Persepolis tells the story of Marjane Satrapi growing up in Tehran as she lives through a devastating time in the history of her country. She, at a young age, witnesses the overthrow of the Shah's regime, the Islamic Revolution, and the war between Iraq and Iran.
The issue of choice is a reoccurring theme throughout Persepolis. The Government controlled everything, and as a result, very little was accepted. Veils were required because hair apparently turns men on, and men wore long-sleeved shirts so it would be fair. If even a strand of hair was shown, it showed opposition to the Regime.
No political expression was allowed. If you "Demonstrated" you were beat or sent to jail. We see relationships forbidden in the movie when Marj's parents tells her that its best to not be seen with "him" in public. There were no parties. No games. No fun. I think the only thing that kept Marji sane is not only her loving parents and grandmother who tried their best to maintain for her a normal childhood, but also the black curtains that kept the outside world shut out. Tinoosh's father was paid a visit from two guardians of the Revolution Patrols for planning a party. "...They found records and video cassettes at their place, a deck of cards, a chess set. In other words, everything that's banned...It earned him seventy-five lashes." I think the limited amount of choices for the Iranian people does not play out well in the end, not only because of the consequences for rebels, but because the rules simply weren't fair.
The issue of choice is a reoccurring theme throughout Persepolis. The Government controlled everything, and as a result, very little was accepted. Veils were required because hair apparently turns men on, and men wore long-sleeved shirts so it would be fair. If even a strand of hair was shown, it showed opposition to the Regime.
No political expression was allowed. If you "Demonstrated" you were beat or sent to jail. We see relationships forbidden in the movie when Marj's parents tells her that its best to not be seen with "him" in public. There were no parties. No games. No fun. I think the only thing that kept Marji sane is not only her loving parents and grandmother who tried their best to maintain for her a normal childhood, but also the black curtains that kept the outside world shut out. Tinoosh's father was paid a visit from two guardians of the Revolution Patrols for planning a party. "...They found records and video cassettes at their place, a deck of cards, a chess set. In other words, everything that's banned...It earned him seventy-five lashes." I think the limited amount of choices for the Iranian people does not play out well in the end, not only because of the consequences for rebels, but because the rules simply weren't fair.
When Marj is sent to Austria for a better chance of success and as an escape from the harsh conditions in Iran, I think Satrapi does try to teach a lesson to American readers. The message can possibly be that having too much freedom can be just as damaging as having too little freedom. While in Austria, Marj finds comfort in her new friends, grocery shopping, and "house hopping." She was basically able to do everything she couldn't do in Iran. All this freedom resulted in her homeless walking the streets of Vienna, searching through garbage for food, and waking up to a doctor in a hospital room. Coming from no freedom to all the freedom in the world would probably be hard for anyone to adjust to, because you just don't know your limit. I'm sure satrapi doesn't want the reader to think that the limited freedom pressed on the Iranian people was okay, but perhaps she is suggesting having too much freedom (like we DO have in the United States) isn't as great as it seems to be.
I agree with you that Marji tries to cling onto the freedom of choice in various ways. Regardless of how oppressive the government is, at any given time, she is able to find a way to rebel. It was interesting to read over the book a second time and observe how Marji finds a way to do so. She makes courageous and somewhat comical remarks towards authority figures throughout her whole story. This starts when she is young and declares to her teacher that she wants to be prophet when she grows up. Her attempt to rebel is exemplified throughout the rest of the book and can be seen when she refuses to wear the veil, dodges the Guardians of the Revolution after a confrontation, and sneaks to the so called “black market” to buy cassette tapes and blue jeans.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the message to American readers has to do with freedom and the ability to make personal choices. However, I do not think that Satrapi is suggesting that too much freedom can be detrimental. I agree that her message makes the reader look at the importance of freedom, but I do no think that she is simultaneously implying that too much freedom is damaging. I find it hard to believe that Satrapi would put so much emphasis on the importance of freedom throughout her life’s story in Iran to only contradict it in her life in Austria. I agree that she is not saying that limited freedom in Iran is a good thing, but I find that she continues to stress the importance of freedom regardless of where one lives.
