Summary:
Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi’s
memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. In powerful
black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the story of her life in
Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah’s
regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of
war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists
and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran’s last emperors, Marjane bears
witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country.
Persepolis
paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran and of the bewildering
contradictions between home life and public life. Marjane’s child’s-eye view of
dethroned emperors, state-sanctioned whippings, and heroes of the revolution
allows us to learn as she does the history of this fascinating country and of
her own extraordinary family. Intensely personal, profoundly political, and
wholly original, Persepolis is at once a story of growing up and a reminder of
the human cost of war and political repression. It shows how we carry on, with
laughter and tears, in the face of absurdity. And, finally, it introduces us to
an irresistible little girl with whom we cannot help but fall in love
Review:
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is
an outstanding memoir told from a child growing up in Iran when everyday
freedoms were banned. Iranians couldn’t play cards, listen to rock-n-roll, or
even buy a favorite boy band poster. Unfortunate, because Satrapi’s
personality embraced freedom; she often found herself in trouble with her
superiors. An example would be not wearing her veil correctly exposing hair.
Her father, another rebellious sort believing in freedom, once told one of
Satrapi’s teachers to shave her mustache since she found hair so provocative.
Now,
that is humor, and in the midst of everything Satrapi endured, watching her
neighbors die, seeing relatives tortured, and wearing a veil during ninety
degree heat. Sweating profusely beneath the veil was a sardonic little girl
embracing her individual, and she did it with humor. The child-like drawings
accented this humor in a way a straight narrative could not, but at the same
time they showed a darker view, one with a man cut to pieces, and knifes
dripping with blood. The darker tone of Persepolis reminded me of how The
Diary of Anne Frank hit me when I read it as a young girl, the fear, the gratitude
for my own freedoms, and the overwhelming need to hold onto the goodness in
humanity.
Despite
Anne’s shortened life, her diary felt complete. This is where I felt like Persepolis
fell
short for me. There should have been more. I wanted to know more about her
being the great-granddaughter of an Iranian Emperor, and I would have liked to
see the philosophy of Marx tied into the loss of that crown. There was a deep
underlying irony between a rich life of vanity, and one Marx proposed making
people labor to avoid society’s alienation. I would have liked to see this two
contradicting ideas explored further.
