Persepolis review

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 5,6

Persepolis review

Information

- You should have enough to study from for examples and explanations from your Persepolis reader

- Panels at the back = most important

- Themes and explanations discussed in class, supplemented here with info from Litcharts (I've already taken what you need for you - each doc is 36 pgs long so use if you want but you don't need to)

Most important themes

Ones already discussed in depth in class:

- Growing up and growing old

- Identity, culture and self-expression

- Gender and oppression

- Suffering and trauma

Growing up and growing old - which panel exemplifies this for you?

Growing up and growing old

- Coming of age novel

- Throughout the 2 novels we see Marjane grow up and how her relationships with those around her change

- Marjane changes throughout the novel - revolutionary/prophet, Western influence, accomodating to Iran

- Relationship with herself and her country

Growing up and growing old

Growing up comes with many challenges and the book shows how these growing up not only changes you physically, but also has a profound effect on how you see the world and the people around you.

Examples? Look in your reader.

Culture, identity and self-expression - which panel exemplifies this for you?

Identity, culture and self-expression

- Novel about different cultures and growing up as a third-culture kid

- West vs. East plays a big role in book

- All 3 concepts are intricately linked and make up who you are

- Throughout the book Marjane navigates these concepts, what they mean to her and how they directly effect her 

Identity, culture and self-expression

In the novel, Marjane constantly struggles with who she is and how she expresses herself - first the Islamic regime holds her back, then being a foreigner in the West, and finally when she juggles her Eastern and Western identities in an even more strict Iran in the end. Her decision to move away reflects how she doesn't feel at home in one place and that she cannot be herself when she's repressed in all 3 of these areas.

Gender and oppression - which panel exemplifies this for you?

Gender and oppression

- Book centers on a female protagonist and the struggles that come with growing up as a woman in a culture that oppresses them

- Veil major symbol, makeup added later - oppression vs. freedom

- In Austria, the sexism was quite literal; in Iran, it is physical and mental (women vs. women)

Gender and oppression

Throughout the book Marjane faces sexism, whether this be moments of harrassment in Austria or the systemic oppression of women in Iran. Her navigation of her own identity as a woman in these cultures show how difficult it is to grow up as an independent, progressive woman even in modern times and the importance of showing how sexism prevails in order to act on it.

Suffering and trauma - which panel exemplifies this for you?

Suffering and trauma

- Suffering plays a role throughout the book - people suffering under regimes, suffering from violence and injustice - very literal but also figurative

- Meaning of trauma - are Marjane's experiences in Austria less traumatic than growing up in Iran would have been?

- Effects of trauma and suffering are made clear - especially growing up

Suffering and trauma

Marjane goes through different forms of suffering and trauma throughout the book, and shows the detrimental effects on the psyche. She is clear in showcasing how her experiences away from her family in Austria, meant to save her from the trauma of war, also had a profound and negative effect on her. The goal is to show how trauma can shape a person but how it doesn't have to define them - she leaves.

Other important themes

Religion, repression and modernity

Nationalism, heroism and martyrdom

Violence, forgiveness and justice

Children, war, and growing up

The personal vs. the political

Religion, repression and modernity

- Marjane starts out very religious (prophet, relationship to God)

- Book shows detrimental effects of a very religious regime and how it actually forces individuals to question religion

-  Hypocrisy of religion - were the Guardians of the republic actually pious?

- Ultimately, the graphic novelportrays the repressive religion imposed by the Islamic Republic as actually standing at odds with the heartfelt religious feeling and belief experienced by an individual.

Nationalism, heroisim and martyrdom

- Novel shows how one can struggle with the idea of nationalism - what does it mean and what is the object of nationalism? Regime or country?

- Marjane's relationship is twofold - she hates and loves her country at the same time

- Book aims to give readers a different perspective - by telling her story, Marjane shows how these ideas of love and hate can coexist

- Martyrdom - Marjane's relationship with what a hero is and her obsession with having personal heroes changes

Violence, forgiveness and justice

- Iranian people a literal and figurative victim of the regime - they literally die but figuratively, turning against one another shatters the unity 

- Idea of forgiveness - Marjane grapples with idea of justice and forgiveness. Is justice served anywhere in the book? How have the Iranian people gotten justice and how can she forgive those who do not deserve it?

Children, war and growing up

- Marjane is forced to grow up quickly in war and moving to Europe

- Smoking a cigarette = adult; seeing war = adult

- Book shows how easily mallable children are - young boys being sacrificed in name of war, they don't get to grow up

- Marjane quick to believe what people tell her, but as book goes on she realizes she must make these decisions and form these opinions on her own - she has to grow up

The personal vs. the political

- no individual in the story can exist or be understood outside of the context of the historical change happening in Iran around him or her, no matter how much he or she might try

- if one cannot escape the political in one’s life, how much should one

participate in the political sphere, and does one actually have a choice in the matter?

- Cannot seperate the personal from the political  

Symbols

1. The veil - key symbol of repression, especially against women

2. Bread swan - Anoosh gives her these - him making the most/finding beauty in difficult situations

3. Plastic key painted gold - "ticket to paradise", propoganda and way for regime to get soldiers; also shows class divide

4. Cigarette - growing up, her personal restrictions from her parents vs. restrictions from the regime

5. Reza and Marjane's thesis - Marjane's love for Iran but also the realization that she cannot continue living there

How to study?

1. Make sure you've read the book. Examples don't get explained well if you don't know the full context of the novel.

2. Your reader provides you with many thematic aspects of the novel and corresponding examples. Panels in back are free game on the exam.

3. Know the themes in relation to specific panels and examples.

4. Remember = example is specific moment!