This week, we'll be discussing Persepolis for pretty much the entire class. You should have the book finished by Thursday so you can ask me any questions you have for your paper. Remember, the paper is due on TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20th at 11:59pm in the dropbox on Carmen. I WILL NOT BE ACCEPTING HARD COPIES OF YOUR PAPER ON TUESDAY because I won't be on campus.
If you would like to meet with me about your paper, please email me to set up a time. Because of the length of this paper, I won't be able to read full drafts via email - there simply aren't enough hours in the day for me to do so - but I am happy to meet with any and all of you. Remember, we only have TWO more sessions, but I'm totally willing to meet outside of section to help all of you prepare for the final.
Some of you have asked me questions about the novel, so below is a little bit more background.
The Qajar Dynasty ruled Iran throughout the 19th century until 1925. The last Qajar shah (who they call the "emperor" in Persepolis) was called Ahmad, and he technically ruled from 1909 until 1925. Ahmad is Marjane's great-grandfather on her mother's side. He was stripped of all his powers in a coup in 1921, went into exile in 1923, and was formally deposed in 1925. The person who led that coup was the man who rose up from nothing to become Reza Shah Pahlavi, who ruled from 1925 until the British and the Soviets ordered him to step down in favor of his son, Mohammad Reza Shah, in 1941. Mohammad Reza Shah was the shah in power when the US & Britain over threw the prime minister Mossadegh (who nationalized the oil, as we saw in the video). He stayed in power until the Iranian Revolution, so all the protests and accusations that the Satrapis make in the book are against him.
A major focus in Persepolis is the Iran-Iraq War, which lasted from 1980 (when Iraq invaded Iran) until 1988. Some of you have asked me where the US fell in this conflict. The US provided outright military support for Iraq, as well as economic aid - BUT, the US also sold arms to Iran secretly, which led to the Iran-Contra Affair (which I'm happy to talk about more in class if you're interested). The causes, course, and outcome of the Iran-Iraq war are all described briefly and very well in this short BBC news article from 2005: The Iran-Iraq War: 25 years on
ACTIVITY - due by 11:59pm on Wednesday, 11/14
Please do ONE of the following two things in the comments:
1) Tell us what your favorite scene (or the one that affected you the most) in the graphic novel was and why - what struck you about this? What does this scene tell us about everyday life during the Iranian Revolution? In what way does it reflect the broader world historical context?
OR
2) What similarities or differences do you see between Persepolis and The River Between? What are some common themes and some examples of where you see those themes? What do they tell us about everyday life in periods of intense social upheaval?
See y'all on Thursday!
If you would like to meet with me about your paper, please email me to set up a time. Because of the length of this paper, I won't be able to read full drafts via email - there simply aren't enough hours in the day for me to do so - but I am happy to meet with any and all of you. Remember, we only have TWO more sessions, but I'm totally willing to meet outside of section to help all of you prepare for the final.
Some of you have asked me questions about the novel, so below is a little bit more background.
The Qajar Dynasty ruled Iran throughout the 19th century until 1925. The last Qajar shah (who they call the "emperor" in Persepolis) was called Ahmad, and he technically ruled from 1909 until 1925. Ahmad is Marjane's great-grandfather on her mother's side. He was stripped of all his powers in a coup in 1921, went into exile in 1923, and was formally deposed in 1925. The person who led that coup was the man who rose up from nothing to become Reza Shah Pahlavi, who ruled from 1925 until the British and the Soviets ordered him to step down in favor of his son, Mohammad Reza Shah, in 1941. Mohammad Reza Shah was the shah in power when the US & Britain over threw the prime minister Mossadegh (who nationalized the oil, as we saw in the video). He stayed in power until the Iranian Revolution, so all the protests and accusations that the Satrapis make in the book are against him.
