Persepolis

Persepolis is a biography in epic graphic novel form. Persepolis is about a girl, our author Marjane Satrapi, and her early years living as a girl in Iran in the 1980's and '90s. She was around before it was mandatory for women to wear the now stereotypical "Islamic garb" like the head scarves and covering every part of their body but their faces.

Marjane shows us the fears that she had as empires fell, Iraqis invade Iran, and war tromped through her peaceful life. She was part of this time in history that I knew nothing about and tore down a lot of the stereotypes that have resided in my mind because I didn't know better. Everyone sees these women covered from head to toe and we instantly "know" who they are, but we don't. Marjame makes it very clear that many people (men and women) rebel against what their government has forced upon them. She mentions Nazi's and control, and I found a lot of similarities between her descriptions of the Iran government in the '80s and '90s and what I know of Nazism.

In her story, Marjane, due to her boisterous and "I'm going to tell you how I feel weather you like it or not" kind of attitude, is sadly told to move to Austria for a time so then her words/attitude won't get her killed. We see her loving and very political family. We see how sad it is for them to let their daughter flee to another country. In here we get her experiences, love, drugs, friends/lack thereof, as she grows from being a 14 (?) year old to 18 when she decides to come back home to her family whom she misses dearly. She would rather be annoyed by the demands of her government than be completely alone in a country that doesn't care for her.

I found it eye opening (I thought I was open minded, but gladly things have really opened my mind more than I thought I needed to--which is probably the case for most people), just how rebellious so many of these women are. I, unknowingly, thought they stayed in their scarves and full length clothes all the time, in or outside, but every time Marjane stepped into the privacy of her home/not in public they were wearing tube tops/mini skirts or regular/"western" clothes. They threw parties and dumped their alcohol down the toilet when the cops showed up. She smoked. All things "normal" people do, because they are normal people.

This book greatly tumbles down the stereotypes that haunt that area and somewhat-forced culture. There are many things that are beautiful that come out of such a war torn country, this book and Marjane's family as a few.

I greatly recommend this book to everyone over the age of 15. There are a few swear words and suggestive scenes that may, hopefully, go over the heads of younger kids. But this is a story that needs to be seen, not just read. I thank Marjane Satrapi so much for creating us a beautiful piece of art and being willing to share her story. She does a beautiful job breaking down barriers and stereotypes and enlightening me to an era that doesn't get talked about in schools here in the U.S. (Check out my other blog on what I think about our education system.).

I really liked this book. There are so many things in it that people should have questions about. They should search and find the answers that this book brings up. This story has so much that it explains meaningful and helpful for those who may not understand much, which in most cases is all of us.

Please, read, understand, and enjoy. (Also comment please. I would love to hear your thoughts. :D )