Tag Archives: persepolis

Persepolis 1 & 2: A Comparison

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Marjane Satrapi’s book, Persepolis 2: A Story of Return, brilliantly illustrates a coming-of-age story, where young Marji struggles with her Iranian identity and history, all the while dealing with her frustration and loneliness in Vienna. Having escaped the war in Iran, Marji settles in Vienna while trying to assimilate into “Western” culture, leaving her feeling insecure about her identity. While Satrapi’s first instalment of the Persepolis series focused on the trauma she experienced as a child in Iran, the second book of the series shifted its focus to her identity crisis.

In Persepolis 1, Marji’s relatively young age allowed for her to remain somewhat idealistic about her identity, as illustrated in the picture below. Here, Marji is certain about her ambition of becoming a prophet, and displays conviction in her beliefs. While the trauma Marji experienced during her childhood was scarring, she was not at war with her identity, as portrayed in Persepolis 2. In Vienna, Marji attempts to distance herself from her Iranian past, yet simultaneously finds herself feeling conflicted and ashamed of her abandonment. The harsh illustrations of Marji’s stay in Vienna is reflective of her internal conflict, as many of her facial and body expressions depict emotions such as anger, loneliness and depression. In the illustration below, Marji lashes out at her classmates who were making fun of Marji’s appearance and her denial of her Iranian identity. Marji’s furious face is drawn to be larger than the other girls in order to echo the degree of anger and resentment she feels. The illustrations that follow reflect upon Marji’s yearning for the comfort and security she had as a child.

The inner turmoil that Marji experiences as she transitions from the final stages of her childhood to adolescence, allows for Satrapi’s readership to further connect with her character and story. The childish innocence in Persepolis 1 helped the audience understand the difficulty in comprehending and portraying trauma. Marji’s struggles through some of the lowest moments of her life Persepolis 2 is relatable, and allows for the audience to better understand the identities of those who are displaced by war.

Interestingly, Persepolis 2 reuses the chapter title, “The Veil”, which appeared at the very beginning of Persepolis 1. The psychological effect of the veil, which was imposed on the young Marji, produces the feeling of incompleteness in her identity. Although Marji escapes from Iranian fundamentalism in Persepolis 2 and acquires a greater degree of freedom, her feelings of fragmentation still exist. Marji is unable to escape her traumatic past, thus suggesting that psychological dissociation is a inescapable byproduct of trauma and conflict.

Satrapi’s first instalment of the Persepolis series establishes the difficulty and futility in attempting to accurately portray trauma. By sharing her struggles as a young adult in Persepolis 2, Satrapi’s audience have a greater understanding of the effects of trauma on one’s identity. While we may not be able to fully comprehend the extent of Satrapi’s suffering, we, as the audience, can take part in her act of witnessing through her perspective.

A comparison between “The Book of Negroes” & “Persepolis”

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Quite a bit of time has passed since I read The Book of Negroes, written by Lawrence Hill, but I was reminded of it while reading Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis. Although these books are presented in completely different genres (The Book of Negroes being a historical novel, and Persepolis a graphic narrative), I found myself comparing and drawing connections between the two.

When I first read The Book of Negroes, I immediately found myself intrigued by how the book was written from the perspective of a young girl (who was abducted and sold into the  Atlantic slave trade.) Despite the fact that the story is a work of fiction, The Book of Negroes draws upon a horrific history that can be difficult for some to truly understand. I remember feeling a heavy, disheartening feeling while reading The Book of Negroes, and again while reading Persepolis. The different genres of these two books, told through the perspectives of innocent, yet rapidly growing young girls, allowed the experiences of trauma in everyday life to be more relatable. The usage of vivid and illustrative language in The Book of Negroes, is contrasted by the simple, yet powerful graphic illustrations in Persepolis. Their approaches in conveying trauma and history may have been different, but it allowed me to empathize with the narrator’s predicament, and increase my understanding of global conflicts.

Recently, I read a very interesting blog post called, The Forgotten Minority, written cleverly by Connie Zhou. There, she talks about the conflict of having an Asian-American identity, and how racism is not simply and issue between black and white. Rather, it is an issue of discrimination against all coloured people, some who are more neglected and forgotten about during discussions of racism, than others. In her blog post, Connie writes,

I remember sitting in one of my media classes discussing race; we had spent weeks on how blacks and whites are portrayed in the media. As my professor went on and on, I sat there wondering when she was going to bring up Asians, Hispanics, or Middle Easterners. Finally, as if God had heard my plea, a thankfully inquisitive student in the front raised his hand, “What about Asians?”

There was five minutes left in class, and all she said was, “Well, they tend to be the ‘model minority,’” and carried forth with the discussion on blacks and whites.

And it’s true. Back in elementary and high school, I remember we often talked about the history and racism against black people more than any other minority races. I’m not trying to detract from their significance, or say that they aren’t worth talking about, because they certainly are, considering all the awful things that have happened to them throughout time. However, I think that the education system fails to properly address and educate students about other minority groups, such as Asians and Middle-Easterns. Before entering university, I have to admit that I knew more about the issues of black people, than the history and predicament of Middle-Eastern people, or of my own culture, the Asian race. In my opinion, while The Book of Negroes and Persepolis are two successful and highly praised books, I think that The Book of Negroes is more widely known, partially because talk about history and racism tends to be more about black people. (This is just based on my observations and conversations with family and friends, so let me know if your experience differs.)

Anyways, this is why I am grateful that university has opened me up to reading more about the “forgotten minorities”, and I think that my knowledge and understanding of the Middle East has definitely grown. Thanks ASTU!