Effects Iran-Iraq War had on Children

The Novel of Marjane Satrapi

The novel of Marjane Satrapi describes the experiences that young children experience during the Iranian revolution, as well as the effect of the Iran-Iraq war on children. The novel is built on an engrossing autobiography narrative that reflects the past of the Iran-Iraq war from a modern standpoint. Persepolis portrays a teenage girl, Marjane, as the narrative’s heroine. The novel of Marjane Satrapi is an autobiography that delves into the transformation of the Iranian government and the authoritarian rule that was visible during the war between Iran and Iraq. Indeed, the autobiography narrative of Marjane portrays strength and spirit indicating a character who managed to emerge as heroin in the war-torn and politically unstable environment. The political turmoil of the Iran-Iraq war affected children in a number of ways and in a manner that makes the devastating predicament completely unforgettable.

The Effects Iran-Iraq War had on Children

The Satrapi narrative provides an autobiography narrative of Marjane who experienced the turmoil of the Iraq-Iran war in her early ages of six to fourteen years. Through Persepolis, the implications of the war to the young children are evident throughout the text. The entire novel narrative is a recount of Marjane in her journey of war and how it did impact on her religion. At first, Marjane views herself as being an example of a prophet. However, when she faces the destructions that result from the Iran-Iraq war and the political torture, she begins to condemn her own religion. This results when she hears the escalating stories of people being tortured and the suffering they go through such as imprisonment. Certainly, the Iran-Iraq war influenced the Islamic religion in a negative way which saw the result of the Islamic revolution and thus affected the children who were born under this religion. Persepolis provides a convincing way of the particular influence in the events that faced the 10-year-old girl, Marjane (Garrison 18). For instance, Marjane explains the manner in which she failed to understand the aspect of the veil that resulted in the aftermath of the revolution. The dilemma of religion evokes pressure in children. It makes the children question the authenticity and this is evident when Marjane states that “I spent a lot of time thinking about what my parents used to tell me; I supposed I am immersed in my past” (Satrapi 16). Marjane did not know whether to denigrate the Islamic revolution or to glorify the Shah’s regime.

The Iran-Iraq war resulted in lonely children

The Iran-Iraq war resulted in children becoming lonely particularly when they were sent away by their parents for protection from the damaging and depressing war. Marjane did become a lonely child after her parents decided to send her out of the country for her own safety. Marjane parents wanted to protect her by separating her from them and due to this, she rhetorically asks ”How does one manage to live in exile? To become integrated, one must forget entirely where one comes from” (Satrapi 17). Marjane explains how she had a hard time in the foreign land. Schmidt, an analyst of the book Persepolis mentions that Marjane met new friends and she could not stand the expression that would be on their face when she told them she was an Iranian (Schmidt 12). In order to avoid the shock, she chooses not to mention her nationality to her friends. She states that ”I even went as far as denying my nationality” (Satrapi 19). Marjane admits that the exile was a devastating aspect for her. The Iran-Iraq war caused children to be lonely, live away from their parents in the exile lands and brought to children a life full of pressure in coping up with the stress of being an exile.

Violence and the Iran-Iraq War

Additionally, the war caused violence to children evident from the entire experiences of Marjane in the narrative. Marjane explores the tensions that existed between Iran and the problems of violence in the children Iran world that was prone to war. The violence that emanated from war changed the children. Notably, in the opening chapters, Marjane identifies herself to being a symbol of tolerance and love. However, when the Iran-Iraq war starts, Marjane strongly defends it as being the conflict for the cause of justice that wages between the Persians and the Arabs communities. The religious fundamentalism along with wars arising from political misunderstandings make children face violence. Marjane even witnesses the execution of people who do speak against the firm cultural demands and Islamic regime. The journey of Marjane through the Satrapi’s narrative depicts how war could denounce violence against children leading to detrimental impacts and causing devastation.

War and Family Relationships

The Iran-Iraq war wedged on the relationship between children and parents. The Satrapi’s narrative shows the massive strain that faced the children’s families and the struggle between modernity and fundamentalism. According to Garrison, author of the journal, New Light On Persepolis, the war made the families hold western social and political beliefs such as civilization that led to Marjane seeing the overthrow of the Shah’s regime and the victory of the Islamic Revolution along with the depressing impacts that the war caused (Garrison 23). Persepolis paints a portrait that the reader is not able to forget concerning the war and its impact on the family relationship with children. Through the child-eye view of Marjane, it is indicated how the state-sanction whippings damaged the relationship between children and parents. The narrative is politically profound and intensely personal, which reminds the reader of the cost of war and political repressions on children.

Struggles and Tensions

Through the relationship that Marjane has with her parents, the reader comes to light of the struggles and tensions that existed between the children and the parents during the Iranian revolution. However, the reader is able to realize that the conflict led to Marjane’s growth and self-actualization, which was an important aspect of her life to maturity. The relationship between Marjane and her parents is shown to be full of tension. Marjane feels the immense tension between her parent’s political views along with their actions. Marjane compares her mother to the revolution guardians and the Islamic regime of the secret service (Satrapi 18). Just in the similar way that the narrative portrays Marjane struggles in the world of war. War causes political instabilities which negatively influence on people’s relationships. The narrative indicates the personal struggle of Marjane not only with her parents but also with her grandmother and her uncle. Marjane learns from the individuals that surround her and makes her own judgment concerning the regime and the impacts of the transition arising from the war. Notably, Marjane understands the price of freedom when her own uncle did give up his life in search of freedom (Satrapi). The ending of the novel illustrates the eventual break of the children from those who raise them along with the break from culture and country.

Rebellion Amidst War

War causes children to be rebellious due to their desires to live a life which they term to be right even when they are faced with limitations that arise from war. The narrative starts in the turbulent years of war that surrounded the Iranian revolution, which made the government to be overthrown and escalated the war between Iran and Iraq nations. However, children wanted to live a normal life of going out with their friends and exploring the world, which made them become rebellious. This is illustrated through Marjane’s adolescent exploration and the limits impacted by the war. Evidently, Marjane had to deal with the Iranian culture of her father along with her childhood wants, which were denied in the society of war. Illustrating this fact, Marjane is seen to wear ”jeans jacket and makeup” and goes to the public with her boyfriend despite the action being highly punishable by society (Schmidt 17). Her parents were against her actions with fears that she could be killed in the process of her adolescent self-exploration.

Conclusion

The governing regime and the Iranian revolution significantly had an impact on the children. Evident through Satrapi’s autobiography, the war caused children to live in isolation, face violence, and affected their relationship with the parents. Satrapi provides a means of communication that vividly portrays the information of children’s basic rights. The Iran-Iraq war led children into the status of clinical depression and through the autobiography, we are able to learn the tyranny that the children encountered in the face of war. Persepolis is the most personalized explanation of the children’s life during the Iranian revolution and the Iran-Iraq war. This is crowned through Marjane’s expression of encountering brutality and violence under the Iranian revolution, together with the Islamic rule.

Works Cited

Garrison, Mark. ”New Light On Persepolis: The Glyptic Imagery From The Persepolis Fortification And Treasury Archives“. La Lettre Du Collège De France, no. 28, 2010, pp. 19-20. Openedition, doi:10.4000/lettre-cdf.1051.

Satrapi Marjane. Persepolis. London. Jonathan Cape, 2003.

Schmidt, Erich Friedrich. Persepolis. 1st ed., Chicago (Ill.),The University Of Chicago Press, 2010.