Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis: An Analysis

The book Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, is a graphic novel. This eye-opening book gives insight on the Iranian revolution thought Marjane Satrapi’s perspective. The government's small group of leaders are trying to recruit more male kids and lower class families to come and fight in the military by portraying it as the gateway to paradise. This illustrates how in the time of need, innocent minds have the ability to trust blindly, making them susceptible targets for governments and leaders.
The panel structure illustrates the power of the governments to manipulate. The color techniques utilized communicates the idea that government leaders have the ability to manipulate vulnerable individuals, in this case, innocent children. In the panel, the children being black symbolizes the darkness and hardships faced in everyday life due to the war, leaving them in a helpless state of mind. It symbolizes the evil that has overcome their communities. The white background represents the hope and happiness promised by the leaders. These color techniques demonstrate how they will be uplifted from the dark and evil and will be placed in paradise. The children fall for the facade put up by the leaders of Iran, creating a close-mindedness when adults attempt to
tell them the truth. The irony is represented in the black lines that are angled upwards. The upwards angles demonstrate the uplifting feeling and rise of hope felt by the kids. However, the lines being colored in black represents the ruse created by the petty and merciless leaders, that will soon be shattered. This proves how the innocent minds can oblivious, making them easy targets. Similarly, the panel other techniques, such as size and speech bubbles, to convey that in rough times, maliciousness can be surfaced.
Both the panels are big, collectively, take up the whole page. This demonstrates how the war is of paramount importance in Iran, consuming everyone's life. Using a wide panel with children towards the center, draws attention to how children, being naive, are the main focus for the government. The absence of speech bubbles reflect the reaction of the children, speechless. They are finessed into thinking that joining the military was the key to paradise. This shows the idea that the governments are willing to exploit innocent children to use for their benefit, especially in the time of
need. In conclusion, desperate times trigger desperate measures causing ignorant children to be vulnerable to the government. This panel expresses how children are easily influenced and people are willing to take advantage of that. Through the use of panel techniques, Marjane Satrapi is able to communicate the idea that sometimes war, violence, or any other hardships can bring out a bad side in political leaders thus leading to immoral actions.