Persepolis

Persepolis
Study Guide by Course Hero
What's Inside ABOUT THE TITLE

Persepolis was the ancient capital of Persia, or modern-day
Iran. Demolished by Alexander the Great in 330 BCE, its ruins
are a reminder of the strength and longevity of Persian culture
j Book ............................................................................1 despite numerous invasions and regime changes. By using the
Basics
d In name of the ancient city as the title for her autobiographical

Context ...............................................................................1
graphic memoir, author Marjane Satrapi draws a parallel
a Author Biography ...................................................................3 between the destruction of the ancient capital and the Iranian
Revolution of 1979.
h Characters .............................................................................4
k Plot Summary.......................................................................10
d In Context
c Chapter Summaries
.............................................................18
g Quotes
..................................................................................49
l Symbols.............................................................................52 Persepolis is written in the past tense.
m Themes....................................................................................53
e Suggested Reading...............................................................55
j Book Basics
AUTHOR
Marjane Satrapi
YEARS PUBLISHED
2000–03
GENRE
Memoir
PERSPECTIVE AND NARRATOR

Persepolis is told from the perspective of author and first-
person narrator Marjane Satrapi.
TENSE
Historical Foundations of Iran
Iran is located in southwestern Asia, sandwiched
between the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea.
Humans have lived in the region since the Stone Age
(approximately 100,000 BCE).
Iran's culture and society evolved much later—during the
Achaemenian period (559–330 BCE). The Achaemenids
referred to themselves both as Persians and Aryans
(from which the word Iran was derived).
In Persepolis, author Marjane Satrapi says the people of

Iran were subject to "2500 years of tyranny and
submission." That's in part because the country's central
location and proximity to water made it an attractive
target to invaders looking to expand their territory and
influence. The first major change of power was between
334 and 330 BCE, when Macedonian (Greek) troops
conquered the Achaemenian Empire. Their commander
and king, Alexander the Great, ordered the destruction
of Iran's capital city, Persepolis, to symbolize the end of
the Achaemenian era and the introduction of Greek
civilization into western Asia. Eager for a peaceful
transition, Alexander encouraged the intermingling of
Greek and Persian customs, as well as the intermingling
of people of different nationalities. Western ideas such
as weight and measure
Persepolis Study Guide In Context 2
systems were introduced, but Persian culture, for the most In January 1979 the shah and his family left Iran—supposedly
part, stayed the same. on vacation. They never returned. Prime Minister Shahpur
Bakhtiar (1914–91) tried to gain control of the government but
Big changes didn't occur until 640 CE during the first Arab
couldn't reach an agreement with either the progressives or
invasion, which is what Marjane is talking about when she
the conservatives. That left an opening for Khomeini, who
becomes agitated about attacks from Iraq being "[t]he second
returned to Iran on February 1, 1979. He was welcomed with
invasion in 1400 years!" The Arabs brought with them the
open arms by a public ready for change. Some progressives,
religion of Islam, and the Persians were forced to forsake their
such as Marjane's father, Ebi, were worried about the
customs and beliefs for those of their conquerors. Despite
implications of putting someone with such stringent religious
several more regime changes, Arab rule lasted until 829—and
beliefs in power. Others—such as Marjane's Uncle Anoosh—
had the most profound effect on the region. Persians born
believed religious leaders would take a step back and allow
under Arab rule grew up practicing Islam, and those who
the people to form their own government. Ebi was closer to
became clergy passed it to subsequent generations—even as
the mark. Iran became an Islamic republic, or a country ruled
successive Persian, Turkish, and Mongolian invaders ruled the
by Islamic law, on April 1, 1979.
country. Islam became the de facto religion for Iran and
remains so to this day. Government officials not associated with Islamic
fundamentalism, whose believers argue that the world's
problems are caused by nonreligious people, were
The Iranian Revolution immediately removed from office. Laws guaranteeing marriage
rights for women were rescinded, and conservative standards
Persepolis begins in the days immediately following the Iranian for dress and behavior were enforced as law. Women had to
Revolution of 1978–79. Also known as the Islamic Revolution cover their hair when in public with a hijab, or veil. Adult
or the 1979 Revolution, the Iranian Revolution was the climax women also had to wear a chador, or billowing gown, to
of the public's rising discontent with the Iranian monarchy conceal the shapes of their bodies from men's eyes. The
throughout the 1970s. Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the sexes were segregated in nearly all aspects of public life,
shah, or king, of Iran, was disliked by conservatives and including religious services, at schools, and on buses and
liberals alike. He and his government were accused of trains. Unmarried men and women were not allowed to be in
repressing political opposition, hoarding revenues from oil public together, and casual dating was not allowed. The
exports, and forcing people to adopt Western technologies, violation of these laws was not taken lightly, and it seemed as
ideas, and values. Progressives, such as Marjane's parents, if there were eyes everywhere. Bands of government-
Ebi and Taji, were angered by the monarchy's suppression of sanctioned patrols roamed the cities looking for the tiniest
contradictory political voices through censorship, surveillance, infractions, which could lead to arrest, violence, or even death.
arrest, torture, and execution. Conservatives, on the other The regime's rules and a constant fear of the religious law-
hand, wanted to banish Western influence from Iran and enforcement patrols are reasons Marjane felt stifled living in
institute Islamic law. Iran's Islamic Republic.
The revolution began in January 1978 when a newspaper

