evaluation:
Marjane Satrapi (1969- ) has contributed just four works in the English language, but her legacy will surely thrive based on the success of Persepolis alone. The story shows the changing dynamics of Iran’s government in the early 1980s through the eyes of a ten year old girl. The graphic novel is separated into episodic chapters like older comic books. It’s easy to imagine the chapters being sold separately at newsstands like in the early 20th century. Satrapi uses a first person narrative to describe the political changes through the eyes of a child, making the more complicated parts of the story easy for readers to understand, which is helpful especially because most English language readers are not intimately familiar with the region's past. Satrapi condemns the policies of the new government, but very wisely shows readers how a child’s opinion on these matters is based mostly off of what they hear their parents and neighbors say. The views of Satrapi's parents and those of her classmates’ parents are not always in line, showing the reader how difficult it can be for children to understand that they might not always agree with their friends.
Reader’s Annotation:
Ten year old Marji faces political conflict in war-torn Iran. Growing up has never been this difficult.
Information about the Author:
From the Brittanica.com biography of Marjane Satrapi:
Satrapi was the only child of Westernized parents; her father was an engineer and her mother a clothing designer. She grew up in Tehrān, where she attended the Lycée Français. After the Iranian Revolution of 1979, her family’s Western way of life drew the attention of Iranian authorities, and by 1984 her parents had decided to send her to Austria to attend school. A failed relationship there exacerbated her sense of alienation and contributed to a downward spiral that left her homeless and using drugs. She returned to Tehrān at age 19, studied art, and, after a short-lived marriage, moved back to Europe in 1993. In France she earned a degree in art, and by the mid-1990s she was living permanently in Paris. Satrapi published the books Persepolis 1 (2000) and Persepolis 2 (2001) in France; they were combined as Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood when translated into English in 2003. In Persepolis she used a stripped-down visual style that shows the influence of German Expressionism to tell the story of her childhood in Tehrān. It is a story that Western readers found at once familiar—a restive adolescent who loves Nike shoes and rock music—and foreign—she is stopped and threatened with arrest for wearing those shoes as she walks through a city damaged by bombing raids during the Iran-Iraq War (1980–88). Sometimes described as a graphic memoir, Persepolis melds the format of a graphic novel with a prose-only memoir. Satrapi adapted her book as a film, also called Persepolis (2007), which was nominated for an Academy Award for best animated feature.
Satrapi was the only child of Westernized parents; her father was an engineer and her mother a clothing designer. She grew up in Tehrān, where she attended the Lycée Français. After the Iranian Revolution of 1979, her family’s Western way of life drew the attention of Iranian authorities, and by 1984 her parents had decided to send her to Austria to attend school. A failed relationship there exacerbated her sense of alienation and contributed to a downward spiral that left her homeless and using drugs. She returned to Tehrān at age 19, studied art, and, after a short-lived marriage, moved back to Europe in 1993. In France she earned a degree in art, and by the mid-1990s she was living permanently in Paris. Satrapi published the books Persepolis 1 (2000) and Persepolis 2 (2001) in France; they were combined as Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood when translated into English in 2003. In Persepolis she used a stripped-down visual style that shows the influence of German Expressionism to tell the story of her childhood in Tehrān. It is a story that Western readers found at once familiar—a restive adolescent who loves Nike shoes and rock music—and foreign—she is stopped and threatened with arrest for wearing those shoes as she walks through a city damaged by bombing raids during the Iran-Iraq War (1980–88). Sometimes described as a graphic memoir, Persepolis melds the format of a graphic novel with a prose-only memoir. Satrapi adapted her book as a film, also called Persepolis (2007), which was nominated for an Academy Award for best animated feature.
Genre:
Auto-Biography, Graphic novel, Fiction, History
Curriculum Ties:
Political Science, Diversity of Cultures, History of other Cultures
Challenge Issues:
This book might be challenged by parents and educators who don’t want their children reading a book so rife with political messages about a region that’s still controversial in their relation to our country.
Creating a Defense:
- Make sure you have thorough knowledge of the library’s selection policy as well as a copy on hand. Your insight as well as pointing out specific portions of the policy will be helpful in discussion with the patron.
- Always have the library Bill of Rights close to show the patron your library’s commitment to providing all kinds of information.
- Make sure you’re familiar with the books that might be challenged. Be prepared to discuss the book’s intended audience, its educational significance, purpose, and also some alternative titles to read.
- Don’t get defensive. The librarian can’t take the challenge personally and either party getting upset will cause the discussion to devolve into a fight.
- LISTEN. Even if you don’t agree with the patron, their views are as valid as yours and should be respected.
Reading Level:
Grades 9-12
Booktalking Ideas:
Do you always understand what’s going on with the changing laws of the country? Do you ever hear your parents disagree or worry about the state of the current administration?
Why is the material included?
I read this book a few years ago and it encouraged me to learn more about the history of a nation that’s usually dismissed as radical by our culture. I hope others will read it and do the same.
Image via Google
Image via Google
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