what they say

In Persepolis, we discover a problem that seem to be contagious around the word, that is people like to say "what they say." Marji spaghetti incident at her boarding house with the nuns. A lot of times in society we base our whole ideas of single groups of people by what they say. So who's they? they are the people who say kill them all when one person or small group does something terrible to them or there people. they are people who if you do not act a certain way, you are consider a savage. we have all these racial or ethical slurs that just separate us from each other. This is general cause by our standard of what we or what we were taught was right. And a lot of time we take those over board. For example Marji was a little piggish in eating out of a pot But because the nun did not consider it proper conduct she associates it with some one not having education. What if we set aside these petty views? would not we open away to cross the boundaries of the world

One piece of hair

Persepolis has many different angle on which we can see the revolution and its development. First off the veil, The way in which to control woman in a close society. The use this to bring women to submission in order to gain control over one person instead of treating them as people. It also put blame on women by saying the because one stand of hair show you can cause a man to sin. Which just covers up the issue of lusting towards other woman, which men should take responsibility for them selves on how they think and not blame it on something stupid as woman hair. I think this way of life really put conflict in Marji life because of her free spirit. She was more open outwardly but society told her to keep everything in. when governments or people start doing this freedom to express and equality go out the window and darkness is throughout the land.

Persepolis 2

I find that the main character marjane her situation in general, is harder to relate to than her character. Her as a character the struggles and changes she goes through as she grows up can easily be related to our childhood. Going through the different stages, different trends. Although her childhood was a lot more restricted then ours, with the rules she had to live with.
She couldn't even go out into public without being completely covered or risk getting arrested. I would never be able to live with that, I felt like every one of her rights as a human being was completely taken away from her.

Cali Simmons (Post 14)

Persepolis

In the novel Persepolis, its the story about a young girl growing up in an ever changing world. She has to deal with rules that only seem to only increase in reinforcement. From being forced to wear a vail, and cover ever inch of her body. To face threats such as terrorism and bombing to having her very own family taken from her. Even being sent away to be away from all the danger and be forced to live on her own without her parents.
I couldn't imagine being sent away from my parents just like that to live in a different country, a completely different world with people who aren't even related to me. I don't think under those circumstances i would be able to adjust.

Cali Simmons (Post 13)

A Whole New World

Marjane continues to develop further, and as she is given more freedom, she is also faced with more responsibilities and decisions to make. Even throughout all of the peer pressure and temptations, she easily refuses most of them, even though she pretends to utilize drugs. In my opinion this is more acceptable then legitimately taking part in these activities because she knows she is not supposed to do them and sticks to it. Other responsibilities she had however, was to live in boarding school and make it all the way through which she in fact did not. This is because Marjane did not choose her battles wisely.
While reading by herself and eating pasta in a pot, a nun confronts her. Even though she really isn't doing anything wrong the nun feels the need to tell her off for eating in a pot and makes fun of her heritage. This is where her responsibility should have stepped in and she should have properly chose her battle. Even though what the nun did was wrong and in complete disregard to her own feelings, succeeding in the school was of importance and had she ignored the nun and not snapped back at her, she could have made it through boarding school.

Marjane's development as a Child

Throughout the book, Marjane has developed as any child would, adapting to her surroundings and growing as she is told and born and raised to grow. However as she grows and becomes more intelligent, she comes into a fork in a path and has to start choosing what to believe and what to fight for. At first thanks to school, she begins to develop a belief completely contradictory to what her parents believe. Another reason she may have began to believe otherwise is because for her own protection her parents didn't let her come to protest rally's that they went to, which didn't help their own case very much, because it gave her no evidence.
The reason her development is significant is because this is how children are influenced all over the world. When things happen in a child's life and they wonder why, if they are not convinced of why something is the way it is, they tend to assume otherwise. For example when i was younger i would hear something from my teacher and repeat it to my parents (or vice versa) and there were often times when i was told that the other party was incorrect. Often i believed the reason that disproved my initial teachings because more than not, it was easier to make it seem like something was wrong even if it wasn't. More often however, I (as I'm sure many other children do) believed my parents over my teacher for the sole reason that they were my parents.

