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Summary: Introduction
In the Introduction to Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, author Marjane Satrapi offers a brief history of the nation that was for a time called Persia and would later be renamed Iran. She says that the nation’s wealth and the geographic location have made it a target for invaders from the time of Alexander the Great on, frequently resulting in its people being subjected to foreign domination. The discovery of oil led to a period of strong influence from the West—particularly from Great Britain and the U.S.—in the twentieth century. In the early 1950s, the prime minister, Mohammed Mossadeq, attempted to curb western influence, but was deposed in 1953 by the CIA and British intelligence. With the support of Britain and U.S., Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was known simply as “the Shah,” reigned from 1953 until he fled in 1979 to escape the Islamic revolution.
Since the revolution, Iran has been discussed mainly in terms of “fundamentalism, fanaticism, and terrorism,” which the author says paints a distorted picture of a great nation since it isn’t right to judge an entire nation by the actions of a few extremists. She also wants to honor the memory of the many Iranians who suffered and died fighting the various oppressive Iranian regimes and in the war with Iraq.
Summary: The Veil
It is 1980. Marjane “Marji” Satrapi is a ten-year-old girl living with her father and mother, Ebi and Taji, in Iran, a nation that was upended by the Islamic revolution the year before. Marji attends a liberal French bilingual coeducational school where boys and girls are now separated and girls must wear a veil as a result of the revolution—changes that make Marji and her friends unhappy, but also confused. People begin demonstrating in the streets both for and against the changes, including Marji’s mother, Taji, who is against them. When a photo of Taji protesting appears in magazines and newspapers appears, Taji becomes afraid. She dyes her hair and wears dark glasses to disguise herself.
Marji, who is very spiritual—and talks every night with God—feels conflicted about the revolution. She finds herself at odds with the strict ideas of the revolution and her family’s more avant-garde ideas. At age six, Marji had decided that she wanted to become a prophet, and since prophets must write holy books, she writes one too—but she tells only her grandmother about it. Knowing that her goal of becoming a prophet would alarm her parents, Marji told them that she wanted to be a doctor. Feeling guilty for her lie, Marji reassured God that she will become a prophet, but only in secret.
Summary: The Bicycle
The story shifts back to 1979, the year of the revolution. Inspired by the demonstrations against the regime of the king, or Shah. Marji decides that instead of becoming a prophet, she’ll become a revolutionary. Marji’s parents encourage her by giving her books on philosophy, famous Iranian revolutionaries, and the histories of revolutions across the world. Marji’s favorite is a comic book called Dialectic Materialism, which compares the ideas of the French philosopher René Descartes with the German political theorist Karl Marx. Now, when God comes to talk to Marji, she has less to say.
One night, Marji overhears her parents in their bedroom discussing a fire at a local cinema that killed 400 people. The cinema doors were locked from the outside shortly before the fire, and the police stood outside the building, blocking those who wanted to help from going inside. The authorities claim that a group of religious fanatics were responsible for the massacre, but Marji and her parents realize that it was likely the Shah’s government itself who is to blame. Distraught, Marji bursts into her parents’ room, proclaiming that she will demonstrate in the streets against the Shah. Marji’s parents forbid her to do so, saying it’s too dangerous. Later that night, with tears falling down her face, Marji calls out to God, but he does not come.
Analysis
In the first section of her graphic novel, Satrapi presents Iranian society at the outset of the Iranian Revolution at its most united and optimistic. The people are united in their hatred of the Shah and most are optimistic that once the Shah is ousted, Iran’s future will be bright. Marji, the story’s subject and protagonist, is likewise full of hope and promise. Throughout the story, Marji’s state of mind is often a mirror image of the state of Iranian society. As society breaks down, so too does Marji’s emotional and mental health. But for now, Marji is as confident and hopeful as she will ever be. She also feels a powerful sense of belonging, both within her family and her country. At age six, Marji has a precocious understanding of her country’s history and a strong sense of religiosity. This suggests Marji loves her country and its primary religion and feels she has a place in society and the future. Her family is tightly-knit, and Marji’s parents are both approving and protective of her fierceness, optimism, and innocence. In these early pages, Marji and her family are strong, just as Iranian society appears to be strong. This societal strength is on full display as the country unites to reject the Shah and his regime’s cruelty. However, this show of unity and strength will prove to be the high point of Iranian unity. Soon after the Shah is deposed, indications of a darker future emerge. Likewise, Marji begins to lose her innocence, an important theme in the novel.
A significant turning point, both for Marji personally and Iranian society as a whole, is the new requirement that women wear the veil. At first, the veil seems like nothing more than an inconvenience, and Marji and the other children treat it as a nuisance and a plaything. In fact, the veil proves to be a potent symbol and powerful tool of the new regime. At a time of unity in Iran, the veil’s most immediate and negative effect is to divide society. It divides the women from the men and marks women as second-class citizens. The veil also divides society according to religious belief and support for the new regime. Those who wear the veil by the letter of the law and show no hair are considered to be fundamentalist supporters of the regime. Those who choose to wear the veil loosely and show some of their hair are considered to be modernists who protest the regime. More broadly, the veil serves to define Iranian culture and society as “Eastern” and thus divides and distances Iran from other “Western” cultures. These were not unintended side effects of the new policy but rather intentional and calculated results. In the veil, the new regime now has a powerful tool by which to keep tabs on, punish, and control its citizens.
History is both the purpose and subject of Persepolis. In her introduction, Marjane Satrapi explains that she has written the book to tell the story of those who suffered during this time. But history is also an important part of the story itself. Marji’s parents have a strong sense of history and recognize that they are living in an important time in Iran that will be full of changes. They see the study of history as a vital tool and buy Marji history books so she can contextualize and understand the events happening around her. Marji’s growing knowledge of history and her innate sense of justice causes her to want to be a part of the fight. She imagines herself as a revolutionary and begs her parents to allow her to go to a demonstration with them. When her parents refuse, Marji goes to bed crying, and God, who usually comes to her at night, is strangely absent. This incident represents the beginning of Marji’s loss of innocence. The more she learns, the more she understands that the world is not necessarily fair. She begins to understand that things happen that are beyond people’s control, and people can’t always play the role they had imagined for themselves. Other incidents in the first two chapters, such as the closing of the bilingual schools, the separation of schoolboys and schoolgirls, and the introduction of the veil, suggest that the tide of history will change Marji, her family, and her country in fundamental ways that Marji cannot hope to control.