A major focus in Persepolis is the Iran-Iraq War, which lasted from 1980 (when Iraq invaded Iran) until 1988. Some of you have asked me where the US fell in this conflict. The US provided outright military support for Iraq, as well as economic aid - BUT, the US also sold arms to Iran secretly, which led to the Iran-Contra Affair (which I'm happy to talk about more in class if you're interested). The causes, course, and outcome of the Iran-Iraq war are all described briefly and very well in this short BBC news article from 2005: The Iran-Iraq War: 25 years on
ACTIVITY - due by 11:59pm on Wednesday, 11/14
Please do ONE of the following two things in the comments:
1) Tell us what your favorite scene (or the one that affected you the most) in the graphic novel was and why - what struck you about this? What does this scene tell us about everyday life during the Iranian Revolution? In what way does it reflect the broader world historical context?
OR
2) What similarities or differences do you see between Persepolis and The River Between? What are some common themes and some examples of where you see those themes? What do they tell us about everyday life in periods of intense social upheaval?
See y'all on Thursday!
The scene I found the most ironic was the one of the maid being upset about the key to heaven that had been given to her son in an attempt to persuade him to join the fight. I just thought it was odd that the government had such little regard for their own people’s lives that they would use tactics such as this to recruit soldiers instead of trying to inspire a feeling of nationalism to fuel the fight. It is fitting that the poor children were the ones who were targeted with the ideas of prosperity and material ownership as their reward for being killed in battle. It goes to show you that propaganda is always used in conflicts to shape the ideas of not only people abroad but domestic ideals as well.
ReplyDeleteThough I haven’t finished reading the graphic book yet, I really have to say that, as to an international student like me, this is the first book that I could finish it in one afternoon, reading it tirelessly and incessantly. I think the reasons making the book so readable and attractive to me are the non-profundity, humorousness and its presence as a portrait of daily life. I mean the simpler it is presented to people, the more meanings and thoughts it may contain and pondered by readers. Move on to the Persepolis itself, I have two favorite scenes that I cannot tell which is better to me because they are equally thought provoking to me. The first one is the section named “the sheep”, where the heroes in the previous section (Siamak Jari and Mohsen Shakiba) were aimed to be terminated. Mohsen was murdered while Siamak escaped with his family hiding in a flock of sheep. This scene indicated that after the collapse of Shah’s autarchy, the revolutionary power originally raised to gain freedom was transformed or, twisted into the efforts of Islamic fundamentalism to seize the power. Though it is not clearly mentioned in the section, this was actually the Ruhollah Khomeini’s efforts to wipeout all other factions and stabilize his new regime. You can see even a previous arbitrary government was kicked out, there would soon follow another. The second one is in the section called “the Key”, in which kids were sent to the army during the invasion of Iraq according to Marjane’s cousin Shahab. This scene interested me because it is a perfect demonstration of the effects of the Islamic revolution on Iranian people. At that time, Iran had population around 36 million people, territory around 617 thousand squared miles and GDP around 86 billion dollars while Iraq had population only around 13 million people, territory of 166 squared miles and GDP of 39 billion dollars. Thus Iran had an absolute military ascendency over Iraq; however, because of the Islamic revolution, the military power of Iran shrank, causing most of the wars before 1981 take place within Iranian territories. In order to fight back, Iran expanded its military power by recruiting young Iranian people. It is really hard to imagine the enormous pain the families of the kids sent to the army would endure.
ReplyDeleteThe scene that had a profound effect on me was execution of Niloufar spoken of in The Dowry. According to the law, it was illegal to kill a virgin, so to get around this a guardian of the revolution would marry the woman and take her virginity so that she may be killed. It stuck me that the government would go through so much trouble to make the execution justifiable under the law even though their methods of doing so were morally wrong. This seemed ionic to me. This showed the everyday scene of death during the Revolution. No one was spared if they were against the government, not the young or the old, man or woman. This shows why many people fled the country as seen in the next scene where Marji is sent to Austria for her own safety.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite scene from the graphic novel was "Kim Wilde." This was where Marjane's parents went on vacation to Turkey, brought her back presents, and then Marjane went out to buy tapes and got stopped by the guardians of the revolution. This scene stuck out to me because Marjane heard ealier that people were punished with irons, so she lied to the guardians when they stopped her and told them that her mother was going to burn her with an iron if she was late. This scene shows us that Marjane was a rebel, she didn't care about following the rules strictly, but when she was about to get in trouble she made up excuses to protect herself. This reflects that people were against the revolution, and they would partake in small acts that would show their resistance to the revolution. Though they weren't lashing out, they were still making their point known.
