The Complete Persepolis

Final Essay TCP

Education is a priority for a lot of the Iranians in “The Complete Persepolis” especially to Marjane. It is evident that education is government run in Iran, and is greatly influenced by it. There are many different levels and kinds of education that Iranians experience; the kind the student had depended on their social status. I think the amount of education they received was very important to the Iranians, and determines their occupation later in life. Education is extremely important in the lives of Iranians in general, and in Marjane. Your education level is the basis on how people are judged in Iran, and opens you up for different job opportunities as it does in the United States. I feel like Marjane at the beginning of the book felt that education was necessary but bias. What I mean by this is that she was upset that she was forced to learn what the government wanted to teach them, and not what they believed. However, in the books final pages Marjane comes to the realization that “One must educate oneself
”. We can tell how much she actually values education by how badly she wanted to get into the School for the Decorative Arts in Strasburg. At the end of this book education is obviously at the top of her mind, and is one of her main duties. I do believe that there were different kinds of education in The Complete Persepolis, and they had different levels of success. First, there was the French School where Marjane attends at the beginning of the book. At the French school, a lot of things were forced upon her, and she was forced to believe them. Although she disagreed with them, she couldn’t come out and say it or she would get thrown out. There is also an art school that she attends, which they are free to express themselves in, which I believe is very successful. I think that the government run schools are forcing things upon their students in Iran, and the private ones are very open minded. Iran’s education and education in United States are very different, and teach different ways, but at the same time they are similar. In Iran most of the schools are government run and funded which is the same as in the United States. However, in the United States public school teachers are not allowed to force any ideas on kids. A similarity between the two types of schools is that they both have a school dress code or uniform. I think that a school uniform or dress code is a fantastic idea because it puts all the kids on the same level or status. In USA Today’s article on School uniforms Michael Sjostrom says that “I wore a school uniform for 12 years, and it was far better than having to choose what to wear. I had less hassle, less fashion show and more focus.
” I agree there is less stress, and it is better to have a uniform, but it is very different from Iranians’ uniforms where they can’t show any skin. Also I believe that in America education is a way to move up in the world, and to create a better life than the one given to you. We have this available to us because there is no class or caste system established. In Iran, it is extremely hard to move up and down in social classes, and they are very defined. Overall I think that the two education systems are very different. Education was extremely important to the Iranians, and was necessary to get a good education. It was especially important in the last few pages of the Complete Persepolis to Marjane. I think that this book teaches us how important education is to the world, and how lucky we are to have a great one.