Marjane Satrapi Identity

“Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I've ever known.” (Palahniuk) In Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi’s identity is formed by her childhood in Iran and solidified by her path to maturity through Austria and a return to Iran that are intertwined with her country’s tumultuous narrative. The forces that drive Satrapi to become a graphic novel author living in France are, most prominently, her relatives actions and stories, her experiences in Vienna as a teenager, and the geopolitical atmosphere of her homeland. Satrapi’s family plays a very important role in the formation of her familial and moral values. Her parents set an example for her, teaching her to stand up for what they think is right and protest the false divinity
Her grandmother is the one that introduced her to reading in the book and sparked her thirst for knowledge. She brings her books so that Marji will understand “why the people are revolting” against the government.(P.1-28) After this Marji reads all kinds of things, she “read all the books [she] could”(P.1-32). Later, while in Vienna when she has little to do she reads because she felt as though she “had to understand everything” to educate herself.(P.2-21) Her grandmother also acts as a moral compass, telling her to “always keep [her] dignity and be true to [herself]” before she leaves for Vienna.(P.1-150) Marji remembers her grandmother’s words when she lies about her nationality to a boy, showing how they have a profound effect on Satrapi. Additionally, when Marjane lies about a man disrespecting her to avoid being arrested for wearing makeup, her grandmother yells at her for the first time in her life. Marjane “decided that it would also be the last”, and vows to live by her grandmother’s
Despite growing up in a theocratic, conservative country, Satrapi is astonishingly open minded, at least to a western audience. As a whole, western media regards the people of Iran as extremely conservative and intolerant based on misconceptions about Islam and Iran itself. For example, in December, 2015 Defence News published an article referring to the Iran as “the chief instigator of terror and instability in the Middle East”.(DefenceNews). This skewed view of Iran is something that Satrapi became painfully aware of when she traveled to Austria and learned that “Iran was the epitome of evil” in westernized countries.(P.2-41) In an interview with Pantheon, Satrapi recalled seeing pieces about Iran on television, remarking that “they didn't represent [her] experience at all”.(Satrapi) Persepolis gives a very different view of life in Iran. Marji goes to school, has various childhood friendships, and even has a rebellious punk phase when she “cut class” and smoked her “first cigarette.(P.1-113-7) It was growing up in Iran during some of the the country’s violent history that gave Satrapi the motivation to create Persepolis. She wanted people in other countries to “to see that [she] grew up just like other children” in other countries