Hello ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in-between! It turns out that my first university novel was a lot less intimidating than I ever could have guessed. I pictured a dense paperback beast, but was met with the graphic narrative Persepolis instead.
Persepolis, written by Marjane Satrapi , is the story of the author’s experience growing up during the Islamic revolution. This brilliant story is accompanied by even more brilliant illustrations. Though the story is told through childhood memories, there is an amazing amount of adult and political content. As readers we are constantly updated on the political situation in Iran by Marji’s parents and family. Due to this we gain insight on what the people of Iran thought about the revolution. I’m very impressed at how much information Satrapi was able to place into the narrative. It was not just the story of a young girl growing up, but a story of a revolution and war.
I really enjoyed that Persepolis was illustrated in black and white because it is nicely used to portray good and evil. There are various frames that depict the characters on Marji’s side as ‘good’ as they are white in colour, while their opposition is drawn in black. My favourite example of this was this frame on page 18:
As you can see, the military is drawn primarily in black whereas the people revolting are drawn in white. This is because according to Marjane’s point of view the military are the “bad guys”. This is true at the beginning of the narrative because she is younger and less informed about the political situation. I also noticed that as the novel progresses the colour contrast starts to be less “black and white” (clear). I believe that this is because, as the narrator grows older she learns more and more that political groups are not simply good or evil. She begins to realize that the war is more complicated than the good vs. bad idea that is depicted above.