Essays
Note: All links to the essays are links to a .pdf document. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to read the essays. If you do not have the latest version of Adobe Reader, you can download it here.
Eric Alviani
Persepolis is the story of Marjane Satrapi’s coming of identity and learning what power is through her experience with religion and her exposure to the veil. I believe that Satrapi intentionally presents specific lessons that she learned through a series of events and relationships that transformed her into a woman of power. Through the relationships she shares with her family and other influential figures in her life, I plan to show
how she discovered her voice and power.
Thomas Austin
This paper's main purpose is to talk about misconceptions Western culture has of Iran and Iranian women. The paper hits on the differences in the women from both cultures, feminism, and deconstruction. Also the paper talks about Marji's life as a child in Iran, young teen in Austria, and adult in Iran.
Abby Bialeschki
This paper is to show people how, psychologically, war can be a horrific experience for those civilians who are living through it on a daily basis. Mentally and physically, war impacts the way civilians view both their community and their culture. The reader sees this in Persepolis because Satrapi uses her own experience of being a young girl in Iran dealing with the psychological issues that come with war. By using both the images and the texts throughout the story, the book impacts the reader and makes him or her think critically on how war affects civilians and their mental and physical state.
Christin Egli
"Persepolis: City of Persians, People of Iran" gives insight into the significance of Marjane Satrapi’s title Persepolis for her graphic memoir. She has a clear goal of explaining the normality of her people to the western world, and aptly does this through use of her title and references to Iranian history throughout the book. Through a look at the history of Iran, especially its early Persian origins, and evidence of its influence in Satrapi’s own life as seen in her memoir, this essay portrays the significance of Persepolis in Persepolis.
Amy Fehr
The essay “
The Complicated Effects of Consumerism in Persepolis” examines the role of consumerism in Satrapi’s memoir. By examining the issue through two angles: how consumerism oppresses and how consumerism liberates Iranian citizens, the essay explains the complicated role that consumerism holds in the novel. With the use of Marxist criticism, this essay attempts to examine how consumerism affected the different classes in Iran; however, most of the paper focuses on how Satrapi’s middle class family dealt with consumerism.
Megan Jackson
Every human will at some point during their adolescence will question who they are and what they believe. Marjane Satrapi is no exception to this.
In this paper, I will explore how Satrapi portrays her own search for identity that is complicated by both her war-torn home country of Iran and her immigration to the Western-thinking Austria in her graphic novel
Persepolis. By showing her own search for identity, readers can come to understand Satrapi as more than just an Iranian, but as a fellow human being.
Victoria Jones
My paper, "
The Complete Persepolis: The Story of a Dangerous, Strong Woman in a Colonial Society" is about Satrapi’s inability to “fit in” with normal Iranian and Viennese culture. I focused on Marji’s feminism and the danger that goes with free thought, and my essay also focuses on Persepolis as a post-colonial text. I took the stance that Marji, who thinks and is outspoken, is dangerous in a colonial society because she thinks and because she’s a feminist.
Jess Knackstedt
In Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel,
The Complete Persepolis, the setting of Iran may make the story seem foreign and harsh, but
this paper argues that it is quite universal. At the heart of the novel, it is simply a story about a young girl searching for her identity. Using a psychoanalytical lens, the strangeness of the setting is stripped down and the story is made very relatable. Marjane Satrapi proves we may not be all that different after all.
Elyse Oskvarek
The main character in
Persepolis, Marji Satrapi, must learn to adapt in many situations throughout the novel.
My paper describes the different ways she must do so as well as shows that Marjane creates a universal theme to connect her reader to the story. Although many of the situations that Satrapi must adapt to are extreme, there are also small measures that every human being can relate to as well.
Olivia Warren
Marjane Satrapi’s
Persepolis addresses important aspects of the Western world and Westernization which are reflected in this essay. Iran has struggled, and continues to do so, with the influence of the West on the country.
This essay addresses how Iranian people, the government, and the country as a whole are affected by Westernization.