Breaking the Chain of Conformity

Further reading of Persepolis has revealed several distinct hardships that Satrapi had to endure throughout her life growing up, as well as the relationships that she had developed with other people. Satrapi writes in such a way that allows for the reader to draw their own conclusions regarding the scenes that represent her life. It is upon a detailed overview of the comic pictures that a specific trend can be acknowledged. This being that several of the characters that are depicted in certain scenarios all look exactly the same. It is like the characters in these situations all have the same ideals and perform the same actions, as if they are nothing more than a bunch of robots. This type of depiction can be specifically portrayed in the drawings of the military factions, in which each soldier is exactly the same as his comrades. They all act the same and live the same lives, which is not unlike how many people might view those of such backgrounds. Satrapi does not conform with this type of imagery, but rather breaks free from the mold that she is supposed to fill. She cuts herself away from the society and chooses to make her own choices without the influences of being told what to do, whereas the soldiers and extremists only do what they are told to do. They cannot think for themselves so they are all essentially the same and in unison with one another. If a group of people cannot exercise their own ideas or practices then what makes their physical appearance the ultimate distinguishing factor? This is how most Americans live by and this is perhaps why most Americans now view anyone who looks Arab to be a terrorist, which is simply wrong.

Expanding upon the idea of the extremist view and how Satrapi depicts them, this is no different from soldiers of Sierra Leone. In Sierra Leone, many of the soldiers are actually children much like the soldiers who are Islamic extremists. The children are not only used as physical man power, but also to psychologically mess with their enemy. It is hard to picture a child trying to kill another person and for many adults to even point a gun at that child is almost impossible. The children of Sierra Leone most of the time are taken from other villages and drugged and told what to do. They do not have a voice and are manipulated into thinking that their actions are good and for a good cause. They try to instill a fear in those around them to feel power and kill anyone who refuses to break free. This is no different than how many Islamic extremists opperate and carry out their actions. Their message to instill fear becomes the teaching method to those around them and anyone who does not share their ideals are then the enemy. Satrapi's character is not the enemy in this notion, but rather she is the unheard voice that is trying to break the barrier. She is trying to convey her side of the story and show that one should not be afraid to speak out to the world.
(David Roberts, Post 22)

God's Help

In the beginning of the book God is a huge part of Marji's life. She wanted to be the next prophet even though she was a girl. She made her own book of rules like the Ten Commandments. Sadly only her grandma believed in her. God would always come visit her whenever she wanted him to. She would even compare God to Carl Marx imagining what God looked like. When she began to support the revolution against the new Regime God started to disappear in her life.
The one night Marji was picturing herself as different military leaders to imagine herself being a focal point of the revolution. That was the first night that God left her and didn't come back when she wanted him there because her parents wouldn't let her be a part of the revolution. As her life went on she obviously got farther and farther away from him. At one point she became a drug dealer which is the farthest in my mind as you can get from God, compared to the way she acted when she was younger. This is a major changing point in her life in my mind because that is as low as she got. She realized that she wasn't getting anywhere because of it and changed her life afterwards.
Kevin Ostempowski Post 2

Change of view

Before I started to read The Complete Persepolis my views of Iran were solely based on the radicalists in the nation. I thought the whole country was this way that everyone had the same ideas. When I started to read more and more I learned that it wasn't the whole nation thinking the same way. The majority of the people in the nation think differently than the head Regime. While reading it the book pointed out that there were a couple different ways to take things on how the government is supposed to be set up.
Also in reading this book Satrapi points out her personal views as to whats taking place. God was a big point of her life. She would point out how the leaders who were in charge were chosen by God to be there. Her father instead told her that the leaders actually weren't chosen by God instead they got there by greed and wealth. It put a focus on how things should have been and what they truly were. When a person wanted to change things to how they should be they were swayed by money to not change a thing.
Kevin Ostempowski Post 1

Questionable Gender?

In the beginning of the book, Satrapi wanted to do the things that guys did. She wanted to be a prophet. Everyone shot that dream of hers' down. Throughout the book she displays different questionable gender comments. Did Satrapi want to me a guy?

Also further through the reading she cuts her hair off really short. And through the illustrations, Satrapi made herself look manly. She would get boyfriends, but the question rises, why the manly side. Does she want to be a bigger figure? (Nicole Butzke, Post 23)

Views

So when I first started to read the book, I viewed it as just someone telling their life story and point of view, of the current events. I later realized how much different it was from a child growing up through the whole event happening, then just someone saying how everything happened.

