Literary Analysis on “The Complete Persepolis”

“The Complete Persepolis,” based on Marjane Satrapi’s childhood, is an Iranian Revolution tale told from the viewpoint of the people. The story follows a young woman whose life is turned upside down by a war about which she has no understanding. It begins in 1979 and continues through a time of abuse and injustice. The book has a lot to come from a literary standpoint. A significant response to the author’s story reveals various facets of how to comprehend the story. The post-colonial and feminist perspectives, which concentrate on specific details, are the most prominent. Given that Marjane’s tale concerns her life growing up in Iran, a person can expect the account to be construed based on a feminist viewpoint. The dominance of the male gender in Iran becomes quite apparent when the author’s mother points out to her that the Islamic doctrines prohibit the capital punishment of virgins. Instead of killing a virgin lady/girl for a few evildoings, the lady/girl would be given away for marriage to an affiliate of the revolutionary associate. Following consummation right after the wedding, the girl would subsequently be executed. These kinds of barbarities show the way the female gender is thought of and dealt with by the males.

Despite the fact that the Islamic Revolutionaries enforce a code of dressing for both males and females, the veil for the women symbolizes patriarchal prominence. The author’s mother becomes a victim of being found with no veil. She suffered verbal as well as physical revilement and informed that ’’women like me should be pushed up against a wall…and then thrown in the garbage.’’ This kind of illustration displays that females are not equivalent to males and are viewed as possessions. To combat this inequality, the ladies hold a demonstration in opposition to putting on of the veil.

Throughout the visual story The Complete Persepolis, the author utilizes symbolism to forecast Iran’s future right after the optimistic festivity regarding the departure of Shah. It is evident that on account of being intensely persecuted, the communities consistently rebelled against the Shah right up till he eventually arrived at his departure that led to the most significant celebration ever known in Iran (Satrapi 41). Following this ceremony, Marjane’s dad proposes “Let’s talk about something else. Let’s enjoy our freedom”, to which Marjane’s mother responds, “Now that the devil has left” (Satrapi 44). The family of the author continues to be optimistic, but after taking a closer look at the board, it is apparent that the ostensibly happy scenario is, in fact, an agonizing one. The reader can find out that the demonic beast is covered with the board, stretching its hands to seize the author’s family. One might presume that following the withdrawal of the Shah, the Iranian people are going to be dismissed of every agony and suffering, yet this is not the scenario. The satire of the image is that the devil is still there. The readers now become conscious of the devil, but author’s family is no. This implies that they are not able to predict the future disputes which are to follow. Despite the fact that the devil is not within their prompt line of sight, its existence has not disappeared from the Iranian nation. Moreover, it is evident that this is just the 2nd instance whereby Marjane has sketched an image associated with religious beliefs, with the primary image being God. The story started from the author talking to God and conveying that she is a prophet (Satrapi 9) to sketch the devil stalking around their loved ones, symbolizing that it is additionally lingering all over Iran. This results in a fascinating changeover from having the Lord in her life to having a demonic image, which might furthermore be forecasting the transition from living as an innocent girl to finding out that her life was going to transform permanently. In the end, this board displays that regardless of the Shah becoming stripped away from his status of power, the imprint which he left in Iran is going to always remain for an extended period.

The author’s mother is a significant illustration associated with the parallelism involving the life of the author as well as that of Iran. “‘Dictator! You are the guardian of the revolution of this house!’” (Satrapi 113). Marjane skived school to spend time with a number of her pals at some point. Figuring out about the new risks caused in the course of the Iranian Revolution, Satrapi’s mother became furious with her and necessitated that she effectively manages her wellbeing as well as her life. The author considered this as subjugation in addition to authoritarianism and referred her mother as the “dictator” of their home. Within this period, the Iranian citizens began to figure out that the Islamic authorities were similar to the shah previous to it, and ended up being extremely controlling. “‘It is not for you and me to do justice. I’d even say we have to learn to forgive.’” (Satrapi 46). The author’s mother requests her child to pardon the chaotic Shah enthusiasts and to realize that the nation is going to be at peace now. This is the awareness as well as hope associated with the Iranian nation following the end of the revolution. Regrettably though, due to the fact the Iranian citizens at this point have confidence in being a united, non-violent nation, there are a simple means for the new Islamic Regime to assume leadership, just as the author’s mother begins to manage Marjane’s young life. Despite the fact that Marjane’s mother is an enormous parallelism between Marjane’s life as well as the Iranian life, Marjane’s mother is the sole parallelism.

The author’s educational life is one more parallelism between the Iranian life as well as hers. “I think that the reason we were so rebellious was that our generation had known secular schools.” (Satrapi 98). Satrapi remarks on the Revolution through expressing that a lot of teenagers had been quite rebellious since a lot of significant modifications took place throughout their years as a child. The generation of the author had acknowledged such things as profane educational institutions along with freedom of attire, as well as the modifications introduced when they had been youngsters significantly annoyed them. “‘All bilingual schools must be closed down. They are symbols of Capitalism.’” (Satrapi 4). Among the most significant things that started the Revolution was the modifications within the educational institutions. In addition to shutting down each bilingual institution, male and female students were separated, and the girls were obligated to put on the veil which concealed their hair. These modifications influenced the author’s entire years as a child, along with the childhoods of a lot of Iranian people. Despite the fact that the education system’s adjustments might have triggered the greatest turmoil, it wasn’t that which brought about the Iranian citizens to rebel. Satrapi’s life features an additional parallelism which demonstrates this.

The author’s mindset is a huge parallelism which involves her life along with that of the Iranian citizens. “The reason for my shame and the Revolution is the same: the difference between social classes.” (Satrapi 33). At the start of the story, Marjane was extremely embarrassed to take a ride in the Cadillac of his father. She presumed that she preferred to reside in the Iranian lower social classes rather than take a ride in a Cadillac. Marjane, similar to a lot of Iranians, understood that there was a great rift between the social classes and that it was the governing administration’s negligence. “‘My uncle was imprisoned by the Shah’s regime, but it was the Islamic Regime that ordered his execution. You say that we don’t have political prisoners anymore. But we’ve gone from 3,000 prisoners under the Shah to 300,000 under your regime. How dare you lie to us like that?’” As the tale developed, the author’s political, social, as well as religious perspectives modified. She, similar to the Iranian citizens, understood that their governing administration had been subjugating them. It was at that moment that the citizens understood what they desired: choice.

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Work Cited

Satrapi, Marjane. The complete persepolis. New York: Pantheon Books, 2007.