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Persepolis is principally a coming-of-age story, and Marji Satrapi is the graphic memoir’s protagonist and narrator. At the outset of the story, Marji is a six-year-old full of hope, confidence, and optimism about her future. She is a bright child who loves to read and to learn about her country’s history. At first, the things she learns about Iran feeds and nurtures her love of her country and its heroes. She appears to have a strong appreciation for Persian culture and a certain amount of awe for Persia’s ancientness and complexity. Her imagination is extremely active, as evidenced by the way she pictures in her mind the heroic and villainous figures of the past. Marji is also deeply religious at this age. Her sincere belief that she is destined to become a prophet suggests a profound self-confidence in Marji and that she believes herself to be exceptional. However, Marji also has a powerful sense of justice and wants to use her power as a prophet to make things fairer and to relieve suffering. At this age, she believes in Islam as a force for good. Taken all together, Marji at the beginning of the story feels a deep sense of belonging to a culture, country, and religion that she loves.
A series of challenging external events deal blow after blow to Marji’s worldview and ultimately lead to estrangement and exile from her beloved homeland. Marji’s first challenge is learning that the Shah was not in fact chosen by God and that the Iranian people rightly reject his legitimacy. She responds maturely by accepting this uncomfortable truth. She immediately frames the Revolution not as a threat to her country but as an important step in protecting it. Her sense of justice and feisty nature combine with her sense of history and belonging to make her want to participate in the events of this important moment. Meeting her politically active Uncle Anoush only inspires her further. Anoush becomes a symbol for the optimism and hope about the Revolution. However, when Anoush is captured by the new regime, slandered as a Russian spy, and executed, that hope is dashed, and Marji’s world comes crashing down around her. She loses her faith, her belief in God, and begins to wonder where she fits in as an independent thinker in an increasingly repressive Iran.
As the regime tightens its grip and the war with Iraq continues, Marji learns a series of lessons about how cruel people can be. The regime’s ugly and sometimes perverse attitudes about women mean that Marji’s independence and safety is always at risk. The war with Iraq produces misery and death and threatens Marji’s family’s physical safety as well. The regime’s deeply cynical decision to prolong the war results in a million avoidable Iranian deaths. On top of these threats to her physical safety, the veil and the restrictions against dance, music, and travel threaten to sap the joy out of Marji’s life. Each of these developments dims Marji’s natural optimism, and she begins to harden with anger and resentment. But through it all, Marji remains remarkably confident and determined. She never fears to speak her mind and bravely tries to live as much like a normal teenage girl as she can. Ironically, it is Marji’s indominable spirit that becomes her greatest liability. Her parents determine it is only a matter of time before an outspoken girl like Marji runs afoul of the Iranian authorities and is seriously harmed. Marji is thus sent to live and study in Austria for her own safety. Her departure symbolizes her final estrangement from her country, an Iran that would be unrecognizable to the six-year-old at the beginning of the story.