Satrapi's point of view is very interesting. I really enjoy reading about the book, and how she views the different happenings. Her description and how she makes the book into a comic book setting is very interesting. (Nicole Butzke, Post 22)

The World Needs to Change Iran?

The Complete Persepolis doesn't mess around when it comes to depicting life under the current leadership, but it also makes you realize there are amazing and wonderful human beings who are doing their best to live dignified and noble lives. This leads back to our discussion where how has your viewed changed after reading and it really has changed my opinion because I realized that it is not the whole country, but the actions of a few that give everyone a bad name. They love their country and would it being invaded by a foreign power than just as much as we would. I'm sure they would fight against any such invasion in spite of their disagreements with those in power. Just because you don't like your leaders, doesn't mean you don't love your country and want to see it taken over by a foreign power.

The Complete Persepolis is a powerful story because it shows of a person's struggle to find her place in the world. The biggest thing for me is that Marjane Satrapi has chosen to tell it in the form of a graphic novel not only shows us how far means of expression as changed, but allows us a glimpse into a world that few of us know anything about. Before anybody makes any decisions about whether they think the world "needs to do something about Iran" they should read this book. (Shawn Parkhurst, 22)

the use of the graphic novel to tell the tale

Marjane Satrapi could have told her story just as easily in a straight autobiography, and I'm sure it would have made for a good read. But by telling it as a graphic novel, she brings a visual part to it that increases its impact. The graphics themselves are plain black and white drawings, but her ability to use imagery to tell the story along with the dialogue and narration makes them as effective as if they were in full color as a film.

The visual element allows her to include the offstage, and imagined part that the reader normally has to do on their own. Instead of having the information as separate incidents, where its impact is reduced by removing it from the context of the story, we see things as they happen. In my opinion this technique increases the emotional power of the moment. Something about the directness of her style that allows her to do two things: distinguish between individuals easily, especially portraying all the women as completely clothed in black (suggesting they are just objects that are all the same). It also allows her to make her own depiction of horrors, death, torture, and anguish, emotionally realistic without being graphic or gruesome.(Shawn Parkhurst, 21)

Poverty

Marjanes' grandmother comes to town to visit and explains the hardships and poverty of years past. Growing up was hard because the work load was more heavy and it was harder to live by living with a lot of people and poverty just made it worst. The difficulties in it is hard because of the fact that Iran is not such a developed country in ways that America is developed. The technology is different and the people are different because Iran is a country that focuses more on the traditions and America is a country that focuses on more the luxuries than their own traditions. This is why it can be hard for an Islamic person to go to an American school because of all the technological advances they lack.

The Iranian regime has much to do with the outcomes of the Islamic faith. Children are brought up as corrupted individuals who are forced to join their military at a young age so they can increase their military numbers. They are trained to kill soldiers and civilians and have the advantage because nobody would want to see a child be killed. They use this strategy as a psychological effect so that children with guns can get closer to the opposing forces and exterminate them. In order to stop this crisis, the regime must be stopped and brought down and train the corrupted individuals to become normal people once again. (Mason Roessler Post 20)

The Islam Faith

In this book, we see how life is different in an Islam country than our own. The religion is different and that is how it can affect people's lives. The traditions of he native people in those countries can be very strict and family oriented that if one person decides to go against the traditional roles, it can have serious consequences on them. Going to a different school can even be hard for an Islamic person to do just because of the many different roles other countries play. It is important to know that clothing is a major part in Islamic lives. This is because women are to wear gowns not revealing anything so it draws attention to them in a postive or negative way. The bottom line is that we need to realize that other people have different faiths and beliefs and we need to respect that and accept them for who they are.

If we look at Iran, there are many different stereotypes that can we assume. We may look at Iran as a terrorist country or one full of fundamentalist views, but that is not always true in some cases. It can also be seen as a country that produces a lot of oil that we acquire for our country's use. There are many people like us who live in Iran that are innocent and everyday civilians just like us. In other words, Iran does not seem to be such a bad acountry as it is made out to be. It is full of postives and some negatives but the good can out weigh the bad. (Mason Roessler Post 19)

Not So Very Different

I am coming to understand Satrapi more and more as the story goes on. She is such a real person. It sounds terrible, but there is always some sort of detachment between myself and the authors I read, that this open honesty, with no metaphors or anything to hide behind, she just makes Satrapi feel more real to me. I feel like she is completely baring her soul to the audience, no matter their feelings on the subject. She doesn’t hide anything, and that makes her more real to me.

