StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Marjane Satrapis Persepolis - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The story of the revolution re-told through the eyes of an Iranian ten-year old girl makes it very poignant. She provides a fresh perspective on what the ideals of the revolution meant to those who initially opposed the Shah’s regime. …
Download free paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER95.8% of users find it useful
Marjane Satrapis Persepolis
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Marjane Satrapis Persepolis"

of Reflective Essay on Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis Revolutions often cause widespreaddehumanization. Because of the thousands of lives that get destroyed during the course of revolutions, we tend to view these deaths more as statistics than as real, ordinary lives lost. The papers publish these numbers and we tend to get used to reading about twenty more, a hundred more lives lost, without really wondering about it at all. Marjane Satrapi tries to undo this effect in several ways in her graphic novel, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood.

The first device she uses to do this is to use the child’s perspective. The story of the revolution re-told through the eyes of an Iranian ten-year old girl makes it very poignant. She provides a fresh perspective on what the ideals of the revolution meant to those who initially opposed the Shah’s regime. The little girl is unusually conscious and well-read for her age: “But my favorite was comic book entitled “Dialectic Materialism”.” (Satrapi 12). Class differences bother her and she repeatedly protests against it, as in the case of the brief love affair between Mehri and the neighbor’s son (Satrapi 37).

Satrapi also uses a sparse, bare style of drawing to add to this poignant tone. This is especially evident in some of the illustrations like that of the Rex Cinema being burnt down where the flames resemble the skeletons of the people who must have died inside (Satrapi 15) and in her depiction of the massacre that begins the section entitled “The Party” (Satrapi 40). The faces of the dead revolutionaries all resemble each other, emphasizing the great number of people who died for this cause.

Satrapi also uses a humorous, light tone throughout the first volume which makes the transition to the more serious volume all the more shocking. On page 41, for instance, there is a scene where the Shah is apparently searching for prime ministers. His responses are recorded as: “A Freemason? That’s not suitable. You remind them too much of my father! Too thin! Too short! One-eyed! .” The last response is especially satirical, and serves to help the reader understand the bitter irony of the situation.

Satrapi does not need to use violent words or hateful propaganda to make her point; her simple style and use of irony make the story more effective. Marjane Satrapi also puts the comic medium to good use. She uses the visual to sometimes support and sometimes contrast what the text says. For instance, when Marjane’s mother says, relieved, “Now that the devil has left” (Satrapi 43), one would assume that the devil truly has left. But there is an ominous, black snake that surrounds the frame, that lets the reader know that this is in fact not true, even though the characters in the comic do not seem to know it.

The use of only black and white for coloring also make the pictures stark and the story-telling more effective. Discussion Question: What if this was not a comic book: Would Persepolis still be as effective: Work Cited Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood. New York: Pantheon, 2003. Print.

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Marjane Satrapis Persepolis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/literature/1566853-marjane-satrapis-persepolis
(Marjane Satrapis Persepolis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words)
https://studentshare.org/literature/1566853-marjane-satrapis-persepolis.
“Marjane Satrapis Persepolis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/literature/1566853-marjane-satrapis-persepolis.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Marjane Satrapis Persepolis

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

persepolis Name: Institution: persepolis The graphic novel; persepolis: The Story of a Childhood is by Marjane Satrapi, which talks about her life through a revolutionary period in Iran.... persepolis tries to delve into some of the issues that affect societies in modern times.... They are themes that are seen through the eyes of a child (younger marjane), while the humor she displays tries to create the sanity that is...
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

The Visual Aspects of Persepolis

In the essay “The Visual Aspects of persepolis” the author discusses Marjane Satrapi's autobiographical, heart-wrenching graphic novel about her life in Iran as a child during the Islamic Revolution.... These thick inky black and white drawings with the narration are an effective way of telling a complicated story like persepolis.... persepolis is in a storybook format, but it portrays growing up in Iran during the Islamic revolution....
3 Pages (750 words) Book Report/Review

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

This essay declares that Marjane Satrapi created the work persepolis while she was living in exile in Paris in 2000.... Although it tackled non-humorous subjects of revolution and war and its effects on the society, Satrapi used humor in her comics to reach out to people of her childhood story....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

The paper 'persepolis by Marjane Satrapi' focuses on an autobiographical account of the time when Iran was undergoing an Islamic Revolution under the religious leader, Khomeini.... persepolis has accurately reflected the changing society through the drawings which have become more pronounced in the threatening postures of the revolutionaries....
1 Pages (250 words) Book Report/Review

Summary of Persepolis Written by Marjane Satrapi

From the paper "Summary of persepolis Written by Marjane Satrapi " it is clear that the book focuses on Marxist principle right from its beginning.... persepolis Reading Response Questions Use one of the following questions (or create one of your own) to write a reading response that demonstrates your engagement and critical thinking in regards to persepolis.... Written as a memoir, is persepolis more powerful than if Satrapi had fictionalized the story?...
2 Pages (500 words) Book Report/Review

The Complete Persepolis - Graphic Novel as a Sign of Protest

marjane satrapis “The Complete Persepolis” utilizes minimal texts in frames of drawing that provide the readers a different perspective in interpreting her story.... (267) satrapis style in narrating her autobiography is in black and white, and often with only a few frames per page, making the readers see her story through the eyes of a child.... Satrapi seems to know that most of her target audience comes from the non-historian population, and satrapis method in relaying the Iranian Revolution is successful in giving it a non-academic and more personal feel....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis 2

marjane satrapis “Persepolis 2 In the first and second frames of the book “Persepolis Satrapi shows herself outside, yet still somewhat included in the class photo.... persepolis: The Story of a Childhood.... om/doc/25999161/Satrapi-Marjane-persepolis-1 Satrapi, Marjane.... persepolis 2: The Story of a Return.... om/doc/25999379/Satrapi-Marjane-persepolis-2-English... Works Cited Satrapi, marjane....
1 Pages (250 words) Term Paper

Persepolis and Satrapi's Why I Wrote Persepolis H R

?A Readers Guide to Marjane Satrapis Persepolis.... In addition, she wanted to… Lastly, she sought to have a simplistic but impactful case around the grave events that were taking place within Iran at the time – the original setting of the Use of Child Narrator in Satrapi's persepolis Satrapi opts to use a child narrator while detailing her graphic novel, persepolis, for three main reasons (Schroeder 6).... On Writing persepolis....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us