Persepolis Analysis

The memoir Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is about Marjane’s childhood in Iran written from her younger self’s perspective. It is taken place during the 1980’s during the time the Islamic Revolution is unfolding. Due to this, her childhood is intertwined with the collateral damage of war. Through the comic strip images, Satrapi reveals the ongoing oppression the country faces and the challenges she faces. Not only is her home place being invaded but her childhood is too. Satrapi is forced to grow up fairly quickly due to the country’s situation, at a very young age she witnesses things no child should witness. She learns quickly that she could not just sit and watch and takes the role of a social activist. She rebelled against what they are
However, as time passes and the war begins her faith in God begins to deteriorate until it is nonexistent. Her faith in God is crystal clear in the beginning when she would regularly talk to God, she states, “I was born in religion” (6) and “At the age of six I was already sure I was the last prophet. This was a few years ago before the revolution.” (6) she believes she was born with her faith and that she would live to fulfill the prophecy. But keep in mind this was all before the revolution, once war begins and harsh reality starts to hit doubts begin to arise. Before this God played the role of a safety blanket, he provided her security and comfort. For instance, when she was humiliated in school by her classmates and teacher for believing she was going to be the next prophet, that night she sought reassurance from God and he came. He reassured, “ Yes, you are, celestial light, you are my choice, my last and my best choice.” (8) in the end, she decides to continue her journey to become a prophet but in secret. Her relationship with God seems to be unshakable until a year into the revolution she decides to put that idea aside to instead take action. Marji took action through demonstrations and reading about Karl Marx and political theory. She begins to compare Marx with God which as a result, causes distances between her and God. Their daily conversations begin to be about things as vague as the weather. When Marji makes it clear that being a social activist is more important than being a prophet, God appears less in her life. To demonstrate, one night when she begs her parents to let her march with them God does not come that night to conversate. Yet he appears when she lets go of her philosophical and political ideas, “I didn’t know what justice was. Now that the revolution was over once and for all, I abandoned the dialectic