Another thing I really like about this book, is that despite her different upbringing, Satrapi “rebels” in the same way the “classic” American does, or for that matter, any teenage does. She smokes, she loves rock and roll, and she participates in drugs, even at one point selling them. She just comes across as so relatable because she is flawed. She has grown up in a major time of war in her country, but she still manages to “rebel” or act out as a normal teenager would. Mind you her parents supported her rebelling against the government with the rock music, but some of it was against her parents as well. She has made mistakes in her past that she is not afraid to come clean about, and that she grew from in the long run, so she is like a normal person. Even though she is not of our culture, she still experiments to find out who she really is, cutting her hair, experimenting with make-up, making new, not totally acceptable friends, and making other mistakes along the way, just like we do.

One scene that I really enjoyed was the scene where she was in the diner and overheard some girls talking about her behind her back (pg 196-197). This scene displays Satrapi most as a real person I think. She had been holding information back from people for so long, that eventually she just burst, and screamed that she was Iranian and proud at those girls. Not that they didn’t deserve to be screamed at, but every person that I have met has, at one point in their lives, blown up at people because they decided to withhold information. It happens to everyone. It is a very human thing to do. We want to fit in with the majority, and there is nothing wrong with that.

I completely agree with some of my classmates who have already posted that despite our different cultures, we still need to treat people from the Middle East with respect. There is a huge difference the radical extremists, and the everyday person. We need to acknowledge that difference, and respect that these people had nothing to do with the attacks on our country, even if they are from the same country or religion as the attackers. I think that the teenage Satrapi rebelling in the same way that we might, really stresses just how similar we are to each other, and how much we need to embrace our similarities, instead of focusing on our differences.

(Sarah Jaworowicz, Post 22)

Not Appropriate or Perfect?

I have to say that I was a little bit confused as to why Satrapi decided to write a graphic novel about her life in war-shattered Iran. It is essentially a comic book, and it didn’t seem like a “real” enough form to write about such a serious topic in. I realize now that it might just be the best way to address such an issue.

This style of writing can be more expressive of feelings and ideas than another form might be. Satrapi literally draws her characters’ faces to represent their feelings at the time. It allows us to interpret said emotions more accurately. I also think that this style allows us to connect with the characters even more than we might if it was written straight. We have someone to picture in our mind when we think about what happened in the story, and it helps me anyway, to have someone to picture, even if it is a cartoon version of a person. I think that this style of writing also lends a lot to the fact that this story is a story of growth, and it helps portray the time of her life that we are in.

Writing this as a graphic novel is also very fitting in that the main character is a growing child when all of this is happening. All of these extremely serious things are going on, and I kind of forgot that she is a little kid for a good portion of what we have read so far. She doesn’t really act like a kid in the “normal” way of being a kid, but reading about her story in this kind of form helps accentuate the fact that she is in fact little kid who has seen terrible things happen. It is also interesting to see how her little girl mind interprets all of the things that she is experiencing, and I feel like we get a better understanding of how she did interpret it through the drawings in the graphic novel.

I also think that this for of writing also helped Satrapi keep her readers interested. It manages to keep a sense of levity through the stories, even though the topic is quite serious at times. I think, as it is quite a serious a subject, that if she had written it straight, as a novel, or another form, that it would have gotten quite heavy, and she would have lost some of her readers. She lightens the mood with funny anecdotes from her childhood, and clever illustrations for the darker parts of her story, without losing the seriousness of the moment.

(Sarah Jaworowicz, Post 21)

I just wanted to blog about how much I am enjoying reading this book. I believe the fact that it is different from a regular novel makes it more interesting to read. The pictures definitely help to explain more about how the characters are living their lives. Pictures tell a thousand words. If it was just a regular novel I don't think we would really get the full picture that the author is trying to convey. The pictures and even the written words help to portray the way the characters are feeling. I would never have thought that graphic novels existed for adults. When I hear graphic novels I immediately think of comics but this rather is very informative. It helps to change the countries viewpoints about the Islamic faith. It also helps to capture the characters' everyday lives.