You bring up some really great points Cyd! I agree with you that Satrapi suggests that the overwhelming amount of freedom that she experienced in Austria was self-destructive and further that too much freedom is not good. Going further off this, I feel that she made some generalizations when it came to her thoughts about freedom of choice. Just because she could not handle the amount of choice that she was given, does not meant that those choices should be limited to others. If anything, that was one issue that I had with the book. I felt that she felt oppressed by the Guardians of the Revolution as a child, but when she is presented with absolute freedom in Austria, she does not know how to deal with it. This I feel, is understandable though given the conditions that she grew up in. In going back though, I felt like she was suggesting that the limited freedom she experienced growing up was somehow better than the complete freedom she experiences in Austria. That part was just a little unsettling to me. On the other end though, we know that she ultimately leaves Iran and lives in France, so I guess she ultimately does decide that freedom of choice is important.
ReplyDeleteI love the sarcasm about hair turning men on. I felt the same way when I read it and loved her father’s comment about the woman's mustache. That is a good literary reference about the curtains. It shows a divide between the world of the regime and the common man. I would argue that fair is a relative term but being lashed for a deck of cards is pretty cruel. That is a good point about freedom being good in moderation. That is the reason why we have a government, to limit freedom. Their government just limited a hell of a lot more freedom than ours and we do take that for granted. I don’t know if it necessarily has to do with the amount of freedom you have, but what you do with that freedom. Her friends in the book use their freedom to argue the pointlessness of war which greatly angers Marji. She knows there is a point because of where she comes from and exclaims that her uncle didn’t die for the fun of it. It is all about perspective and I believe the point of the book was to change people’s paradigm.
ReplyDeleteIs Satrapi’s experience in Austria one of total freedom? I am not so sure as to the answer, but I believe that her movement from Iran to Austria may not have been a freeing experience after all. Perhaps, in the long run, her time in Austria is simply the story of a different sort of control and oppression, still lacking the ability to be truly free within the bounds of society, no matter the nature and location of those boundaries. In my mind, Satrapi’s experiences in Austria do provide a sort of counterpoint to her experiences in Iran, however the nature of that counterpoint is not freedom to no freedom, but instead no freedom due to the government and no freedom due to herself and societal standards/expectations. I believe that the feelings of depression and general malaise which Satrapi experienced at the end of her time in Austria and upon her return to Iran display this idea well. Satrapi did not discuss the nature of the pain she experienced in Austria or the clear dangers which she faced, instead deciding to focus on the changes which she noticed upon her return to Iran. Here, I think, is the key to deciphering the message of the graphic novel as I perceive it; that Satrapi’s emotional state and sense of well-being had the ability to be both high and low despite the external influences on it and that living in one place or another, people are just people.
ReplyDeleteIt is nice to have found a writer who commented upon the liberation that Marjane experienced in Austria came with different constraints. I wrote a previous comment on a writer’s blog that presented America as a liberated country in comparison to Iran. Without question, there is no comparing America’s political freedom to that of Iran’s, we excel in that department with ease. However, I noticed that Marjane in her experiences in Europe led her to a new kind of constraint, one dealing with cultural alienation, sexual objectification and being an outsider to a Western way of life that was foreign to her. Despite her education in the classics of Western literature, ability to speak French, and relationships with European college students, some being romantic, she was always judged as a Persian woman. It was the first thing people saw in her. Before she had a chance to showcase her personality she was first identified as not European. The initial judgment made upon her relegated her into a category almost always stained with prejudice. It was not surprising to see a group of European women bad mouthing her at a restaurant, and Marjane confronting them as she has done before numerous times.
ReplyDeleteThe constraint of Iranian society is visceral and you commented upon it explicitly. It is odd how we as Westerners look upon a society that does not allow for drinking, partying, and card games. We wonder what could be done for fun in such a repressive society. Interesting enough, I talked to a woman from Turkey who felt that Americans seem to only have fun within the context of drugs, sex and partying. She felt that there was so much more to life than what many in America practice when they are given time off from work, school, or family responsibilities. I am not sure how one raised in America would fair in such a restricted society that can be found in Iran or Saudi Arabia. I do believe that human relationships would always be a source of entertainment and it is nice to see how Iranians spend their free time when they are not being prosecuted by their government.
I,also, do not think that the book is saying too much freedom is a bad thing. She was only 14 when she went to Austria and ended up in charge of most of the facets of her own life. She simply was not grown up enough to handle all of the situations she found herself in.
ReplyDeleteI liked that the mother used the black material, perhaps the same material used to make a charod and veil, to make curtains for privacy. The same thing used to control us could be turned around and used for good. Personal power can be beneficial, as in parts of Austrian trip, or can be hurtful, as in parts of Austrian trip.