Mercado

Sade Mercado
Professor Gifford
English 50 (49898)
10 December 2015
Marjane Satrapis Life in Persepolis
Have you heard about what happened in the Islamic Revolution? In Marjane Satrapis
autobiography Persepolis: The Story of A Childhood she talks about her life in Iran during the
Islamic Revolution. People have heard horrible rumors about Iran, so Satrapi made this book to
inform and educate people about life in Iran. She talks about the tragedy that came with the war
that happened around the 1980s, and how she and the people around her had to deal with it. This
book is full of the tragedy and trauma that a young girl had to go through growing up. She also
wanted people to know that even though she grew up in a traumatic environment she still had a
pretty normal life, which is something that a lot of people would disagree with. This book starts
off by taking place in 1980, which is when Satrapi was 10 years old and was known as Marji.
Marjane Satrapi shows her childhood to the world by involving her family and Islamic tradition
to educate people about her childhood during the Islamic Revolution in Iran, while adding
unique illustrations to help change peoples perspective with visual rhetoric.
Marji is the narrator of this book and she talks about some of the things that happened in
her life as a child. She was a ten year old girl who lived in Iran with her family in the year 1980.
She was interested in Western culture, history and in revolution, which werent very common for
young Iranian girls, and these interests were very frowned upon at that time. She was rebellious
and believed in communism, just like her parents, which caused a lot of problems in society. She
wanted to be part of the revolution and go to demonstrations just like her parents, even though

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she knew that they were very dangerous to attend. She wanted to be a prophet so that she could
change the world by being good, and helping the elderly and sick. Satrapi wanted people to think
that she was an ordinary girl who had friends and a family just like everyone else, but that wasnt
quite the case because she grew up in a traumatic environment that changed her forever. No
matter what kind of hardships she went through she always tried to understand and forgive
others.
One of the most important aspects of her life was her family. She grew up with her
parents, grandmother and maid. Her family was very lucky because they had a nice car, a
servant, and enough money to travel and to give Marji a French education. Even though Marjis
parents loved her and wanted the best for her, they still lived a very risky life and while knowing
that having a child in Iran was dangerous. When people were fleeing to other countries for a
better life, her parents wanted to stay in their home, in hope that their country would be saved.
Her family did a lot of illegal things such as having parties and alcohol, and bringing illegal
items into the country, even though they would have been severely punished (Satrapi 106, 126130). Her parents were communists and went to the demonstrations because they wanted to
change their country for the better. A lot of people went to jail and even died for trying to rebel
against their society and the shah. For example, Jari and Shakiba were tortured and sent to jail
for many years and, Anoosh and Niloufar were also tortured but as a punishment they also ended
up being killed.
In Iran, 1980 was when the Islamic Revolution started. There was a war in Iran against
Iraq that caused a lot of tragedy and scandal. People were terrified because they were being
bombed and even killed by their own people. During this time tradition was very important.
Women had to wear veils if they wanted to go out, if they didnt they would get harassed and

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threatened just like Marjis mother, she was threatened by fundamentalists that said that she
should be fucked and then thrown in the garbage (Satrapi 74). Iran became very strict; they
were prohibiting simple items such as playing cards, chocolate, and alcohol. Any kind of
rebellion would be dealt with severe consequences, such as jail time, torture, and even death.
There would be religious groups that would make sure that everyone and everything was in the
order with their religious views. For example, Marji was stopped by the guardians of the
revolution because they didnt like what she was wearing which was Nikes shoes and a Michael
Jackson pin, which made her look punk. They were going to take her to the committee to
report and punish her (Satrapi 133). People that were religious were also given power no matter
who they were or what their age was, and most of them werent even qualified for the job, such
as the sixteen year old that followed Marji and her family home (Satrapi 108-109), and the
window washer that would only try to help someone if god wills it (Satrapi 121). They
suspected and didnt help people that werent strongly for their religion.
Satrapi had several intensions with making this book. Referencing to The Texture of
Retracing in Marjan Satrapis Persepolis by Hillary Chute, Marjian wanted to make this book in
order to show people the way she witnessed revolution, war, and emigration (Chute 100).
According to Satrapi and the Patheon Staff in On Writing Persepolis, even though most of her
book is filled with religious factors and horror, she still wanted to show other countries that the
revolution wasnt just about religious fanatics, and that she grew up just like any other child. She
uses her book to share other peoples stories just like her uncle Anoosh wanted her to. The book
is visually and verbally the act of not forgetting (Chute 97). She shared and told the stories of
people who suffered and were killed during this time because of their beliefs and society was
trying to force them into doing things that they wouldnt agree with. She also used a very unique

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style to change peoples perspective about her story. She drew her comics in the way that a child
would, which would be nonrealistic, neat, and abstract. She did this to show people the traumatic
events that happened in her life, and how that child couldnt perceive or understand them (Chute
99-100). This makes the reader sympathize for the children who had to deal with a horrible and
traumatic childhood.
In conclusion, Satrapi made this book in order to inform the world about her life as a
child and about what the people around her had to go through, around the Islamic Revolution.
This book is full of death and tragedy, but it also has some light hearted moments. Even though
Marji was rebellious she still really cared about other people and about what was going on
around her. Satrapi informs people about what really happens in tragic situations and that people
do learn how to deal and live with it. Overall this book makes people feel bad for the child that
had to experience the trauma and death that she did.

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Work Cited
Chute, Hillary. "The Texture of Retracing in Marjane Satrapis Persepolis." WSQ: Women's
Studies Quarterly 36.1-2 (2008): 92-110. Print.
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. New York, NY: Pantheon, 2003. Print.
Satrapi, Marjane, and The Pantheon Staff. "On Writing Persepolis." Pantheon Graphic Novels
(2008). Print.