ReplyDeleteThe scene that affected me the most in the story was in the chapter "The Party." Marji and her friends had found out that Ramin another classmate was the son of a member of the SAVAK. Her friend told her that Ramin's father had killed a million communists. They decided that Ramin had to be punished and were going to "nail" him. This scene depicts how strongly the country of Iran was separated. The communists were so completely against any of those under the Shah. The result of any conflict was brutal. The kids were going to torture Ramin because of his fathers actions, this also shows how any sort of affiliation with the opposite group could get you into trouble. This brutality and violence of the Iranian Revolution was apparent even in the actions of small children.
ReplyDeleteThe last scene, “The Dowry,” was not my favorite scene in the book, however, it was the one that stuck out most for me. The way in which Marji was sent to live in Austria without her family had to be unbelievably difficult. I can’t imagine moving to a foreign country, during the time of a revolution, at such a young age without family. Marji also understood that there was a chance that she would never live with her parents or even possibly ever see them again. The scene definitely shows how difficult the lives of the people were during the Iranian Revolution. Safety was constantly an issue and difficult decisions had to be made by the people, as shown in this scene.
ReplyDeleteThe most scene that had the most impact on me was "The Cigarette". Throughout the scene it showed the progression of how Marji is forced into adulthood so abruptly and is forced to grow up sooner than most kids. She is faced with the harsh reality of living in Iran during this time period. She becomes extremely stressed and pressured and smokes the cigarette as an act of rebellion. It really showed the strains and difficulties that she was going through that forced her to turn to a cigarette at such a low age.
ReplyDeleteThe scene that affected me the most in Persepolis is "The Sheep." It shows how brutal the regime could be and how scared people were of them. Many of Satrapi's family and friends left the country for the United States, but some stayed behind and were killed. First it was Mohsen, then Siamak's sister. Then at the end of the scene, Anoosh was arrested and later killed. This scene shows how families in the Iranian Revolution could lose so many loved ones in such a short time, whether they died or fled the country. It showed how close Satrapi had become with her uncle Anoosh before he was arrested and executed. You basically had to prepare yourself everyday for news of losing another friend or family member, which would be extremely difficult.
ReplyDeleteShane Walter 11:30
I find the scene with Marjane's maid very interesting. Not only is it comical, it also highlights the vast differences in class during the Iranian Revolution. Mehri was eight years old when she was sent away from her family. She was robbed of her childhood because of her parents' inability to support their family. In contrast, Marjane's family is not only able to support Marjane, but also able to take in Mehri. This shows the large income disparity caused by the unstable governmental policies. Merhi is also rejected by the family's neighbor boy because of her social class. She is incredibly limited because of her social standing. This seems to happen even in American society today. Our social classes stratify our society, even to the point of being unable to associate with those who are not of the same social standing as we are.
ReplyDeleteAs a whole, I liked Persepolis for its emotionally jarring factors. In several situations, the tone and scenario juggled faster than the reader, or even Marjane, could keep up. To me, the scene that best displayed this view was at the point where Marjane went back to school, and was punished for merely expressing confusion about what she was taught and previously knew to be true.
ReplyDeleteTo have books lying to her, before and after the change, to be upheld in the light of the current leader, and to be a young naiive kid who couldn't know any better, put a huge change of perspective on the story for me. The new reign, built of people barely older than myself, from childish and naiive ideals of greatness?
