Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis

Persepolis Analysis The graphic novel Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, is a autobiography describing her childhood in Iran and her early life and studies in Europe. As a graphic novel, the book uses text and drawings to tell the story. The autobiography is effectively transmitted because, even though the images do not tell the story by themselves, they help the reader visualize it, and help set the tone and mood. The images help the reader understand the story better, and visualize what the author wants them to see. At one point, Satrapi describes what happened to a member of the guerillas ( a small group of combatants). “Ahmadi was assassinated. As a member of the guerillas, he suffered hell. He always had cyanide on him in case he was
Sometimes the drawing are drawn black on white, but other times, generally when the topic is more serious, the drawings are in a negative format, white on a black background. Sometimes it is just because it is night, but an exception is after the Shah finally leaves Iran and loses power.“After Black Friday, there was one massacre after another. Many people were killed. The end of the Shah 's reign was near. One day he made a declaration on TV. 'I understand your revolt, together we will try to march towards democracy. ' For a few months, he actually did try: he tested a dozen of prime ministers. The more he tried democracy, the more his statues were torn down...Then his effigy was burned. The people want only one thing: his departure! So finally...The day he left, the country had the biggest celebration of its entire history” (Satrapi 40) In the last image, the black background contrasts with the bright faces of the people, and highlights the smiles and the joy of the population. It is cheerful and liberating, because after a long time of pressure, they are finally free of their oppressor. A less joyful part is when she is walking on the street alone, “Now that Tehran was under attack, many fled. The city was deserted. As for us, we stayed. Not just out of fatalism. If there was to be a future, in my parent 's eyes, that future was linked to my French education. And Tehran was the only place I could get it.”(Satrapi 137) The words themselves don 't have a lot of emotion to them, but the image that accompanies conveys a strong feeling of loneliness. The dark trees and the single shadow of the person create a desolate mood, because nobody is there anymore, and it is like the place is dead, just like the millions of victims. The mood of the story relies a lot on the images and on the contrasts of the black and the