Classism Ashamed (33), critical (37).

In Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi is both

critical of classism and ashamed by how
she benefits from it.

Persepolis Classism Analysis

In Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi is critical of the classism issue in Iran under the emerging

Islamic regime, as seen in the treatment of her family’s maid due to her social class. In the start

of the book, Marjane is found writing letters for her family’s maid, Mehri, who is unable to read

or write English. These letters are continually sent back and forth with their 16 year old neighbor

as the two grow in love. Eventually, Marjane’s family discovers this and reveals to their neighbor

that Mehri’s actually the maid, not daughter, ending the relationship between the teens. Marjane

struggles to grasp why the two cannot be together, and she is isolated in a close up photo towards

the bottom of page 37 to highlight her distress. The contrast in word bubbles in her discussion

with her father demonstrates her disapproval towards the classism issue in Iran, especially as a

beneficiary of the discrimination. She feels it is unfair as Mehri did not choose the situation she

was born into, a thoughtful choice by the author to emphasize the prejudice many social groups

fall victim to for uncontrollable aspects of their identity.