The Key: A Significant Panel in Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis
Persepolis: A Significant Panel
Among the most important panels in Persepolis, one stands out to most readers towards the end of the chapter, “The Key”. “The Key” refers to the story of the son of Marji’s maid and many other young boys who were promised a key to paradise if they fought in the war against Iraq. On page 102, Satrapi illustrates the shadows of young boys scattered in the air from the blast of exploding minefields below, each one with a plastic key around their necks. Marjane Satrapi uses shadowing of figures, body positions, an aware and comprehensive tone, and significant phrases or words to demonstrate the desperation of the Iranian government in winning the war against Iraq. To begin with, the boys themselves are shadows, they’re faceless, and this suggests there are far too many to identify. This also indicates that the government had a negligent relationship with its countrymen, and only truly had its mind set on winning the war, nothing more. The figures also appear to be drawn in the same fashion, shaded the same colour, and given very few details, for this reason all the boys seem equal-that is to say everyone suffered through the same thing. Furthermore, the shadowed young men adumbrate that the boys indeed all passed away, which references modern folklore in the sense that a shadowed figure or person usually resembles a paranormal entity or ghost.
Moreover, the body stances or positions of the boys illustrated look to be “free-falling”, in essence, they have no control over what is happening to their bodies, and like the government they are desperate. Similarly, they no longer have control over their own lives. The limbs of the boys almost seem dislocated, implying they feel immense pain. Their bodies appear in unnatural positions; some are upside down, some are sideways, and in some you can only see half of their bodies. However, in almost all of them, their hands are up, extended above their faces, looking as if
Among the most important panels in Persepolis, one stands out to most readers towards the end of the chapter, “The Key”. “The Key” refers to the story of the son of Marji’s maid and many other young boys who were promised a key to paradise if they fought in the war against Iraq. On page 102, Satrapi illustrates the shadows of young boys scattered in the air from the blast of exploding minefields below, each one with a plastic key around their necks. Marjane Satrapi uses shadowing of figures, body positions, an aware and comprehensive tone, and significant phrases or words to demonstrate the desperation of the Iranian government in winning the war against Iraq. To begin with, the boys themselves are shadows, they’re faceless, and this suggests there are far too many to identify. This also indicates that the government had a negligent relationship with its countrymen, and only truly had its mind set on winning the war, nothing more. The figures also appear to be drawn in the same fashion, shaded the same colour, and given very few details, for this reason all the boys seem equal-that is to say everyone suffered through the same thing. Furthermore, the shadowed young men adumbrate that the boys indeed all passed away, which references modern folklore in the sense that a shadowed figure or person usually resembles a paranormal entity or ghost.
Moreover, the body stances or positions of the boys illustrated look to be “free-falling”, in essence, they have no control over what is happening to their bodies, and like the government they are desperate. Similarly, they no longer have control over their own lives. The limbs of the boys almost seem dislocated, implying they feel immense pain. Their bodies appear in unnatural positions; some are upside down, some are sideways, and in some you can only see half of their bodies. However, in almost all of them, their hands are up, extended above their faces, looking as if