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Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.
The Loss of Innocence in Coming of Age
Persepolis is largely a story about a young woman coming of age, and for Marji, this process is punctuated by incidents that gradually chip away her innocence. Her father acknowledges this process when he tells Marji in “The Water Cell” that he thinks she is old enough to understand certain things. Young Marji innocently believes the Shah was chosen by God because that is the story her teacher told her. When her father tells her the truth, it is a watershed moment for Marji in her coming of age. She not only learns the harsh reality of geopolitics in the Middle East, but she also must contemplate the power dynamics that would cause her teacher to “lie” to her about this. This incident chips away at Marji’s innocence and teaches her to think more critically going forward. The same process plays out over and over again. Her mother’s run-in with men who threaten to rape her shows Marji just how cruel and opportunistic people can be. Uncle Anoush’s execution teaches Marji that her heroes are fallible. Marji’s encounter with the Guardians of the Revolution at the end of the book shows her that life as a woman in Iran comes with the daily threat of losing everything. Each one of these incidents erodes Marji’s innocence and pushes her forward on her path to independence. Though Marji’s coming of age is perhaps more challenging than most, her story suggests that the loss of innocence is a painful but necessary experience on the path to adulthood.
The Cannibalizing Nature of the Iranian Regime
A theme that comes up time and again in Persepolis is the way the Iranian regime’s tactics for staying in power cannibalizes its own society. The regime depends upon its citizens for survival, yet it feeds off of and destroys them at the same time. In order to keep tabs on its citizens, the regime relies upon information from the general populace. The Guardians of the Revolution police the streets. Neighbors spy on neighbors for any signs of forbidden behavior. In other words, the regime turns Iranians against other Iranians in order to maintain its control over the population. The regime’s tactics have a terribly destructive effect on individuals and society as a whole. The same is true of the regime’s conduct in the war with Iraq. It knows that Iran’s much larger population can outlast a war of attrition against the much less populous Iraq. So, the regime launches a propaganda campaign, aimed at the poor and uneducated, to encourage Iranians to join the military. It stays in the fight by sending wave after wave of young Iranians to die on the battlefield. As Marji shrewdly observes, the regime also uses the cover of the war and the nationalism the war helps to stir up in order to shore up support and crack down on its detractors. The awful cannibalizing nature of the Iranian regime is best summed up in a bit of the regime’s own propaganda that makes several appearances in the story: in order to die as a martyr, one must inject their own blood into society’s veins.
Moral Compromise as a Means of Survival
The characters in Persepolis must often compromise their values in order to survive. It is notable that the characters in the story whom Marji thinks of as true heroes are the ones who risk or give their lives for their ideals. Iranians who protest the Shah’s regime are physically attacked and even massacred. Siamek and Moshen endure years of torture in the Shah’s prisons because of their activism. Anoush is exiled from his homeland and later imprisoned and killed for fighting for his ideals. These incidents teach Marji that holding powerful ideals can be dangerous. But it is her parents that drive the point home. Marji wants to go to the protest and take part in the movement she believes in, but her parents won’t allow her. They make it clear that her safety is more important. The countless Iranians who flee the country they love is another indication that survival is more important than fighting for what you love. Taji believes fiercely in women’s rights, but she frequently chastises Marji for speaking up and not keeping her head down. The message is crystal clear: ideals are all well and good, but safety is more important. Sometimes one must compromise one’s values in order to stay alive. Once the Iranian regime takes power and clamps down, Iranians of conscience have little choice but to compromise their morals.
