Reactions and Thoughts of Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis
Literature is known to have two functions—to be the form of expression of humanity as they give voice to their creativity and imagination; and to open the eyes of humanity as they give voice to the harsh realities of life. Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel, Persepolis, accomplishes both. Because of the art contained in the novel, Satrapi is able to give voice to her creativity while at the same time portraying a rather gruesome and horrible picture of what happens in Iran.
The graphic novel features a very young Marjane Satrapi as a little girl who is on her path to discovering the brutalities and truths about life. In the process of acquiring knowledge about life in Iran and its government, little Marjane Satrapi loses innocence and naivety while gaining discernment and truth. The whole novel is very riveting and not at all confusing. In fact. It can be quite discomforting as the reader is taken into the journey of the young girl and the way she has to experience and discover how Iran functions.
Kidney writes in a review that Persopolis is “a universal story” and there is great truth behind those words. Because Marjane Satrapi depicted a revolution or an uprising, the readers are able to look in the perspective of a child—not from the revolutionaries or from the political parties. Thus, the readers are the ones who should judge for themselves the actions of both the revolutionaries and the Iranian government. Like what happened to the Kite Runner, the protagonists were children who get to experience the harsh realities of life from an early age.
Amir and Hasaan together with the young version of Marjane Satrapi were all innocent young children and yet, because what happened to them, they are able to grasp a strong notion of how the world functions and how humanity should be like. Marjen Satrapi’s novel really has no end as in some ways it is a biographical account of her own childhood, a reader is left to question though if there the people of Iran would finally have their freedom and liberty. The revolution which the family of the young Marjane Satrapi is part of cannot really be touted as either a good or bad revolution.
Instead, it can be regarded as a somewhat messy and pathetic attempt for change and freedom—and that is concluded not in a bad or degrading way. That is just to reason out that when people are trapped and have no means of escape or hope, they are able to do drastic things without clear and organized thoughts. With that said, a revolution is about just cause, planning, and patience. A person cannot just declare all of a sudden a need for a revolution because of his or her own personal whims.
A failed or “bad” revolution is that it is not thought of and there is actually no need for one. What Marjane Satrapi did is draw and write of how she viewed Iran and the turmoil there—literature is also meant to open people’s eyes to truth—which is exactly what Marjane Satrapi did. Works Cited Kidney, David. “Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (Pantheon, 2003). ” Green Man Review. 2007. 3 July 2009. <http://www. greenmanreview. com/book/book_satrapi_persepolis. html>. Satrapi, Marjane. Persopolis: The Story of a Childhood. New York: Pantheon, 2003.
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