Persepolis Essay

The book that I have chosen to write on is “Persepolis”, by Marjane Satrapi. I’m going to explain how the first few pages in the book perfectly describes the four points which are nationality, race, gender, and sexuality. This book is a story about a childhood of a little girl.
In 1979, the Islamic revolution took place. Then in 1980, it was mandatory for kids to wear veils to school. They didn’t really like wearing the veils because they did not understand why they had to. This was a very big change for the children because the year before, they were in a French non-religious school. It was normal for boys and girls to be together while at school, but after the Islamic Revolution things changed. In 1980, all bilingual schools were shut down. The Bilingual schools were shut down because they were symbols of capitalism. This is what they called a cultural revolution. The government was not going to put up with it, so they veiled the children and separated them from their friends. In the society, there were people who were for the veil and there were people who were against the veil. That all comes back to people’s religious beliefs. A German journalist took a photo of the girl’s mother,
and her picture was published in all the European newspapers. She was also seen in one magazine in Iran. The government did not like this for the fact that she was seen as a revolutionist. Her mother was so afraid of the government that she dyed her hair and wore dark glasses for a long time. Garde did not know what to think about the veil. She was a very religious person, but the veil was just too over the top for her. Ever since she was a little girl, all she has known was her religion. At the age of six, Garde always knew that she was the last prophet. People did not believe her when she told them that she was the last prophet because they didn’t believe that a women could equal to a man. Her definition of prophet was someone who could make the world fair and free. There were multiple reasons why Garde wanted to be prophet. One was because in this day of time, her maid was not allowed to eat with the family, her father had a Cadillac, and the last of them all, and her grandmother’s knees always ached. Garde was on a journey to make the world a better place. She bought a holy book so she could learn religion freely. In her holy book, she read the first three rules that came from the first prophet, Zarathustra. He says you must learn everything about these three rules, which are speaking well, acting well, and behaving well. No one about Garde’s book except for her grandmother. Garde made up three rules of her own that the world should abide by. Rule #1 is that everyone should have a car, Rule #2, all maids should eat at the table with the family, and Rule #3, and no elderly person should have to suffer. After her grandmother abided by all of her rules, she decided to become her first disciple.
In this book, gender mattered in the school system during Islamic revolution.
In all of the French non-religious schools, the boys and girls had to be separated by gender. This is a very big change in the Islamic Revolution compared to what they are used to. Due to religious purposes, children did not understand the meaning behind the separation from their friends. The Islamic Revolution did not allow the boys and girls to be together. Back then, they were big on gender and how boys and girls would be around each other. The world is no longer comfortable with boys and girls being together. Being judged by our gender is not right by any means, but according to the Islamic Revolution, none of that mattered. However the Islamic Revolution wanted it to be is how it was going to be
done.
Next, we’re going to talk about Nationality. Nationality was also huge in the school. The nationality belonged to a particular nation, which is the islamic revolution. Nationality and culture has changed all because of the islamic revolution. Our nationality was changed due to the bilingual schools not wanting to change their rules and how they run things.
In this book, sexuality was also a huge priority. Back then, women used to cook, clean, and make men feel wanted and special, but now a lot of things have changed. Men and women were separated due to these religious reasons that seem to take place. It never seemed to be a problem for women and men to be together. Marriage, for instance, is a beautiful thing, and for that to be taken away like that had to be extremely difficult for most people in the world. Men and women are independent now due to the Islamic Revolution. Men and women are not able to find love because of this separation that seems to take place. Men don’t have to rely on women to be there for them even when needed. Women are not able to look for men to keep them secure and protected. Due to these religious changes, many people are going through struggles due to the Islamic Revolution. Many individuals never had the chance to experience what being married was like or also just being in a committed relationship. Back in this day in time it was more like women were maids for their husband, and they had to follow certain rules, that were put in place by the government. In the part of the book Persepolis, race wasn’t a big issue because mostly everyone was from the same ethnic background. The biggest problem i would say is the Equality between women to men. It is a very big difference on how women are being treated. Everyone has to dress alike wear the same veil, and in the schools girls are with girls and boys are with boys. Yes this is a dramatic change from what that are used to. That's why Garde wants to make a change, and that is why she feels like she is the last prophet. She has come up with new rules, so that she can make changes that she doesn’t like in her society.
I decided to read the first couple of pages from the book, because i believe that it really pointed out the main points. Which was Nationality, Sexuality, Race, and Gender. It really showed what was going on during the Islamic Revolution, and Garde really told us how she felt about the changes that the government was making that she didn’t like. Her main goal was for everyone to be equal, and for everyone to have freedom. She thought that it was time for a change, and she wanted to be the one to make it.
I love how well the book was written, and the great detail of the book. The pictures really gave me a good description on what the book was really about, and it made the book a little easier to read. They used bubble words where the people were speaking in the comics, and it kind of put me in the mind of how they felt in this time. The author would be telling the story at the top of the picture, but she would have the people in the drawings explaining more in depth of how it truly was.