The Importance of Religion in Persepolis

Religion is supposed to bring about harmony that promotes peace and justice in the world and should not perpetuate any form of division. In the Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi articulates how religion has brought chaos to what was once a peaceful country. Marjane Satrapi indicates that the county’s main problem is not violence but something more significant. Religion has made people acquire some belief that it is not rationale and hurts others.

Introduction

Persepolis was a history of Iran when the country was undergoing religious turmoil; the Persians were coerced into religion. Amid this crisis, the country faced political revolution when Shah wanted to overthrow the ruling administration and was supported by the British government which intended to access oil fields in Iran When a nation experiences turmoil, in most cases, religious leaders mobilized themselves to take control, but this situation hardly lasts long. Immediately disaster beckons and the country loses its focus (Hoffert et al. 50). However, the writer argues that Iran is not made up of extremists and fundamentalists and whatever the Western world says of Iran it is not true. The paper seeks to examine religion and its implications in the society.

Religion and Sexual Discrimination

The Veil

Persepolis is significant with Iran at the time of the revolution of Islam in 1979. At that moment, Marjane Satrapi, the author of Persepolis was only ten years old. When the Islamic revolution began, her life took an entirely new direction. All the women including girls in school were commanded to start putting on veils. Marjane’s mother tried to protest about the issue, but her picture was published in the local newspaper. The harsh belief of religion started to fuse into the social lives of the people and life took a completely different turn. Marjane’s mother tried to hide her identity from the public for fear of being victimized. Ideally, schools were shut down, and boys were utterly taken away to a different setting from girls (Hoffert et al. 50).

Notably, this concept of religion relates to the author who tends to believe that she is the last prophet of the Lord. The belief kept triggering her into writing a personal book. Marjane makes this revelation known to her grandmother, later; she goes ahead and tells people in school about her dreams of being a prophet. Her teacher is disturbed by the revelation. Marjane then explains the ordeal to her parents who show no sign of surprise by the news. Marjane’s parents ask her about the issue, but she tells them that she aspires to become a doctor. That particular night Marjane engages with a revelation and talks about her intentions of becoming a prophet.

In this conversation, Marjane starts to imagine about social and cultural equality. The thought of having justice will have an impact on the lives of women living in Iran, as compared to when the country is under the rule of the Islamic fundamentalists who are imposing their teachings forcibly on women. Devoid of this religion, women will have the freedom to decide whether to wear veils around their heads or not. Discrimination plays out when Marjane’s friends in addition, teachers ridicule her. The idea of men in Iran having higher social status while women are treated as inferior partners has contributed to her dreams being despised on the ground of her gender which is a problem generated mainly by religious beliefs. Marjane’s hope of becoming a prophet is described with love, judgment and the anger of God. Marjane draws her inspiration from this book and becomes a staunch believer who is opposed to Shah’s rule.

In most cases, religion has been fond of dictating the social class of men and women in society; this has led to relationship hurdles that are hard to surpass because of observing religious and societal beliefs. Children raised in these extremist settings mostly grow up with formed opinions towards a particular religion or a given sect of people within a society. Reyns-Chikuma et al. (760), reveal that children hold on to these beliefs and it is hard to make them think otherwise. Right to religion in most cases is taken with various misunderstanding, the choice of an individual should, however, be respected without judging them to be less superior.

Political and Social Impacts of Religion

Typically, in most cases when people think of “religion and politics”issues like abortion, inter-sex marriage or use of contraceptives take center stage. Such a scope is an excellent point to view the society because it generalizes people as groups and not on a personal level. However, faith has affected people as individuals rather than as a society. Religion has dictated political stands and ideologies changing a considerate number of activities in a country. Governments and nations have executed people with different religious beliefs contrary to what the ruling party considers as moral (Santich and Barbara 118). This practice has left many countries ragged in conflicts and devoid of peace within the borders. Most governments strive to have a clear division between religion and politics, but it has proved to be futile in most countries. Marjane’s entire family is forced to go out of their country because of religious differences and discrimination of women. Islam teachings have made it mandatory to convert to their religion. Failure to conform to such rules or oppose the Islamic ideology one is likely to face dire consequences, which could lead to death.

Islamic believers are yearning to spread the faith to other countries, despite various challenges, their teachings become more intense than before, and failure to oblige leads to death among other dire consequences. Marjane realizes that religion is indeed a divisive factor in most instances and distances herself from the beliefs and traditions of Islam. She grows a negative attitude towards religion, and she becomes more defiant. Marjane develops a negative attitude towards Islam and disobeys the teachings as ascribed in the holy book; she adopts a new lifestyle that her parents see as a threat her to life. Marjane’s childhood is wholly influenced by the beginning of a new religion of terror, enthusiasm, and fundamentalism (Hoffert & Barbra 52). The extreme ideas that she experienced in her childhood make her look at Zarathustra as a mentor. With Iran in war, Marjane gets time to understand her fate better.

From Marjane’s experience, religion affects life negatively, which is contrary to the purpose of faith; Islamic extremism is a product of the eternal quest for the respect of their belief without considering what others believe in. Religious discrimination has been prevalent in most of the Islamic states, which has made these societies to treat women as lesser beings. Marjane’s story shows how religion can negatively affect the community and the suffering that humans go through just because of their faith and beliefs (Weber-Feve and Stacey 324). Religion and politics are intertwined, and one cannot thrive without the support of the other. Matters of religion should not be the cause of disagreement, and divergent religious opinions should be tolerated within a society. Marjane plays a significant role in bringing out the effects of religion, and it has led to discrimination of women.

Marjane remains rebellious; she changes survival tactics to protect herself. She falsely accuses a man of insulting her with intentions of avoiding arrest for wearing make-up and possibly marrying her boyfriend to prevent religious scrutiny by the society. Marjane’s grandmother (who is unhappy with the actions of her granddaughter) tells her how her uncle and grandfather died while supporting freedom and Marjane should not go against what they fought for (Santich and Barbra 119).

Conclusion

Religion has become an integral point of discussion in our day-to-day lives; it is crucial to take matters of Faith with the seriousness it demands. The route taken by faith depicts how the country will handle its affairs. Religion can break a state and wipe out an entire society. Matters of faith should not be allowed to be the benchmark for a community. Religion has contributed to discrimination of women in most Islamic states. Women are looked down upon as insignificant and same to their rights. Men are given a superior status in the society unlike the other gender; this situation makes women very vulnerable to men regarding societal dictates. Women are brought up to obey men and can hardly do anything by their thinking. Such prejudices make religion an unwanted practice in the majority of war-torn countries wishing it never existed. However, some religious teachings sharpen wit and are essential to pass from generation to generation.

Works Cited

Hoffert, Barbara. “Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood”Library Journal, 129(1), p. 50.

Hoffert, Barbara. “Persepolis Rising.”Library Journal, 143(12), 2017, p. 52.

Weber-Feve, Stacey. “Framing the ’Minor’ in Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud’s Persepolis.”Contemporary French & Francophone Studies, 15(3), June 2011, pp. 321-328.

Santich, Barbara. “Persepolis.”Petits Propos Culinaires, 107, 2017, pp. 117-119.

Reyns-Chikuma, Chris, and Houssem Ben Lazreg. “Marjane Satrapi and the Graphic Novels from and about the Middle East.”Arab Studies Quarterly, 39(1), 2017, pp. 758-775.