Isolation In Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis

In the graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, the author uses words as well as illustrations in order to deliver the story of a young Iranian girl raised by a modern family in a traditionalist country. Satrapi composes her illustrations to reflect the current emotion or state of her character in order to accentuate certain events. She often uses splash frames and incorporates Persian flourishes into her artwork. Some character issues that are expressed through panel composition are Marjane’s identity crises as modern or traditionalist and Iranian or Austrian, her feelings of isolation in deserted Tehran, her feelings of distance and helplessness when leaving her parents at the airport, and homesickness brought up by blatant differences
When Marjane is at an Austrian party, she says that the party is “...not what (she) imagined. In Iran, at parties, everyone would dance and eat. In Vienne, people preferred to lie around and smoke. And then, (she) was turned off by all these displays of public affection. What do you expect, (she) came from a traditionalist country”(185/1). This statement is accompanied by an image of Marjane at a party where people are smoking and making out. The image is mostly black with white Persian flourishes against the wall that look like smoke. Marjane is a small figure in the large frame, sitting alone in the corner. The insignificant, isolated image of her within the large panel can represent her feelings of desolation and loneliness, while the dark coloring of the panel and be a representation of how Marjane felt the room in which the party takes place to be intimidating or uninviting. Additionally, the Persian flourishes embedded in the image can show how the party has brought up her homesickness, as the caption on the image may suggest. The contrast of the white Persian flourishes against the black wall can also be seen as emblematic of Satrapi’s views on the stark differences between parties in Iran and