The main character, Marji, can be portrayed as a "normal and typical" teenage girl but when you look closer at the story she is conveying you see that she lives in a war stricken country. She is sent away and the pictures help tell the story of her new life in Austria better than words can ever do. For one example of the way the pictures tell the story better than words could is when the family is pulled over after coming from a party and the cop follows them home. I don't think words can explain the stress the family was undergoing when the grandmother and Marji had to run upstairs and dump everything before the cop came up. The pictures show this worry and anxiety way better than words. Another example is when ZoZo and Shirin come pick up Marji from the airport in Austria. In the car, Shirin has possessions that Marji would have never been allowed to have. The expressions on both their faces throughout their conversation would be difficult to convey in words. This is a great book so far and I am really enjoying the graphic novel component!

(Kelcey Summers 21)

Two Sides of the Story

After viewing some of the short stories written by Marjane Satrapi, the true background of the Islamic people becomes evident. In America today, many people have harsh criticisms directed towards those of Islamic faith. After the attacks taken place on 9/11, a strong sense of prejudice has evolved with many Americans pointing fingers without a direct understanfding of the truth. It is through this analysis of American behavior that Satrapi's comic stories become all the more intriguing. She presents us with the true renditions of her experiences during the Islamic revolution with the war between Iraq and Iran. It is hard to face the truth when one has blamed the wrong person for so long. It was extremists that were responsible for the terrorist attacks in both the past and the present, and we must acknowledge that difference. Satrapi's words and concrete issues sort of help to distinguish that difference between the extremists and those who are the real victims.

Satrapi writes in such a way that we almost question ourselves what is truly happening, or what is the significance of this event. One such a story would have to be "The Veil." The story really demonstrates the radical side of Satrapi's character and her rambunctious attitude to cease to conform with her fellow people. A specific scene would be the class photo that was taken in the beginning of the story. As it was discussed in class, a possible explanation to why her character is separated from the rest of the class could be that she does not feel like she belongs. Her character comes across as being an outsider, especially later on the book when she leaves to go away. She wants to be independent from everyone and live the life that she chooses, rather than live a life that is pre-determined much like the rest of her classmates. It is similar to how American associate anyone of Islamic faith as being a terrorist. This is horrible to think like this, but it is the truth of the majority behavior in this present time. It's almost as if Satrapi recognizes herself as being the "enemy" and doens't want to have that association anymore. She wants to leave her past behind in a sense to start her own story, one that spells the truth of the harships that she had to endure.
(David Roberts, Post 21)

I just wanted to comment more on Satrapi choosing to exclude herself from the class photo. I wanted to say that I think the reason she chose to do that was to show that the story wasn't about her or for her. I think the story is more meant for those other children who maybe look just like her because they're are just like her. Maybe this story was is for them. It was brought up the fact that no one else was looking at the camera really. I thought that was a great point. Maybe they have the same story or have been through the same things but they can not speak out like Satrapi.

After reading my article I started taking a closer look at the reading. I have to say I'm really enjoying it. I started to notice what was mentioned in the article about how it's a story about a "girlhood" not about Satrapi herself. It's about the country around her. I think the fact that her speaking out when many women of that culture have to stay silent makes her an "Outcast" and thus a part of our course study. Good choice. Thomas Moss (post 16)

Changing Viewpoints

This book is a really good book to read. It definitely helps the reader gain awareness of everyday life for teh people who live in Iran. The citizens aren't all terrorists or fundamentalists. They are people as well and the book really helps us to gain that awareness. I really liked the way that you learn about their history from the child's perspective. We talked a little in class about our impressions of Iran had changed after reading the first part. I think that it is important to gain awareness about other countries on their history. You don't really understand a culture until you realize the history that they have had to go through. As the Iranian people have developed their culture they have had to go through a lot of wars and a lot of fundamentalist regimes. Unfortuneatly, this story gives you the first hand experience of all the protests.

She had to go through a huge change in school and even a huge change with having to wear the hood after not having to wear anything. That is a huge difference in how you live your life. She learns about all the struggles first hand but it is nice that we can gain this knowledge and understand all they have gone through. My perspective of Iran was that they were mostly fundamentlist extremists and plot against the US but in reality that is only a small portion of the country. The people are the ones that have to risk their lives everyday hoping that the regime ends its power and a new one comes that will be better. Unfortuneately, it doesn't happen that way. Your impressions of Iran definitely change reading this and I think putting it into a comic book form helps to incorporate the importance of the imformation.
(Kelcey Summers 20)