Natacha Pavlov - Quicklet on Marjane Satrapis Persepolis: Cliffnotes-like Summary

It seems that Marjane Satrapis move to France played an influential role in the creation of her autobiographical graphic novel Persepolis . Indeed Marjane Satrapi left Iran for France to study art in Strasbourg and then make her way to Paris. According to www.noteablebiographies.com :

some of her friends there, who were part of a prominent artists studio called the Atelier des Vosges, introduced her to graphic novelists, starting with Art Spiegelman, whose graphic novel Maus told the story of the Holocaust led her to realize that she could tell stories and make serious points the same way.

Satrapi enjoyed the art of both writing and drawing and felt combining them were better than choosing one or the other. This is how, inspired, Satrapi created a book of black-and-white comic strips about living in Tehran from ages six to 14, ( www.noteablebiographies.com ) and then wrote a second volume chronicling her events in Austria from 14 up until her return to Iran at age 18, ending with her college years at 25.

Since Persepolis was originally written in French, it was published in France in two volumes in 2000 and 2001, and eventually appeared in the United States in 2003 and 2004. ( www.noteablebiographies.com ) In 2007, The Complete Persepolis was published in a single volume, combining Persepolis 1: The Story of a Childhood and Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return . The books can either be purchased as single volumes or as one volume combining both stories.

In its entirety, Persepolis consists of 38 titled chapters. The first volume explores Satrapis youth spent growing up in a politically turbulent Iran, while the second highlights her experience living and studying in a European country at age 14 as well as her eventual return to and life in Iran from ages 18 to 25. According to www.dictionary.reference.com , Persepolis can be considered a Bildungsroman, which is type of novel concerned with the education, development and maturing of a young protagonist.

Persepolis was highly acclaimed by critics, with her work drawing active comparisons to Art Spiegelmans Maus . The first volume even earned her two of Europes biggest awards for comic books and graphic novels, the Angouleme International Comics Festivals Coup de Coeur award (for a book by an author who has published three or fewer books) and the Prix du Lion from a comics association in Belgium. ( www.noteablebiographies.com )

In the United States, Persepolis found an endorser in feminist Gloria Steinem, and received favorable reviews from publications such as People , Powells.com and Plain Dealer . ( www.noteablebiographies.com )

As to what Satrapi hoped Persepolis would accomplish, she has stated that she hoped Persepolis would combat the negative images people had of her native country. When the Iranian Revolution broke out, most people in the West only saw images of the revolutionary leaders, which did not reflect the lives of ordinary Iranians. ( www.noteablebiographies.com )

However, Persepolis was not only aimed at enlightening Westerners: Satrapi also said she hoped to find a way to get the book to young Iranians, perhaps through the Internet, so that more of them could learn the truth about what happened in their country in the early 1980s. ( www.noteablebiographies.com )

According to www.noteablebiographies.com , Marjane Satrapi is an award-winning graphic novelist. Satrapi was born on November 22nd in Rasht, Iran to progressive middle class parents.( www.blog.lib.umn.edu ) Her childhood was very eventful to say the least, as she witnessed her country undergo a series of chaotic political changes.

These included the fall of the Shah, the Islamic Revolution led by Ayatollah Khomeini, and the first years of the Iran-Iraq war. As a student of the Lyce Franais, Satrapi was educated in a French secular bilingual school, highlighting her non-religious multi-lingual upbringing. However, although Satrapi states that her family was not religious, she did believe in God and as a child even believed herself to be the last prophet. ( Persepolis 1 , pg. 6)

The question of faith and how individuals choose to apply it in their own lives would become just one of the many issues surfacing in Satrapis famous series of Persepolis graphic novels. To evade her countrys growing turmoil, Satrapis parents decided to send her to Vienna, where at the age of 14 she attended high school. ( www.lsu.edu ) After graduating, Satrapi returned to Iran to attend college and was also briefly married. ( www.blog.lib.umn.edu ) After her divorce, Satrapi moved to Strasbourg, France to study illustration and then to Paris, France where she was introduced to important graphic novelists that would inspire her Persepolis series. ( www.noteablebiographies.com )

Also, the animated film adaptation of Persepolis (US release December 2007) has garnered huge international acclaim and won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award in 2008. ( www.lsu.edu ) A resident of Paris, France, Marjane Satrapi continues to write, publishing such works as Embroideries and Monsters are Afraid ofthe Moon in 2006, Chicken with Plums in 2009, and The Sigh in 2011.

Persepolis consists of a series of two books entitled Persepolis 1: The Story of a Childhood and Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return .

Persepolis 1: The Story of a Childhood recounts Marjane Satrapis life in Iran from ages six to 14. Although she lived in a modern, non-religious home, she believed in God, and wanted to be a prophet who would be justice, love and wrath all in one. ( Persepolis 1 , pg. 9) Since Satrapis parents want her to be educated, they buy her many books to enlighten her on subjects such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Fidel Castro, the Vietnam War and her countrys own revolutionaries.

Iranians are very unhappy with the Shahs rule, leading many people to protest.

Ever ready to stand up for what was right, Marjane is always pleading to join her parents in political demonstrations, which they refuse due to her young age. However, we find that Satrapi can also have a rebellious side, as proven in the incident in which she has her maid Mehri accompany her to a demonstration on the worst day they couldve gone: Black Friday.

Indeed, Marjanes mother slaps them both when they return home, as this was the day when so many people had died in one neighborhood that a rumor spread that it was Israeli soldiers who had attacked them, when indeed it had been their own who attacked. ( Persepolis 1 , pg. 38-39) Things start to look up when the Shah finally leaves his post, overthrown by the 1979 Islamic Revolution, leading the whole country to rejoice. Marjane meets two political prisoners who are released after the Shahs departure: two Communists named Siamak and Moshen.

Inspired by the gruesome prisoner torture stories, Marjane incorporates these into new games, leading her to experience a temporary diabolical feeling of power and reminding her that the only place she felt safe is in the arms of God. ( Persepolis 1 , pg. 53) Marjane then meets her Uncle Anoosh, who she considers a hero and whose stories she loves to hear. She becomes very close to him and is his sole visitor when he is imprisoned.

The pain Marjane feels when Uncle Anoosh is executed is so unbearable that she feels lost and rejects God. It is also at this time that the Iran-Iraq war begins. (