Persepolis reminds readers of the "precarity of survival" in political and social situations.[6]
Feminism in the East
Satrapi's graphic memoir contains themes concerning feminist ideals and the hegemonic power of the state. Satrapi uses the context of the Iranian Revolution to criticize the hypocrisy of state-enforced social pressures that seek to enact violence.[18] During the Iranian Revolution, martyrdom had been nationalized by the state in order to encourage young men to participate in the revolution[19] and strict social rules were forced upon women and were justified as protection.[18] Satrapi's recount of her harassment by both male and female members of the Guardians of the Revolution because of her untraditional behavior and clothing exemplifies the hypocrisy of the state's beliefs.[18] Although Satrapi criticizes the socio-political pressures, she does not fully dismiss her Iranian identity.[18] Marji struggles with finding her identity because she is torn between a deep connection with her Iranian heritage and culture and the political and religious pressure enforced by the state.[18] Satrapi's struggle with societal pressures is based on her belief that the Islamic state oppresses women when it regulates their expression and dictates their beliefs.[18]
Jennifer Worth, an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Wagner College, presents that Satrapi uses the veil as a metaphor to describe the desire to control women.[20] Worth proposes that the Guardians of the Revolution wield the cultural symbolism of the veil to oppress the social liberties of women, while Marji herself dons the symbolic veils of makeovers in Austria to escape social ostracization for her Iranian identity.[20] Through her utilization of the veil as a symbol of concealing latent struggles, Satrapi contends that the confusion surrounding Marji's transition into adulthood stems from her complex beliefs and feelings about her Iranian heritage.[20]
The portrayal of the veil in Persepolis has also been used to combat the Western perception that the veil is solely a symbol of oppression.[21] The perceptions are challenged in the first chapter of Persepolis similarly titled 'The Veil,' where Satrapi illustrates young girls playing in the schoolyard with their veils.[21] Lisa Botshon, a professor of English, and Melinda Plastas, a professor of Women and Gender studies, comment that Satrapi's depictions of the veil illuminate for Western audiences the extent of Middle Eastern women's agency.[21] The depictions challenge the Western notion that women who wear the veil are helpless and victims of brutal social oppression.[21]
Manuela Constantino’s article, published as part of the University of Toronto Press, argues that Persepolis was released during a crucial time that aided its reception in North America. In 2003-04, tensions over middle eastern evasion were on the rise in the United States. At the same time, Persepolis started to circulate in the North American education system. It’s possible that “its arrival could be read as a political attempt to shape an understanding of Middle Eastern cultural practices by presenting a liberal Middle Eastern viewpoint amidst radical unrest” Constantino speculates if Satrapi’s memoir had anti-American or anti-Western sentiment, “would it have been so widely circulated and therefore so popular”? This makes Persepolis "easily accessible and seemingly transparent,"[22] Constantino states that these childlike reactions to the horrors they are exposed to bridge the gap between human and history. The complicated historical facts of war are broken down into easily understandable moments in history, and help people understand what is usually complex and culturally intricate into relatable and educational.[22]
Mahdiyeh Ezzatikarami and Firouzeh Ameri of the International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature published their article the strengths of Persepolis as a memoir. Telling the story from a child's point of view allows Satrapi to facilitate "supreme authenticity and immediacy" to her memoir. Satrapi created an identity that readers immediately relate and identify with. This is seen through her childish ways of coping with evil. When Marji's grandmother asks how she will install the rule of old people never feeling pain, Marji states she will simply forbid it.[23] Seeing how children react to the violence of war makes Persepolis "easily accessible and seemingly transparent."
