In this weeks ASTU class, most of my classmates blog posts were about the latest novel we read, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. This graphic memoir centers around the childhood of Marjane growing up in Iran during the 1980’s. There were several themes my peers decided to write about, including the role of religion in the novel, the difference between the media and the reality of Iran, the concept of a personal story or a testimony of peoples, and the impact of one’s culture on experiences.

Moha writes about the significance of the veil as a symbol of silence. She compares Marji’s personal relationship with God, to the public concept of oppressive islam. On one hand Satrapi criticizes the use of religion to control the public, limit individuality and eliminate western culture.  On the other hand, she shows us that her own relationship with religion contributed to her identity. Moha reminds us that as a kid Marji thought she would be a prophet, this is a use of religion that contributes to her individuality. Diego also takes a stance on the purpose of religion in the book, he suggests that Satrapi wants to start a conversation about the effects of the oppressive islamic regime. Although the novel takes place in the 80’s, extreme islam is still a very current topic and begs for debate in west, especially America.

The concept of religion in Iran is often portrayed in a particular light in media. Several of my classmates suggested that the act of Writing Persepolis is a direct challenge to the popular media’s view of islam and iranians. Isabel centered her blog around the differences she experienced between the negative media coverage of Iran and her personal visit to the country in 2015. She concludes that Satrapi’s purpose is to debunk the myth that all Iranians are part of the so-called “axis of evil”. She thinks that people should be more critical of the media. Suvi agrees that Persepolis intends to challenge stereotypes of iranians and islam. She sees that there is an issue in the west of equating people in the middle east to terrorists and religious extremists.

According to Satrapi, Persepolis is  “a story of a childhood” but some people argued that she was speaking for a community of people. Suvi and Isabel say that Satrapi intended to challenge the media, but this means that she is not only trying to show that herself doesn’t follow stereotypes, but that there is a larger group of people that are not terrorist and extremists. She is speaking on behalf of more Iranians than just herself. Meghan builds on the idea of a personal account vs testimony. She argues that it is impossible to tell a single story without bringing in other voices. I think it is interesting that Megan also says that it doesn’t matter who is telling the story, that the intrinsic value a story offers is important and needs to be heard regardless.

A related question is; does the background of the reader matter in terms of understanding a story? A couple classmates stated that they had a hard time relating to Marji’s story. Suvi, Diego and Daniel stated that they had problems walking in Marji’s shoes because they could never understand the climate she grew up in. Interestingly, Moha was able to connect her own experience moving from India to Canada to certain themes of Persepolis. She did not see the difference in culture as an obstacle. Daniel argues that there will always be cultural gaps and that should not deter people from reading stories. Although it may help to relate to a book, we should acknowledge our limitations of understanding and do our best anyway.