Its... staggering.
Sean Trosen; Thursday 12:40
My favorite scenes in Persepolis were when Marjane depicted the God-figure and their relationship. I think this showed a lot about how she viewed religion as a whole as being more of a personal relationship and how important the whole concept was and changed throughout her life especially during a revolution. The way the scenes were drawn portrayed the ideas and her emotions to the audience in an effective (and creative) way.
ReplyDeleteThe scene I found most shocking, however was the scene where Marjane and her friends wanted to find their classmate and punish and beat him up with nails because of his father's actions. They didn't realize the full extent of the consequences their intentions would have caused had they been carried out. It didn't seem like Marjane's mother had as shocked of a response to her daughter's actions as I expected too. These scenes as well as the panels where Marjane created games based off of tortures really show how the revolution affected children at the time and how desensitized they were becoming to violence around them.
My favorite scene in Persepolis was when Marjane talks to God at the beginning of the graphic novel. When she was younger, she had to wear a veil at school. Some women was for the veil while other women was against it. For Marjane, deep down, she was very religious but her family was modern because her father drives an American-made car. When she grows up, she wanted to be the last prophet and she would talk to God at night about everything. It shows how her views of religion and how it changes throughout her life.
ReplyDeleteTran Nguyen
11:30
The scene in Persepolis that I liked the most was one of the last ones. I liked the scene when Marjane had to leave and she had that bonding time with her grandmother. I liked this scene because I understood why this was important to Marjane because she about to leave and live in entire world on her own and she needed this last connection to remember her family and life in iran.
ReplyDeleteVicki F 11:30
ReplyDeleteA scene that really affected me was the one in the chapter "the key" that discussed how people would beat themselves. It was discussing how it was done for religious reasons. I don't exactly understand why they did it. I understand it was for religious reasons, but what reasons? Is it just because they wanted them to be martyrs? I was also really affected by the picture where the man was hitting himself with the knife. It just seems so harsh and extreme and I don't understand the meaning behind it. I guess it kind of compares to the female circumcision in "The River Between." It is done for their cultural reasons and people on the outside of the culture don't understand.
I liked the scene where Marjane was talking to her classmates on the Iran/Iraq war and was adding up the supposed casualties that the Iranian army had supposedly inflicted on the Iraqis and simply stated that the number they claimed would have been more than was in the American army. I immediately recalled how the German people in WWI were convinced they were winning because of propoganda and were surprised when they lost all of a sudden. The claims made by the government and media were not truths and were more motivation to keep the meatgrinder/war going. In a global context, I'm sure that every government isn't straight with its citizens and stretches truths or just tells outright lies to maintain power. Countries can block internet content if they so feel, just like China was blocking Google recently or certain Arabian states blocking Youtube after the controvercial video was released on it.
ReplyDeleteJohn B
Thurs 10:20
The scene that struck me the most in Persepolis was "The Key." It shocked me that the government would sacrifice so many of their people, children even, to have fighters for the war. Also, not that they were just fighters, but they were literally just used to be on the front lines and die. That they also targeted poor children and convinced them that they would go to Heaven and live better lives was so sad. This scene depicts the lack of care for any Iranian citizens, as the rest of the book shows as well. Constantly through the book Marjane's family struggles because of mostly forces in their country.
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ReplyDeleteThe most interesting but miserable scene while I read the book was When Marjane's uncle Anoosh was executed as a victim of political power in his home country. I was really astonished and shocked how the a political party, which substantially possesses power, acted when it discovered a potential political enemy. The Iran army killed revolutionists, journalist and democrats who seem having opposite forces from them, including uncle Anoosh, Marjane's uncle who advocated the democracy. The scene narrated, at the first time, all the residents in Iran attempted to drive out Mohammad Reza Shah in order to improve their country, causing numerous number of causalities. However, although they expelled the person in power, Mohammad Shah, they had to experience another big political tension in which political power continues ruling Iran, leading another bleeding with-in war among Iranian. Therefore, the Iranian revolution didn't bring a harmony in a country, but toss another tension to torture the residents in Iran, causing many of them to exile to other countries like U.S.
