Persepolis written by Marjane Satrapi is an autobiographic graphic novel written in the eyes of her childhood as she grows up in Iran during the authoritarian regime. Through writing this text, Satrapi is illustrating the children of Iran and the idea that ‘an entire nation should not be judged by a few extremists.’ On pages 96 and 97 Satrapi looks into the reaction of the regime from the young population of Iran and extent of which one would go to show commitment to Iran.
The Regime divided Iran, there were the fundamentalists and the modern resistors against the practice. In the school Marji was in, they had to follow the regime’s strict orders for instance, wearing a veil and as seen in first three frames of page 96, the girls had to pound their chests to support the troops in the war. In the fourth frame, Satrapi illustrate the girls’ facial features to be relatively similar to each other but have for each to have one point of difference. This employs the idea that when representing the fundamentalist ideals, no one was meant to think differently or act individually. Iran was meant to think, act and be as one. The features of separation between each girl symbolises everyone has their own hidden thoughts on the regime and had a u unique view to the war zone in which they lived in. In times of sombreness, the girls appear to be making fun of the harsh rules of the regime. In the first 5 frames of page 97, the girls mock their political leaders as ‘every situation offered an opportunity for laughs.’ They made comedy of a dark time. Satrapi further shows readers how Iran wasn’t just a country of extremists. There were child...
