Persepolis

Satrapi, M. (2003). Persepolis. New York, NY: Pantheon Books.

Awards:

Harvey Awards for Best US Edition of Foreign Material (2004)

ALA Alex Award (2004)

Prix du Festival d'Angoulême for Alph-art du coup de coeur (2001)

Summary:

Persepolis serves as a memoir for author Marjane Satrapi. In this graphic novel, she counts her life living in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. The book starts when she is 6 years old. At this time she is aware of what everyone around her is saying. As the book progresses, she begins to learn how important it is to think for yourself and enjoy time with your family.

Reaction:

The images in this novel are black and white. This contributes to the story telling in several ways. First off, the Islamic Revolution led way to a stricker regime explained within the book. If the author had used color, the information and its importance would have been lost.

The beginning of the novel attempts to draw the reader in, but if the reader has little to no information about Iran it is difficult to become immersed in the world at first. Marjane has aspirations to become a prophet when she is older. God is depicted at the beginning, but as her faith and aspirations begin to fade, so does the image of God.

Since the novel begins when Marjane is six years old, it is told with a child’s mentality. Marjane believes what everyone tells her and, much like a child, repeats what she has heard. Her parents want her to be well informed so they buy her books so she can form her own opinion. Their love and support spoils Marjane and she often cannot keep her thoughts to herself. This gets her into trouble at times.

Westerners are often wrapped up in their own problems and issues. They don’t think about the other side of the world. This novel is important in showing students how other children live during a revolution. It shows how in some parts of the world, girls are seen as inferior and that their hair can distract a man to sin. It shows the importance of reading whatever you can and verifying the facts. At one point in the book, Marjane and her fellow classmates are encouraged to rip out information in their textbooks because it has been deemed null.

Leaders decide on history. It’s important that future generations hear all sides. Marjane Satrapi states in her introduction, “Since then, this old and great civilization has been discussed mostly in connection with fundamentalism, fanaticism, and terrorism. As an Iranian who has lived more than half of my life in Iran, I know that this image is far from the truth.” Stories like Satrapi’s are important to be heard or the stereotypes will run rampant and good people could be hurt. Persepolis shows readers the ordinariness of the people living during an important time in history.

Connections:

Activities:

- Make a list of experiences that opened your eyes to things you weren’t aware of. (EX: Finding out about Santa Claus)
- Have the students create a “graphic novel” about one of the events they listed above.
- Find a recent article about Iran. Summarize the article and respond to it with your feelings about the content.
- How would the novel have been different in a different format? What do the images used in the novel help convey?
- Show clips from the film adaptation of Persepolis. Compare the two. Only show the half from book one.

Websites:

Iran country profile. (2018, September 24). Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14541327

Videos:

[Crash Course]. (2015, February 26). Iran’s Revolutions: Crash Course World History 226 [Video File]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/8w4Ku6l7OEI