Persepolis (I
& II) is a non-fiction comical book based on the author’s life spent in
Iran and in some European countries. According to the time spells, the book has
been segmented into two parts. First part is called ‘The Story of Childhood’,
and the second one’ The Story of a Return’. Both the segments are interlinked,
and to understand the second one, you should have gone through the first part –
that is imperative.
The time
period of the book starts from 1970s to 2000. Most of the events are from Iran.
Marjane Satrapi is a Persian living a better off life with family in Iran. Well,
in 1980s things begin to change as the country gets into the grip of Islamic
Revolution. It means thing will be done or decided within the conformity of
religion. Shah regime is brutal. Once a free Iran now imposes cultural and
traditions to mainly save the country from the Western influence. Earlier
people there were free to listen to music, drink wine and beer, and could
party, but since the arrival of Shah regime, people cannot do all these things.
This regime underpins the communism and brings Islamic law for the country.
Other people, mainly Muslim population finds it easy to fit in their lives, but
for those who are non-Muslims and literate find it a blow on their freedom. People
falling off the line are being checked and executed by the Guardians of the
Revolution. Though she was caught by them many times, but every time she either
came up with plausible excuses or bribed them.
As the events
turn from bad to worse, the girl Marjane turns rebellious. In school, she hits
the principal. Her family unable to cope up with her rebellious steaks sends
her to Venice for education. There she sees other dark aspects of life, it too
was complicated, and it mentally kept disturbing her.
The book also
discusses about the Gulf war that took place between Iraq and Iran. The war was
useless, since most of the population of Iran was illiterate; government used
religious methods to get them enrolled in the army. Youth joined and died, up
to one million. The futility of the war was another jolt to Marjane’s mental
abilities and family. When the jet fighters bombed the streets, Marjane sees
the mutilated body parts of her friend who was living next to her home.
Even when she
returns home from Europe, things did not change. Her parents then say that Iran
is not a country for you. The book chronicles the events as she grows from
teenager to adolescent. The atrocities of the war have been presented in a very
simple and lucid way through this comical book, if not in a comic style then
otherwise it would have been a different story to tell and grasp. How simple
and carefree lives of people are torn apart by the imposing of fundamentalism
and wars. The book gains international sympathy from the readers, the fate of
war-related books is that they are warmly accepted by the readers and their
stories stick to them for longer time.
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