Persepolis Repudiation Of The Veil

Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis resonates with themes of resistance throughout her literary composition. From repudiation of the veil, to mockery, lying, demonstrations, smoking, consumption of alcohol, and subversion, her work incorporated each mode in various forms creating tensions that spanned her childhood through her teenage years. In a period in which her country suffered constant upheavals, the conditions spawned a fertile breeding ground for the types of resistance that proliferated. As a young child, Marji’s first opposition was to the requirement for all women and girls to begin wearing the veil in public and this theme permeates her work, recurring time and again. I would argue that the repudiation of the veil was the early catalyst
It is significant that she chose this as the opening bars of her storyline as ever since its institution there has been heated debate in support of and against the veil. At the most simplistic, it has been hailed as symbol of modesty, most notably by the male gender, while to others it signifies repression and subjugation of the female gender. Marji bemoans not understanding the reason and purpose. It is a well- known fact that change that is not explained or understood will give rise to opposition. Marji is noticeably anti veil as she demonstrated this in a parody of the girls’ reaction. This facile illustration of their antics can nonetheless be interpreted through much murkier lens. “Ooh I’m the monster of darkness” said one. Was she saying that the veil was forcing monster-like attributes on her? “Giddyap” laughed two other girls as they used it to play horsey. Did Marji see the veil as a female blindfold much as a horse is blindfolded? Another jumped rope by twisting hers and the veil of another girl into a rope. Was the rope a euphemism for the veil and the bondage both represented? She even introduced a sinister and even violent note when one girl declared “Execution in the name of freedom.” Could this have been an unconscious and suppressed call for
They lied, they flouted the ban on alcohol, they partied, and they smoked, and some women even tried to flaunt their opposition to the veil by allowing a little hair to show. Even an underground black market for forged passports developed. At the age of twelve, Marji’s mutiny was no less pervasive. With the arrival of the war she wanted her dad to fight. When he refused she ranted “It’s the pits! My dad is a defeatist. He’s no patriot.” She cut classes at school, she smoked, and she got her parents to buy her Americanized clothing and wore them in defiance of the ban. She poked fun at the propaganda attempts in school mocking martyrdom and outrageously leading her friends in using toilet paper to decorate the classroom on the anniversary of the revolution. She argued with anyone who tried to restrain her and even hit the principal of her school, getting herself expelled. Marji declared herself “grown-up,” a testament to the complications involved in coming of