Persepolis: Leaving us behing

Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel Persepolis was absolutely amazing. It is thought provoking and touching as we follow the life of a young girl growing up in the middle of the revolution in Iran. On page 29 Marji’s father has been out taking pictures of the revolution. His family is worried because he has been gone so long. The illustration provided for his picture taking is incredibly unique on this page as opposed to any other illustration through the book. He is standing off to the side with a camera while photographs are piled randomly next to him. This is one of the best illustrations in the book in my opinion. The photos he has taken show many different things from the revolution. He manages to capture the true hurt and power behind some of the forces. On page 102 there are a few more illustrations that seem to jump right out of the novel. The one on top is the one where the young boys had been given the Key to Paradise. The picture shows fallen young men with their keys hanging from their necks. The illustration is not very detailed with sharp edges. This makes us as readers feel badly for the young boys that have died. Right underneath that picture, however, is the picture of Marji at her first party. This picture has much more detail than the last and gives us as readers a sense of real life amongst the life of war. With the previous picture, none of the young boys were given faces. They were merely shadows fallen and scattered amongst others just the same. The picture of the party, however, gives everyone a face, giving each of them life. This picture really shows how Marji is growing up and her world is changing. Although there is war and revolution around her, she is still able to have some sort of normal childhood life. In this she says, “Punk rock was in. I was looking sharp.” This shows a great progression from the little girl she was into the person she is becoming. By the end of the novel Marji is sent away by her parents. The last frame of the novel leaves it really open ended and makes us feel lost almost. She turns one more time to look at her parents. It is then that she says, “It would have been better to just go.” She sees her father carrying her mother off who we are to believe as just fainted from the loss of sending her child away. This last frame is one of the most emotionally moving frames in the entire novel to me. It is so sad and undetermined that you really just don’t know how to fell anymore. Marji is left and her life is going to be taken in a completely different direction now. She is on her own, and her parents are stuck with their old life. They believed they were giving their daughter a better life, but with sending her away they have just broken up their family. How do you feel anything but sad and abandoned?