The scene that I found most interesting was the scene after Marjane received her jean jacket and Nike running shoes from her parents after their vacation. Marjane got stopped by a group of woman who did not approve of her wardrobe choices. They ordered her to go with them so they could report her to the people in charge. I found it very strange that the government in Iran was able to dictate what their citizens wore. I do understand that covering up and being modest is important, but I think personal expression through clothing is something everybody should be able to show and enjoy. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book and I think it was a great choice to teach us about the Iranian Revolution!
ReplyDeleteI was most affected by the scene on page 51. This was the scene depicting the torture that was enforced in the prisons that imprisoned those who were members of the guerrillas. Although just comic drawing sketches I think that the images of torture were still extremely vivid. While reading and observing the scene I could feel my shoulders tensing up and myself sort of squirming with discomfort. This image depicts the violence during this time. I think it depicts how cruel people could be toward one another in order to enforce their ideology.
ReplyDeleteSo I want to compare Persepolis to The River Between, Persepolis seems easier to read, but also challenging to some degree. The same theme I found in both these novels are: religious tension, western influence, and the change of faith.
ReplyDeleteSo what I noticed is both the story begins at the main character's childhood. Marjane and Waiyaki both grew from a very special time period and they both confused with their own role in the society as they grow up. So they are all more or less struggled between their personal identity and their national identity. The story both focused on illustrating their attempt to find a balance between the western thoughts and their own traditions.
Another thing I want to mention is that, I noticed that Satrapi often uses black backgrounds and outlines her characters and objects in white, which effectively creating a dark atmosphere throughout the book.
I finished the book a while ago so the scenes are kind of fuzzy, but one that comes to mind is in "Persepolis" (the chapter), when Marji's father is late coming home from photographing a demonstration at a hospital. He tells her mother and grandmother about a crowd that was carrying the body of a young man killed by the army to the cemetery and honoring him as a martyr of the revolution. Following this, a crowd starts to do the same for the body of an old man whose widow says to them to stop because he died of cancer. This scene was funny to me because the old woman ended up joining the demonstration with the crowd against the king. This scene shows how sometimes completely unrelated deaths acted as fuel to push the revolution forward. When Marji hears her parents and grandmother laughing at the story that included the words cadaver, death, cancer, and murderer, she is slightly disturbed and confused, but laughs along with them anyway. She then decides that she needs to read to learn more about the reasons for the revolution. This shows how even the children were influenced by the revolutionary ideas and the events of the time did not simply go over their heads.
ReplyDeleteI actually liked the book, so a lot of the scenes were interesting to me. However, out of the many interesting scenes, I really liked the scene " The Heroes". I've always heard the tales of the prisoners of war and how they are tortured, but this scene brought it to life. Especially when they cut off the guy's arms and legs, it's just very grotesque. The other part that caught my attention was how after the kids heard the details of the torture, they were playing torture as a game. Then I started thinking about how the war must have affected the children. If that's all they knew, I'm sure their vision of the world is completely distorted. I mean, think about the kids born into it, they'll never know freedom or anything that we experience and take for granted.
ReplyDeletePersepolis and The River Between both had an outside entity trying to force its religion upon the native people. In The River Between, it was the white man's Christianity versus the Native religions, and in Persepolis it was the Islamic revolutionaries who imposed their power by forcing the Iranians to manifest Islamic rituals, like women wearing the veil and men growing facial hair. A common theme existed that the protagonist of each book was struggling against a religious "colonization" of their people. In The River Between, Wayaki was in a position of power, and consequently had a chance to make an impact in how the conflict played out. In Persepolis, however, Satrapi was just a girl, and her best option was to flee the country. This tells us that everyday life was a struggle for everyone in periods of intense social upheaval. This is evidenced by the empowered's treatment of Satrapi and other Iranian citizens in Persipolis, and also by the Romeo and Juliet-like conflict between Wayaki and Nyambura in The River Between.
