Persepolis was an ancient Iranian city , which in it's hay day was a thriving center for culture and the arts. It was the jewel of the Iranian civilization which withstood numerous invasions to preserve it's essential 'Iranianess'. It is perhaps this glorious past Marjane Satrapi eludes to in her autobiographical graphic novels PERSEPOLIS : the story of a childhood and the story of a return.
THE STORY OF A CHILDHOOD
The author is a spirited 10 yr old whose wise beyond her years . Raised by dotting yet outspoken ( radical Marxist) parents , it is clear that her up bring is very different to that of an average Iranian child. This makes her view the political upheaval and volatile public mood in her country during the Islamic revolution with a unique and independent lens. we live through all the horrors of war, civil unrest and personal loss with the tender fragility of a little girl. In the end Marji's parents feel it would be safer for her to leave her homeland and move to Austria where she has the opportunity to getting a better education. Little Marji bids a teary farewell to her beloved parents and steps out into the wide world.
THE STORY OF A RETURN
Marjane relishes her new freedoms but soon begins to feel lonely and homesick. she makes friends with an eccentric group of hippies and dabbles with drugs as she navigates the stormy seas of puberty and early adolescence. It's fascinating to see her deal with racism and isolation without any help from grown ups. when her boyfriend Markus cheats on her she slips into depression and spend following cold winter months roaming around the tram networks and parks of Vienna until she falls sick and is treated for pneumonia. After her health scare her parents bring her back to Tehran which is now reeling under the authoritarian Islamic regime. Marji tries to pick the pieces of her former resolute self while she enrolls into university to study visual arts, falls in love and gets married .Her demons come back to haunt her as her marriage collapses but she crawls back with a little help from her mom and dad. The Satrapi family finally decides that the only way their now mature young daughter can be happy is if she is not burdened with the injustices and stifling social norms that weigh down many Iranian teenagers.Marjane moves to France to create a new life for herself.
Persepolis is a brilliantly constructed novel in which the narrative transitions seamlessly from the innocence of a young child to a mature women take on the world around her. the readers are a part of Marjane pain and her growth. Visually the illustrations are bewitching and take the reader into another realm but still remains firmly grounded in reality. Though the pictures are merely in black ans white, the experience of Persepolis explores every color in the prism's spectrum.
THE STORY OF A CHILDHOOD
The author is a spirited 10 yr old whose wise beyond her years . Raised by dotting yet outspoken ( radical Marxist) parents , it is clear that her up bring is very different to that of an average Iranian child. This makes her view the political upheaval and volatile public mood in her country during the Islamic revolution with a unique and independent lens. we live through all the horrors of war, civil unrest and personal loss with the tender fragility of a little girl. In the end Marji's parents feel it would be safer for her to leave her homeland and move to Austria where she has the opportunity to getting a better education. Little Marji bids a teary farewell to her beloved parents and steps out into the wide world.
THE STORY OF A RETURN
Marjane relishes her new freedoms but soon begins to feel lonely and homesick. she makes friends with an eccentric group of hippies and dabbles with drugs as she navigates the stormy seas of puberty and early adolescence. It's fascinating to see her deal with racism and isolation without any help from grown ups. when her boyfriend Markus cheats on her she slips into depression and spend following cold winter months roaming around the tram networks and parks of Vienna until she falls sick and is treated for pneumonia. After her health scare her parents bring her back to Tehran which is now reeling under the authoritarian Islamic regime. Marji tries to pick the pieces of her former resolute self while she enrolls into university to study visual arts, falls in love and gets married .Her demons come back to haunt her as her marriage collapses but she crawls back with a little help from her mom and dad. The Satrapi family finally decides that the only way their now mature young daughter can be happy is if she is not burdened with the injustices and stifling social norms that weigh down many Iranian teenagers.Marjane moves to France to create a new life for herself.Persepolis is a brilliantly constructed novel in which the narrative transitions seamlessly from the innocence of a young child to a mature women take on the world around her. the readers are a part of Marjane pain and her growth. Visually the illustrations are bewitching and take the reader into another realm but still remains firmly grounded in reality. Though the pictures are merely in black ans white, the experience of Persepolis explores every color in the prism's spectrum.
