BACKGROUND TO NOVEL

With Open Eyes: Glimpsing Iranian Culture Through a Graphic Novel

Marjane Satrapi. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood. Paris: L'Association, 2003.

Growing up in Iran during the 1970’s, Marjane Satrapi’s life seems very much like our own:
western, materialistic, and relatively free. Life in Iran under the Shah was difficult for those
deemed to be enemies of the state, but those who did not criticize the Shah had money,
family, and relative freedom to live their lives as they chose. When the Shah was deposed in
early 1979, religious clerics and radical conservatives seized power. Sweeping change was at
hand.

Marjane’s family is descended from the Emperor, who was deposed by the father of the Shah
in 1925. Her grandfather served briefly as Prime Minister, but soon became a communist
and perennial political prisoner in the Reza Shah regime. Her parents grew up during the
Shah’s reign, witnessing both the relaxed, Westernized materialist culture and the brutality
of the Shah’s secret police. Many of their friends, family members, and acquaintances were
arrested and imprisoned; a number were savagely tortured. Marjane was sheltered from many
of these realities until after the Islamic Revolution.

As the revolution gained momentum, Marjane’s parents joined the demonstrations against
the Shah, but after an initial period of relief from the Shah’s police state, they found the
Revolutionary Council to be just as oppressive. Women were made to veil themselves in public,
while alcohol and Western objects were forbidden.

Marjane does not respond well to the strict laws put forth by the regime. Like most young
women her age, Marjane is searching for personal identity and individuality. She is testing
the waters to see what she can and can’t get away with. While this is a normal and safe
growing process for many young women (especially adolescents living in Britain), Marjane's
experimentation is life threatening and risky.

She first runs into these problems in school. In class, Marjane’s free spirit and stubbornness
causes her and her family trouble. She rebels against school regulations by mocking
ceremonial practices that are done in respect to the war. Marjane also wears jewellery
to school (something that is absolutely forbidden), and refuses to follow the customs
and rules that govern her school. As a result, Marjane is expelled and eventually kicked
out of the schools that she attends.

While Marjane’s free spirit is a threat to her education, as she grows older her thirst
for individualism causes her much more trouble. With the coming of her teen years,
Marjane begins skipping classes, smoking, and taking part in other risky activities.
These actions put her in much danger, and while she is raised in a free and open minded
household, the government does not hold the same values.

Every day Marjane sees death and injustice in her community. Between the death of
her uncle and her neighbours home being bombed, Marjane realizes that her community
is not a safe place. She is a young, free spirited girl trying to live her life as a normal
adolescent. Unfortunately, her country does not give her room to grow and learn. Instead
she lives a life of threats and consequence. Marjane’s parents recognize their daughter’s
free spirit and are uneasy about the situations that she puts herself in. Knowing their
daughters fearless behaviour and strong will, Marjane's parents are faced with a very tough
decision. Marjane’s parents need to decide if it is in their daughter’s best interest to send
her away. Her safety is certainly at stake and her home is a haven for war and hatred. The
question is, do they send their daughter away to secure her safety, or do they take the risk
of keeping her in their dangerous village?

This novel is a look behind the veil (so to speak) of the lives of the citizens of Iran during
the Islamic Revolution, the consolidation of power of the Islamic Clerics, and the Iran-Iraq
War, and how the realities of daily living failed to square with the rhetoric of both regimes.
It gives voice to those who pushed back against the hypocrisies of a religious regime that
brutalized its citizens as horrifically as the secular government it replaced. This story also
offers insight into the struggles that many adolescents faced during the Shah regime. What is
meant to be a time of experimentation and personal growth, is instead of time of meekness
and invisibility. This story looks beyond the surface of the Iranion Revolution and introduces
the harsh truths that exist. Persepolis is a novel about understanding, fear and loss. It is a
harsh reality that gives readers a truthful perspective about the suffering and injustices that
coexist with the Iranian Revolution.

Understanding is something that will be achieved throughout reading this novel; an

understanding of the lives and struggles of others. Overall, this book is a rewarding and
truthful representation of life in Iran in the 70's and 80's. In short, it is a MUST READ!