ReplyDeleteJonathon Williams
11:30
Tell us what your favorite scene (or the one that affected you the most) in the graphic novel was and why - what struck you about this? What does this scene tell us about everyday life during the Iranian Revolution? In what way does it reflect the broader world historical context?
ReplyDeleteMy Favorite scene in the graphic novel was when Satrapi goes out to get cassetes wearng her demin jacket and nike shoes and gets stopped by the guardians of revolution. This scene struck me because it showed how extreme people became, They were willing to physically hurt people just because of what they were wearing. This shows how much everyday life changed. Women were expected to wear the viel and when worn incorrectly they had people haunting them down. It also shows the rebellion of people like Satrapi and her parents. They knew what was banned but still bought those things. It also shows how scary it was to get caught. Satrapi was lucky to have been let go. This also shows how even with the revolution going on people remained connected to western culture, they were well aware of the popular artists and clothing.
Veronica Flores
One major similarity I have noticed between Persepolis and The River Between is the far-reaching effects of westernization. In both novels, there are those who oppose it and those who embrace it openly. The search for the perfect balance of western culture and traditional practices is a major theme in both novels. In Persepolis, an example of this can be seen when Marjane receives western gifts from her parents. She is persecuted with threats of being arrested when seen walking around in her new jean jacket. Similarly, in The River Between, Waiyaki advocates for the “white man’s education” amongst the tribe, but is harassed for contaminating the “purity” of the tribe. The difference between the spread of western ideals in the novels is that a much more direct approach is taken in The River Between. The Europeans directly invade the land and attempt to convert the tribe to Christianity by destroying rituals and other aspects of their culture. In Persepolis, the people are not so forced to adopt western beliefs, though some choose to anyways.
ReplyDeleteThe scene affected me most is the chapter “Persepolis”. In this chapter, from the description of Marjane’s grandma, we know that people in the past always lived a hard and poor life because the king cared less about his people and never kept his promise. So in the view of Marjane’s grandma, revolution is a good thing and needed at that moment. But the fact is, not all the people clearly know the reason and meaning of revolution. From the description of Marjane’s father about what he had saw in the hospital that an old man who died because of cancer were also regard as Martyr, we can know that the majority of people were still in ignorance. They had no direction and guidelines. I understand that people were full of anger towards the government in their heart and they wished some changes immediately, but they use a wrong way. As a result, people at that time did not get what they wished to have in the later story.
ReplyDelete1) Tell us what your favorite scene (or the one that affected you the most) in the graphic novel was and why - what struck you about this? What does this scene tell us about everyday life during the Iranian Revolution? In what way does it reflect the broader world historical context?
ReplyDeleteIn Persepolis, the scene that before Marji went to Austria affected me the most. She said goodbye to her grandmother and her parents. They told her never forgot the motherland and Marji’s mother pretended to be happy but collapsed after Marji left. I was struck by the situation that they must separate and hide sadness in their hearts. It told me that people lived in an intense everyday life during the Iranian Revolution. Some people had to escape from government’s arrest and slaughter. They tried their best to hide or go to other countries. Thus, a lot of families had the same unfortunate fate. It reflects that, in the world historical context, no matter what kinds of revolutions, they would cause turmoil, blood, and the misfortune for the people who involved in the conflicts.
1) Tell us what your favorite scene (or the one that affected you the most) in the graphic novel was and why - what struck you about this? What does this scene tell us about everyday life during the Iranian Revolution? In what way does it reflect the broader world historical context?
ReplyDeleteI thought the Heroes chapter was really interesting as it certainly affected me the most. It talks about torture and it really makes you understand how very real it is. The amount of graphic detail and description it has is disturbing. The children actually hear about this torture and make it into a game, which is really messed up. These prisoners who are tortured are seen a heroes and are valued in their society. That creates very odd social beliefs among children and really isn't good for them to be thinking about because it will shape their view on torture as they grow up.
