Persepolis

Satrapi, M. (2003). Persepolis. New York, NY: Random House.

Summary

Marjane is growing up in Tehran during the reign of the Shah. Her everyday life is filled with the city streets full of revolts. New laws encompass her daily life affecting her school and how she should dress. Marjane is a rebel. She longs to make a purpose of her life and enjoys hearing how her relatives like her grandfather and uncle fought for justice. The older she gets the more bold she gets in her outrage at the laws of the land and the lies told by the government and officials. Soon she gets so upset she hits her principal and stands up to a religion teacher.  Because of this, her parents fear she will be executed.  Their only  option they feel is to send her to Vienna. 

Commentary 

This biography was a decent explanation of the Iran Revolution.  I didn't understand what went all during that time. I just knew it was a war that had been going on for years.  Marjane uses her experiences to explain to the reader how the revolution affected her land but how citizens still had love for their homeland and fought for it return to what they loved.  Her family is close and supportive of each other which explains how Marjane grew up with such confidence.  The book is a pleasant alternative to reading and expository article on the conflict in Iran.

Connections

Connections to Text

Persepolis is a autobiography written in graphic novel format.  It tells events of the author's life in sequential order. Being a graphic novel it has pictures in every panel on every page. This helped me tremendously in understanding the content. I have no point of reference for the conflict in the middle east and many of the vocabulary was foreign.  I imagine other readers would feel the same and begin to use the pictures to aid in understanding what is happening in the book.