Throughout Persepolis we are able to see the hardships that the author, Marjane
Satrapi, seems to go through. All these
struggles happen during her childhood, which makes it even more difficult for
the reader to understand how she went through it all reason being that, as
mentioned previously, she was just a child and there was so much she had to go
thorough and learn about at such a young age.
After seeing everything she went through what does this teach us? One thing for sure which is that we have to
be grateful for the life we are given and we should not take everything for
granted. We are lucky enough to not have
to live in a world where you are not allowed to be yourself, danger and death
surrounded you, and a brighter tomorrow was never promised.
There
are many clear examples of danger that seem to surround Satrapi’s life. There is a moment where Satrapi and her
family briefly talk with their neighbors, a husband and wife, and the husband
tells her father “Look! A bullet almost
hit my wife’s cheek.” (Satrapi 44) For this much danger to be present in a
child’s life can sometimes be traumatizing.
She also had the misfortune to lose people in her life due to the revolution. She lost her uncle, because he was arrested,
as well as a friend who was a victim of a bombing. “…Together with the other people in our
building, we turned the basement into a shelter. Every time the siren rang out everyone would
run downstairs… After the bombs and the instinctive fear of death, you’d think
of the victims and another kind of anxiety seized you.” she mentions. (Satrapi 103-104) At her age, it must have been confusing and
for the majority of the time her life consisted of living in a battlefield. Not only that, but she had to cope with many
loses of life. There was a moment where
her street was bombed and she ran home thinking it was her home and that her
family was injured, but once there she realized that the bomb had hit her
neighbors home where her friend lived.
“Something told me that the Baba-Levys had been at home. Something caught my attention. I saw a turquoise bracelet…The bracelet was
still attached to I don’t know what. No
scream in the world could have reueved my suffering and my anger.” (Satrapi 142)
There was no other choice for Satrapi but to learn to live in that type
of environment.
Another
negative factor during Satrapi’s childhood was the lack of freedom. It is expected for kids to not have so much
freedom, for example going out at night and coming home late. When referring to lack of freedom in
Satrapi’s childhood I am referring to the fact that she was not able to be
herself out in public. She could not
speak freely and express herself. This
meant that she was restricted to dressing any other way that was not with a
veil on. She was also not allowed to
listen to the type of music she was in to.
There was a time where Satrapi went out for a walk to purchase music and
she was dressed wearing a jean jacket, Michael Jackson pin, and Nike
sneakers. While strolling down the
street she was stopped by the Guardians of the Revolution, the women’s branch,
who were known for arresting women who were not veiled correctly. “Why are you wearing those “punk” shoes?
…What do I see here? Michael
Jackson! That symbol of decadence?”, the
women told Satrapi. (Satrapi 133) Luckily she was able to get out of this
incidence by making up a pity story. If
any of these rules were broken, the punishment was severe. They would be arrested and in deep
trouble.
Everyone during
that time grew up being taught the same thing.
It is as if no one had a sense of individualism because they were forced
to believe certain things since they could not be themselves. Not only that, but they were so close minded
because the only people they knew were their own so anyone else who was not
like them was seen as bad. They were not
used to different people. In an
interview with Marjane Satrapi she mentioned, “If I didn't know any people from
other countries, based on news stories, I'd think everyone was evil!” (Satrapi)
This is a clear example that the way they lived their life was basically
in a box. They lived under strict rules
that made some people happy since they did not mind them, but for others it was
a torture. Luckily Satrapi was an
exception and as she mentions, “But I know a lot of people, and know that there
is no such thing as stark good and evil.
There are good and evil everywhere.”
(Satrapi)
Many
of these people nowadays continue to be close minded, by “these people” I am
referring to those who have grown up in a society where their every move is
controlled. After Satrapi wrote Persepolis,
she was not allowed back in Iran because her story was so controversial. It shocked her people to see that she
revealed those details to the public.
That nation is still very controversial nowadays. In an article by the Iran Times International it was mentioned that a television channel in Tunisia
aired the movie Persepolis which is based on the novel by Satrapi and it turned
out to be a bad move because it caused an outrage with the Muslims. It was said, “The film, which portrays the
fall of the Shah's regime through the eyes of Satrapi when she was a little
girl, contains a drawing of God as an elderly, bearded man speaking to Satrapi.
The portrayal offended many Muslims who believe that, according to the tenets
of Islam, God should not be depicted at all.”
(Iran Times International)
It is disappointing to see that instead of these people supporting one
of their own for her success and getting through the struggles of the
revolution they decide to protest and totally turn against her.
It is obvious that
the reason for the residents to react so violently and revolt against that
action was that she went against their beliefs, although everyone is entitled
to their own actions. People should have
respect for one another and instead of protesting against her and getting all
crazy they could have just looked the other way, as it is said, meaning they
could have just ignored it. But instead
they caused a big commotion and put some people’s lives in danger. It was said that “About a 100 men armed with
Molotov cocktails, knives and swords firebombed the home of Nessma TV's owner,
Nebil Karoui, last Friday. Karoui was not home and his family was able to
escape unharmed.” (Iran Times
International ) It is unfortunate to
see all this negativity towards the freedom of speech someone had.
We should all take
the time and just try to picture ourselves living our lives like that. It is already hard to imagine living in those
conditions, now imagine being a child? There
is no time for you to run around the block and play sports because your life is
put at risk. Instead of worrying about
whether your crush likes you or not, what may run through your mind is who is
next? Who will be the next person to be
punished or killed. These are conditions
that no one will ever want to experience.
In
the end I feel that it really teaches us to be grateful for the life we live
in. Why you may ask? Well because we do not have to live our lives
in fear knowing that any moment we can be blown up by bombs. We do not have to live our lives knowing that
we can only be ourselves in our home because if we dared to step a foot out in
public expressing ourselves we could be in big trouble. There may be some negativity in our lives but
at least we are able to say that our lives do not revolve around a battlefield.
Work
Cited
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis.
1. New York: Pantheon, 2003. Print
Satrapi, Marjane.
"Why I Wrote Persepolis." Writing, 26.3 (2003): 9-11. EBSCOhost:
Advanced Search. 25 April 2012.
"They're
Rioting in Tunis over 'Persepolis' Film." Iran Times International
(Washington, DC), 41.32 (2011): 2. EBSCOhost: Advanced Search. 25 April
2012.
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