The True History of Modern Iran: Essay on the book Persepolis
Park
English 2 Honors
12/20/11
The True History of Modern Iran “Since then, this old and great civilization has been discussed mostly in connection with fundamentalism, fanaticism, and terrorism. As an Iranian who has lived more than half of my life in Iran, I know that this image is far from the truth.” In Marjane Satrapi’s book Persepolis the author writes how even though Iran deals with countless years of warfare, the submission to radical Islam, and the problem of education. Not all Iranians support the portrayal of their country by the western world. In fact this story gives the honest truth about the history of modern Iran. The gap between rich and poor in Iran can be discerned by the amount of education a person receives, and since only the few rich obtain an adequate education the uneducated majority often unintentionally follows groups with their own intentions for most of the history of modern Iran. “He was an illiterate low ranking officer (20).” Ms. Satrapi asks father about how the Shah came to power, so father gladly obliges by telling Marji Satrapi that the Shah seized the thrown not by the power of god, which Marji Satrapi thought and what the Shah preaches to the subjects of Iran, but because the British help the Shah overthrow the previous government and use the Shah as a puppet in order to gain access to vast oil reserves in Iran. Regardless of how oblivious the ruling Shahs act, those that do not have an education do not realize this about the Shah and accept the government propaganda. Later on the Shah finally steps down from the throne; however circumstances do not improve, in fact the government changes from a totalitarian monarchy into a controlling Islamic regime, “Do you realize how ignorant our people are? The Elections were faked and they believe the results: 99.99%!! As for me, I don’t know a single person who voted for the Islamic Republic (62).” While the Satrapi family and friends see through this propaganda the poor do
English 2 Honors
12/20/11
The True History of Modern Iran “Since then, this old and great civilization has been discussed mostly in connection with fundamentalism, fanaticism, and terrorism. As an Iranian who has lived more than half of my life in Iran, I know that this image is far from the truth.” In Marjane Satrapi’s book Persepolis the author writes how even though Iran deals with countless years of warfare, the submission to radical Islam, and the problem of education. Not all Iranians support the portrayal of their country by the western world. In fact this story gives the honest truth about the history of modern Iran. The gap between rich and poor in Iran can be discerned by the amount of education a person receives, and since only the few rich obtain an adequate education the uneducated majority often unintentionally follows groups with their own intentions for most of the history of modern Iran. “He was an illiterate low ranking officer (20).” Ms. Satrapi asks father about how the Shah came to power, so father gladly obliges by telling Marji Satrapi that the Shah seized the thrown not by the power of god, which Marji Satrapi thought and what the Shah preaches to the subjects of Iran, but because the British help the Shah overthrow the previous government and use the Shah as a puppet in order to gain access to vast oil reserves in Iran. Regardless of how oblivious the ruling Shahs act, those that do not have an education do not realize this about the Shah and accept the government propaganda. Later on the Shah finally steps down from the throne; however circumstances do not improve, in fact the government changes from a totalitarian monarchy into a controlling Islamic regime, “Do you realize how ignorant our people are? The Elections were faked and they believe the results: 99.99%!! As for me, I don’t know a single person who voted for the Islamic Republic (62).” While the Satrapi family and friends see through this propaganda the poor do