Manette Tanelus- Persepolis

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Persepolis is one of my favorite books we have read. My 3 favorite parts if the book was the use of religion, perception of war, and use of graphic images.

The use of religion is extremely important in Persepolis because it is what drives the war and is very important to Marjane's personal story. For example, if we start of at the beginning she has strong faith in Islam, and even states "I want to be a prophet"(8) at school. Although her parents are not as traditional and she does not wear an hijab her faith and belief in gods drives her childhood and hope. She turns to god many times when she does not understand things in life, She even states in regards to him, "the only place I felt safe was in the arms of my friend"(53). However, when things get so bad that even god can't seem to explain to her the lack of humanity in her country, that is when she walks out on him.
The perception of war of war in Iran was also changed dramatically for me through this book. War in the middle east from the western point of view is always about oil and religion, nothing less, nothing more. Marajane shows that there actually bad blood blood between these countries that spans centuries. She explains that her country had been invaded many times and passed around by many greater empires.
"2500 years of tyranny and submission....our own emperors...the arab invasion....mongolian invasion...and finally modern imperialism"(44).
For me this was great way for me to understand that the people themselves were just as mistreated as some of their enemies by outsiders and men hungry for power. The use of graphic illustration overall enriches the story by showing the emotions of the characters and making each action seem more like present tense instead of historical events. There are also aspects of the images like the newspaper header, and the mother carrying the father away as she boards the plane that she could not express as well in words as she did through pictures.

Personally,
 Do you think if the Iran people had more freedom and less oppression the war could have been avoided?
Do you think Americans take advantage of hoe much freedom we have and the fact that we have never experienced a war on our soil besides the civil war?

Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 20, 2016 at 7:30 PM

    Those are very good questions, Manette! Something we need to consider, though, is Marjane's perception of the Sunni and Shi'ite sects of the Islamic religion in relation to their overall goals for the Middle East.

    To answer one of your questions, I think that Americans take advantage of the numerous freedoms we have and for that reason it's hard for us to get a good grasp on some other countries behave the way they do.

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  2. StephanieDawkinsNovember 21, 2016 at 6:31 PM

    I love that you included questions in your blog post. I would like to answer the second one with my opinion: I think that Americans take a lot of things for granted as they have never had to deal with things on their own soil. I think that if we were to have that experience we would appreciate and respect other countries more.

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  3. UnknownNovember 21, 2016 at 7:46 PM

    I also like the use of images in Persepolis. Your blog post was well written but your questions caught my attention. I'm not sure or not if I think that the war could have been avoided, but I do feel as though it could have turned out differently. I do think that Americans take advantage of our freedom. I don't think we truly value it and take it for granted.

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