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The primary conflict that animates the plot of Persepolis is that Marji’s desire to live an authentic life, to pursue her dreams, and live according to her values in the country she loves is constantly thwarted by the Iranian theocracy and war with Iraq. Marji’s journey from bright, optimistic youth to disillusioned, adolescent expat is caused by a steady stream of trauma and pressure from outside events. Each time Marji experiences something terrible or learns a horrifying truth, her faith, optimism, and sense of belonging is challenged and eroded. Though Marji learns valuable lessons through these experiences that prepare her for adulthood, the lessons are unnecessarily hard and accompanied by sadness and anger. The fact that Iran’s own government is the cause of so much suffering is especially galling to someone like Marji, who has a deep love for her country and a profound sense of its history. That Marji’s neighbors and fellow citizens actively aid the regime in its efforts only adds to Marji’s shame. This causes within Marji a growing sense of estrangement from Iran and her fellow Iranians. As a young woman under patriarchy and a modernist under fundamentalist rule, Marji increasingly feels she does not belong. In the end, Iran itself has made belonging to it impossible. The story’s climax, when Marji is sent to live in Europe alone, is the last straw and represents Marji’s final estrangement from her country and her family.
Iranian history plays an important role in the story, as represented by the book’s title, Persepolis. Persepolis was the name of the capital city of the Achaemenid Empire, or First Persian Empire, of ancient Iran, founded around 550 BC. The First Persian Empire was massive and complex, stretching across present-day Turkey and Northern Africa to the west and into India to the east. The Achaemenid Empire is recognized by historians for its competent and efficient government, its power, and its vast cultural, social, and religious influence on Africa, Europe, and Asia. In a way, Persia in its heyday was the envy of the world. Persepolis is the symbol of this status, and its ghost haunts the pages of Satrapi’s story. Persia’s auspicious history instills a sense of pride in Persepolis’s characters and produces a strong sense of nationalism within Marji. But this national pride is complicated by the shame Marji feels about her country. As the story progresses, Marji observes the many ways that Iran continues to destroy itself and its own citizens, which creates disappointment and disillusionment. If the ancient capital of Persepolis is the promise of the Iran in Marji’s mind, the present-day Iran represents a profound disappointment. This dynamic of expectation juxtaposed with the reality about her country is the ultimate source of Marji’s disillusionment.
The first several chapters of the book provide historical context for this particular moment in time. After thousands of years of invasion and foreign occupation, Iran is ruled by the Shah, who claims his position by divine right. In fact, the Shah was installed by European powers hoping to maintain access to Iran’s vast oil reserves. The Shah, therefore, represents yet another invasion by outsiders. The Shah’s illegitimacy, combined with rampant poverty and the Shah’s own arbitrary and brutal policies, inspires protest from the citizens. When the Shah uses too heavy a hand in putting down the protesters, the demonstrations only gather steam and unify to demand his ouster.
At first, Marji claims to love the Shah because he was chosen by God. When her father tells her the Shah’s true history, it is a true coming-of-age moment for Marji. She faces a difficult truth, but she understands it, accepts it, and folds it into her sense of self. If the Shah is indeed illegitimate, Marji reasons, then opposing him means defending her country and her fellow Iranians. When the Shah is finally deposed, Marji celebrates with all of Iran. At this moment, Iran and Marji are both at their most optimistic and unconflicted. The path forward toward a better Iran is clear and there is a unifying sense of purpose. However, just as the ideal of Persepolis is not matched by the reality of Iran, the ideals of the Revolution are not to be realized. The fundamentalist coup of 1979 produces an authoritarian theocracy that seeks to impose draconian social policies. This, combined with the execution of Marji’s beloved Uncle Anoush, is the inciting incident of the story, and it sends Marji hurtling down a path of disappointment and disillusionment. In an act that symbolizes Marji’s total loss of faith, Marji casts God out of her life for good.
Before the Revolution, Marji believed herself to be destined for something special. As a small child, she thought she would be God’s last prophet, and at ten she has dreams of studying chemistry and going to the United States. But when the new Iranian regime launches its Cultural Revolution, Marji’s optimism about her future goes up in smoke. The regime’s execution of Uncle Anoush destroys Marji’s faith in God and the regime’s closure of the universities precludes Marji’s educational aspirations. When fundamentalists occupy the U.S. Embassy and take Americans hostage, Marji’s dream of going to the US is snuffed out as well. Even worse, the regime’s fundamentalist policies make it impossible for Marji to be her most authentic self. Marji is curious, feisty, and outspoken, and she wants to live as an educated, liberated woman. The regime, on the other hand, demands submission and obedience. The introduction of the veil and the requirement that boys and girls be separated in schools forces Marji to live in a way that chafes at her core identity. The restrictions against music and dance and anything regarded as decadent saps the joy from Marji’s life and fosters a growing sense that she does not belong.
The war with Iraq adds the threat of violence and death to Marji’s everyday experience and pushes Iranian society to the breaking point. People emigrate away from Iran in droves and hundreds of thousands of young men are sent to die on the battlefield. Iraq’s bombing campaign causes a refugee crisis, and the shelves at the grocery stores are bare. Iranians’ resulting stress and anxiety cause them to turn on one another. Indeed, the regime relies on informants, and neighbors rat out neighbors for cultural infractions. Marji observes all of this, which deeply wounds her faith and love of her country. How can she love her country when the people of her country destroy themselves? The regime’s refusal to accept Iraq’s peace offering and the subsequent death of Marji’s neighbors in a bombing raid causes something to finally break inside Marji. She turns to nihilism and rebelliousness. This is especially dangerous in Iran because any run-in with the law could mean imprisonment or execution. Marji’s mother understands the danger Marji faces and this, combined with the threat of being killed by an Iraqi bomb at any moment, leads Marji’s parents to make a drastic decision. In the climax and final scenes of the comic, Marji is sent to live and study in Austria, where she can be free and safe. But freedom and safety come at an unbearable cost for Marji. She must live thousands of miles from her country, her friends, and her dear family. At age fourteen, Marji has become estranged from everything she holds most dear.
