Persepolis

Persepolis was a memoir of Marjane Satrapi, during the Iran-Iraq war. The book focused on the early 1980’s. This book does not just talk about the Iran-Iraq war and the Iranian Revolution, it mainly talks about the problems in Iran and how Iran and its citizens completely revolutionized in a negative way. The author also shows us how the problems in Iran changed her life as a little girl.

Before Marji explains her story she gives background history of Iran’s government. Iran was called Persia until 1935 when Reza Shah changed the name to Iran. The Shah was a monarchy family that ruled Iran tells the mid-late 1900’s. Britain and the U.S found that Iran was a reservoir for oil. Brittan owned the oil industries in Iran, The oil caused the Iranians to become a well off country when it came to economics. But when Reza Shah refused to participate in world war two he was exiled and his son took over. His son was known as the Shah. In 1951 the Shah’s priminester decided to nationalize the oil company. This caused the British to organize an embargo on Iranian exports.

Marji was nine or ten when the Islamic revolution started. The Shah fled Iran and never returned. Changes immediately happened in the beginning of 1980 were it was considered decadent by the Islamic community to have bilingual schools, or for women not to wear veils. The new Islamic government became corrupt. The government became anti capitalism and was making new laws and banning many harmless products. Protesters were being fired upon and killed. The citizens in Iran didn’t have any freedom. In September 1980 Iraq attacked Iran. This became an eight year long war.

Marji wasn’t put in any Islamic pressure since she was born into a secular environment. Their neighborhood was being bombed constantly. Iran was loosing many soldiers during the war because they weren’t well trained. There generals and pilots were locked in jail (due to the great losses many people beat and tortured them selves to show there martyr). Even Marji had to show some what of martyr every day by pounding her chest hard three times. I believe that it was the pressure and the force of conforming to Iran’s government that changed Marji into the rebellious and angry teenager.

Playing cards, social events, and alcohol were algal the proletariat citizens were making most of there money off the black market. This was how Marji got most of her music and clothing from. Although it does not say how Marji is and stayed so well off, Marji described that the rich got richer and poor got poorer.

Marji’s parents were very angry and skeptical about everything that was accruing with Iran. They held many clandestine events and parties, since parties were not allowed. They decided that they had enough with the unequal rights between man and women, the bombs that were being dropped on them, and the dreadful punishments for not obeying the law, so they decided to send Marji to Vienna. Marji Likes that she is going to Austria (a free democratic country) but is afraid that there word is not veritable when it comes to visiting her.

In the end of this book Marji is sent to Vienna. I believe that in Vienna she got a good education and found her passion in art/literature. I think that since have been to Vienna felt very liberated but I feel that while all these great changes were happening she really missed her parents.

Perespolis was the first Graphic novel that I read. This book taught me allot about Iran’s corrupt past and showed me how it’s past leads into the country today. The pictures in Persepolis really gave a better idea of what her life was like, it made the book easier to picture and gave me more of an idea of what really was going on her mind while she lived through these rough times. This book has showed me great tools and methods on how to write my own graphic novel.