CULTURAL REVOLUTION

Themes in Marjane's graphic novel Persepolis

Themes in Marjane's graphic novel Persepolis

Introduction

Persepolis is graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi which depicts her childhood and subsequently her adult years. The novel portrays the time she spent in Iran and the aftermath of Iranian Revolution. The title is has been subject of much interest as it is the ancient capital of the Persian Empire. It has been ranked quite highly, and it is regarded as one of the best fiction books of last decade (Kehl et al, 2005, p.135). The graphic novel, it is drawn in black and white. Immediately after its release, comic garnered great fan following. It has been translated into many languages. The French editions were afterwards combined in Perpolis 1 and Persepolis 2. The way culture has been depicted into this novel makes a great reading as well as gives an insight into how the culture eventually reflects and affects the life of the people. The novel also thrown light into how the changes in culture affect the life of an individual. The novel guides an individual through life of a strong girl named Marji (Kehl et al, 2005, p.135).

About Marjane Satrapi

Marine Satrrapi grew up in Tehran. So she had the basic idea to the way Iranian Society works and its culture. She was born in 1969. She received education at Lycee Francias, and after it she went to School in Vienna, Austria. Later on she moved in France where she got the received her education about illustration (Naghibi & O'Malley, 2005, p.247). Satrapi thought of telling her story through the dynamic prism of Graphics. She was introduced to Graphic Novelists in Paris. She conceived Graphic novel as serious medium for literary writing as she went through Spiegelman's Maus, which was a graphic novel talking about Holocaust.

Discussion

The life of a protagonist seems very content and happy, like a typical westerner. The western lifestyle emphasizes a lot on materiality and is considered to be relatively carefree for females. Life in Iran during Shah's reign might have been difficult for people who were openly criticising him. But on the other hand, people who were not really into all this stuff had lot of freedom with regards to their life (Naghibi & O'Malley, 2005, p.247). They had freedom to make money, their families were not really troubled and they had the life of their choice. When Shah was overthrown in early 1980's, religious elements got their foothold into the society. Thus began a complete u-turn and subsequent revolution. There were many changes that were seen in the Iranian society (Naghibi & O'Malley, 2005, p.247).

Women were made to cover themselves in the public. The and there was contempt and hatred shown for western lifestyle. As usual, Marjane was in her youth, and didn't like this oppression that she faced. It is believed that there is a sense of search for personal identity and individuality when you are in your youth. She is not really ready to accept those changes, which were seemed ...