Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, Essay Example

“Persepolis” is an interesting story because it is the autobiography of the author, Marjane Satrapi. Since she grew up in the country of Iran both before and after the Islamic revolution, she is able to deliver a personal story that is relevant to the events occurring in the modern world. Religion is an important part of her life, and when she was a child, she believed that becoming a prophet would allow her to change the way that people act and think around her. As she grows up, Satrapi learns more about social movements, which continues her want to help her community. As the book continues, it continues to discuss how the author wishes to participate in change, in addition to the boundaries that exist that prevent her from accomplishing this, and how she is able to make small victories in spite of these events.

Since “Persepolis” is a personal story of the author that is told in a compelling way, the text achieves an entertainment value in addition to informing the reader about a real social event. Reading the words written the first time around makes the reader sympathize with the author, and the second and third time, it makes the reader recognize that there is a need for social change in Iran. Even though a lot of change has already occurred in the region, women are still being prevented from doing many of the things they want to do in order to make their home better, which is an experience that Satrapi personally dealt with and discusses in her book. This affects others because it allows us to understand that this is happening to other women in Iraq as well. Furthermore, it impacts women around the world, because gender bias is a large setback to women everywhere.

The book is organized and structured in a manner that follows the author’s life and how her want to change Iran shifted based on the things she learned during each period. The first section of the book, “The Veil”, discusses the author’s view of the Islamic revolution as a child. During this time, all girls and women were required to completely cover their bodies and were separately from men. The author wanted to become a prophet so that she would be able to put an end to all of this, but realized that this was just a wish that was not achievable at this point. The second section of the book, “The Bicycle” follows the authors early years of learning in which she learns about socialist and other political ideas. The sections that follow discuss her continuing education and the realizations that she has about the world around me. As the story continues, it becomes more and more personal, including ideas both about social change and how it impacted the various events in her life.

The first part of the story discusses the author’s childhood and the second part discusses her travels and entrance into adult life. The difference between the two is interesting, because as a child, Satrapi notices the need for social change and wants to change the world, and as an adult, she begins to try to do this and to learn more about other places. Each part is organized like this because it shows how the author came to the realization that she needed to take action based on how she was raised in addition to the needs of her society. The purpose of each paragraph or section is to support a thesis using evidence. In each section, she shows that there is a need for change because of a problem, and then backs up these ideas so that the reader can recognize why they are important. Each of these paragraphs help support the major thesis of the story, which is the need for social change in Iran.

It is possible that this story could have been written in a different format. For example, it could have been told as a novel, rather than a graphic novel. However, the writer most likely chose this format because she believed that her words would be more impactful if the reader were shown was she was talking about instead of just describing in. Since many atrocities were occurring in Iran, the author felt that she would be able to make the audience more emotional if she used pictures and discussed the events that had a personal emotional impact on her.

It appears that the author’s main goal is that she wanted the reader to understand the social struggle that has been occurring in Iran over the past three decades. The various choices at each of the levels of the story help achieve the overall effect of the text, which is a persuasion that will drive the audience to action to help facilitate this social change. Overall, the author succeeded in achieving her aims because she informs the audience about a social issue that is important to her and causes them to sympathize with the individuals currently living in Iran. She hopes that this knowledge will drive the reader to action and continue her mission of promoting continuous change.