The Complete Persepolis Analysis

Throughout history humans have developed their form of thinking, their form of behaving, as well as their form of communicating and reacting towards certain situations. More importantly, they have created a system of beneficial separation to classify their own unique traditions, beliefs, and costumes. These traditions, beliefs, and costumes come together to be specifically classified with the term of “culture”. In “The Complete Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi, we can observe, analyze, and become consciously aware about Iranian citizens’ social perspectives, form of living, and form of handling family situations, as well as their experiences all along with the 1979 Iranian War.
Satrapi begins by describing an important phase of commencement
in her life, the beginning of the oppression from the government towards the Iranian citizens, the beginning of a tense war. Satrapi explains how females were force to wear a veil/hijab as a sign of curtesy and respect based on Islamic fundamentalist policies. “then came 1980: the year it became obligatory to wear the veil at school. We didn’t really like to wear the veil, especially since we didn’t understand why we had to” (Satrapi, “The Veil” The Complete Persepolis 3). We can see how sometimes other cultures try and/or enforce their traditions on other groups of population and even entire nations.

Due to actions like these, there will always be citizens who will stand up for their own beliefs and morals.
“Everywhere in the streets there were demonstrations for and against the veil. At one of the demonstrations, a German journalist took a photo of my mother. I was really proud of her. Her photo was published in all the European newspapers” (Satrapi, “The Veil” The Complete Persepolis 5). We see how citizens come into play an important role when defending their rights, even though this will mean putting their lives at risk.
Furthermore, Satrapi also highlights important issues that we still witness today. She offers us an overlook of how her neighborhood did not suffer much damage since she lived in a high-class neighborhood. She also shows a conflict of economic and social class separation within a community. “You must understand that their love was impossible. Why is that?. Because in this country you must stay within your own social class. But is it her fault that she was born where she was born???... (Satrapi, “The Veil” The Complete Persepolis 37). Finally, she also does a good work demonstrating how a teenager can fall into many addictions if they don’t feel like they fit in society and/or to escape their harsh
reality.
Lastly, to reflect and evaluate on Satrapi’s purpose of narrating her experiences throughout important phases of her life, we can conclude, that some of her noticeable purposes were to change the perspective of people towards Iranian citizens, she also wants to portray all the hardships (casualties, economical losses, and family separation) that the Iranian war caused. She wants us to perceive that even though she went through a lot during her early years, she still managed to keep going, to keep succeeding, not matter the obstacles that were presented and are present in her life.
To conclude, we can learn about culture fluency and global awareness through Marjane’s
Satrapi artistic story. We can observe and analyze the different type of behaviors from individuals who experienced the Iranian war such as Satrapi. We also can be able to learn different types of forms of how individuals fought for their rights even if it implied losing their lives. As students, we shall be able to assimilate the diversity of cultures, as well as becoming accepting students who work as a team to become leaders and defenders of those who are deprived and/or do not have a voice in society.