Name
Professor
Course
Date
The Role of Satrapi’s Memoir in Learning History
The graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi encompasses the major historical events that took place during the Iranian revolution. She begins narrating the story with captivating but straightforward visual displays that explain her early life. Initially, she lived a happy life where she could wear clothes of her choice, and also had the freedom to move around. She recounts the events that took place when the Shah of Persia was being overthrown and how the Islamist government forced the remaining supporters if Shah to flee the country. As a young girl, she had to adapt to a life she was not accustomed to because of the intense social changes that was sweeping across Iran. The country that she had known since her childhood to give freedom to its citizens had suddenly changed to a religious republic (9). A memoir like Satrapi’s is useful in the sense that it recounts historical events by giving a reader a feeling of reality-something that was experienced by an individual they can connect with, in this case, the author. She portrays the revolution as violent and uses symbolic pictures to show how people were tortured and burned in the name of protecting religion. The smooth transition from one event to another, and the use of precise words makes her story-telling effective. Indeed, Satrapi is better placed to talk about the history she witnessed herself and the challenges she faced while growing as a child. As such, she is a reliable source talking about the Iranian revolution.
Iran being a rich country, had to go through several invasions with the Islamic revolution being the epitome of changes described by Marjane (15). She was born and slightly raised in a free country where women could dress as they wished. Besides, she had all the freedom to make decisions and interact freely with other children. However, the revolution brought a complete change to her lifestyle because she had to adapt to the demands of the authorities. Her mother experiences the wrath of the new regime when she is caught not wearing a veil (78). She was assaulted and threatened that she stayed unwell for some days. This act of oppression never stopped at that, because the government ensured that it enacted the law that demanded all women to wear veils. In a way, the Islamic laws seemed to weigh too much on women than men. Women were forcefully being dragged into submission because the new laws on the veil had made them so. There were no longer mixed schools because ladies had to remain pure and stay on their own. Marjane got so confused with the turn of events that she bothered her parents with a lot of questions and even asked to join in the street protests.
As the country became more religious, Marjane’s mother kept on worrying about her daughter’s rebellious acts. Her worries got intense when Marjane persisted with her behavior of coping up with teen life despite the tension that was growing in the country. As a result, her parents decided to have her leave the country for Austria, where she could feel comfortable with her teenage lifestyle. Marjane’s rebellion is symbolic of the women’s strength in going against an idea that infringes on their rights. She was bold enough to defend what she believed and stood by her decision. While in Vienna Austria, she still holds onto her beliefs as portrayed by her act when a nun in the boarding house commented negatively about her Iranian heritage.
Marjane’s story is reliable in describing the history of the Iranian revolution added by the fact that she was describing it from a child’s perspective. The takeover by Islamic groups redefined the nation from a free state to a patriarchal country where women had to follow predefined rules for them to survive. However, Marjane beats the odds to defend her beliefs and hope for a free future. She even opted for leaving the country to start up a new life (83). However, when her love life gets sour, and she can no longer cope with the European lifestyle, she jets back to Iran. Interestingly, she continued to defy the rules and courted her boyfriend despite the law being specific about marriage (89).
Work Cited
Satrapi, M. (2007). The complete Persepolis.