Throughout the centuries, it is safe to say that society has, and still is, constantly changing and reinventing itself. Human beings are always being faced with new challenges, conflicts and situations, whether it be on a large or individual scale. One thing that has never failed to fascinate me, however, is the subtle, yet incredible ability we have to adapt. No matter what we are presented with, we somehow have the tendency to adjust; to make sense of the changes (which can range from being fired from a job to deportation or war) that come our way and become familiarized with new realities when necessary. Human beings are resilient, and we often forget to acknowledge such feature.

When reading “Persepolis”, a graphic narrative written by Marjane Satrapi that follows the life of a young girl as her country declares a state of war, I initially could not comprehend how the protagonist could manage to keep “functioning” on a daily basis; Iran was being frequently attacked and its population was observing heavy conflicts between fundamentalists and revolutionaries, and yet Marji still went to school and worried about fitting in with the older girls, and her family still threw exciting parties every week. Naturally, there were limitations and constant fear involved in her new lifestyle surrounded by war, but she was still a child, and she was still living as one. The war was simply a part (though a significant one) of her young life that she had no control over, and she learned to live with it, to make it her new “normal”. Marji lived under extreme circumstances of violence and oppression, and yet she adapted to them; she understood her new reality and carried on with her life.

Growing up, I was fortunate enough that I never had to live through a situation of war, I had only heard of it occurring in distant territories. I remember I had always been under the impression that, if something like that were to ever happen, my entire world would stop; war and survival would be the only things on my mind at all times. “Persepolis”, however, showed me, through the eyes of a little girl, that reality is, quite simply, a matter of perspective. Although the character Marji did reflect, actively discuss and even witness the consequences and destruction of the war, her day-to-day life still existed, and friendship, family and laughter were still present, even though they were now temporarily mixed with fear and danger. As an immigrant, I couldn’t help but think about my own experiences moving to a different continent and establishing a new life in a country that, in many ways, looked and felt nothing like the one I once knew as my own. Upon leaving Brazil I was convinced I would never be able to adjust to my new life, and yet three years later I can safely that, today, Canada is my home. Through experiences and hardships, unknown places became explored sites, and unfamiliar faces became close friends. The life that was presented to me by the circumstances I was surrounded with became my new reality, my new normal life.

Of course, the situation and obstacles I was faced with in no way compare to the intensity and challenges Marjane Satrapi’s character was forced to live through in “Persepolis”. However, I do believe in the often subtle idea of adaptability that can be found in both cases; on small or large scales, human beings find ways to deal with whatever circumstances are thrown our way, we become familiarized with the unfamiliar. And I firmly believe that now, with so many unforeseen political imbalances and threats of conflict and war in the Western world, we must remember, more than ever, that we can and will adapt to whatever challenges we are faced with, both individually and as a society, and that we will carry on with our lives.