My favorite scene in Persepolis was The F-14's. This scene was my favorite because I feel that it applies in a very real way to many people with the wars in Iraq, and other terror attacks. During the beginning of the scene Marjane becomes very upset and has a strong sense of nationalism, in anger to the attacks on her country. She immediately calls for retaliation and when it finally comes she is overjoyed. The thing that really hit me is when she realizes that a friend of hers may have lost someone close to her. I think it's far too easy to overlook the death of people until you realize that it may be someone close to you and it becomes much more personal. Although not war related, I recently learned of a friends' mothers unexpected death, and even though we aren't that close it is still something that hits you hard and has a really profound impact.
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ReplyDeleteThe scene “The Sheep” had a profound impact on me during my reading of Persepolis. The outright brutality shown by the Iranian Regime in this scene was not only disturbing but depressing as well. When many of Satrapi’s family left the country for the United States, those that stayed behind were either arrested or killed. This scene helps demonstrate the everyday struggles of an Iranian person during such a horrific revolt. Mohsen and Siamak’s sister were both killed and Anoosh is arrester and sentenced to death. During the Iranian Revolution, any given person could lose an entire family on any given day, and the consequences of such a tragedy were usually horrific as well.
The scene that affected me the most was "The Letter." This scene displayed Iran's concern over social class. Mehri and the neighbor showed mutual affection for one another. However once Marjane's father told the boy that Mehri was actually a maid, the neighbor called it off. Even though Marjane's father participated in the demonstrations, he still didn't want Mehri to get involved with somebody who belonged in a different social class. Marjane believed the exact opposite, stating that it wasn't Mehri's fault that she was born in a lower social class. She felt so strongly about this that she decided to participate in the protests with Mehri. It's admirable to see such a young child participate in order to fight for the rights of her "sister." However, these social situations still occur everywhere in the world. America still has a conflicting relationship between upper, middle, and lower social classes, albeit not like the revolution in the 1980s.
ReplyDeleteThe question I decided to answer: 1) Tell us what your favorite scene (or the one that affected you the most) in the graphic novel was and why - what struck you about this? What does this scene tell us about everyday life during the Iranian Revolution? In what way does it reflect the broader world historical context?
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite scenes and chapters was "Kim Wilde". I found it so interesting that Satrapi really wanted a denim jacket, chocolate, and 2 poster, and her parents had to try so hard to hid the posters in her fathers jacket because they were not allowed to bring back such items in their country since a lot of westernized items were banned there. This tells us everyday life during the Iranian Revolution was very strict in what items could be acceptable in their culture. Satrapi even got Nike shoes and a Michael Jackson coin. This shows the western part of the world was really influencing the Middle East whether the enemy wanted it to be there or not. I like how Satrapi's parents were not afraid to bring westernized influences back home with them to make their daughter happy, showing their rebellious side, which Satrapi definitely has as well as she slaps her teacher later in the story. I did find it weird that Satrapi's mom let her out of the house with a westernized look during the middle of the revolution by herself; the amount of deaths occurring was so high! Satrapi was so lucky the guardians of the revolution did not take her away. Also, Satrapi sings "we're the kids of America" song at the very end. This is definitely the largest contribution of how the westernized world is arriving to Iran, as she is singing about it.
The Heroes scene affected me a lot. In this scene, I feel that Marjane begins to understand the ugly and torurous side of the Revolution. She actually seems troubled by the things that she hears about how people are treated in jail. I could not believe that she decided to make her own torture game with her friends. I think it's crazy that children of her age believed this to be almost normal. The transformation of Marjane at the beginning of the book to now, is interesting. She goes from wanting to be a prophet to making up games where the loser has to suffer some kind of torture--two things that I wouldn't normally associate together.
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