article about Islamic scholar Ruhollah Khomeini (1902–89)
incited students in a Tehran religious school. Khomeini, an
Iran-Iraq War
outspoken opponent of the monarchy, had been exiled in 1964
The Iran-Iraq war began on September 22, 1980, when Iraqi
and was then living in Iraq. More young people followed suit to
military forces invaded Iran, though Iraqi leaders maintain it
protest the monarchy's lavish way of life. The shah didn't know
started weeks before when Iranian troops shelled Iraqi posts
how to react. When he chose to fight back, the regime's
along the border. Iraq aimed to control the Shatt Al-'Arab, a
soldiers killed protesters—who were then regarded as martyrs,
river that runs between the two countries, and the border
or people who died for their religion. Civilian protests and
region Khuzestan, which produces a lot of oil and has a
government retaliation became an ongoing cycle, while
heavy ethnic Arab population. Iraq also sought reassurance
Khomeini sent recorded messages to his supporters
that President Saddam Hussein would not be overthrown by
advocating for the shah to relinquish the throne.
fundamentalist revolutionaries as had happened in Iran.
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Persepolis Study Guide Author Biography 3
Hussein was concerned Khomeini would make a play for Iraq her Iranian art school education wasn't an enormous help
as well. when it comes to drawing people. At school female models
had to wear the shapeless clothing required by the Islamic
Iran was already in political chaos with the changing of
regime, and female art students weren't exactly encouraged to
regimes, and the 1979 hostage crisis at the United States
study the male models. Her illustration style is bold and
embassy in Tehran hadn't endeared the Iranians to the West.
somewhat rudimentary-looking. Rendered completely in black
Iraq had the financial support of the Arab states, including
and white, her drawings are reminiscent of woodcut artwork,
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, as well as the tacit support of the
which rose to prominence in 16th-century Germany. Satrapi's
United States and the Soviet Union, who were deeply
simple images pack a big punch, and they allow readers to
concerned about Iraq's oil supply. Iran, on the other hand,
immediately identify what is happening on the page and what
was backed only by Syria and Libya. Iranian citizens were
the characters are feeling. They also help bridge the cultural
understandably panicked, which is why the grocery stores are
divide between the Iranian characters and Satrapi's Western
completely empty when Marjane and her mother go shopping
readership. Anyone from anywhere can see themselves in the
in Persepolis. There were also periods of fuel shortages, as
nondescript features of her main characters.
Iran and Iraq kept bombing each other's oil fields.
As Satrapi notes in the chapter "The Cigarette," Iraq tried to

end the war in 1982. It gave back the land it had claimed and a Author Biography
tried to negotiate a peace agreement. The Islamic regime
wasn't interested. Khomeini, who was now the leader of Iran,
wanted to overthrow Hussein. He and other government
leaders knew they needed the war to stay in power. As long as
Childhood in Iran
Iranians were united against Iraq, they wouldn't have the
manpower or strength to rebel against their own government. Marjane Satrapi was born on November 22, 1969, in Rasht,
Iran, to parents Ebi and Taji Satrapi. An only child, Satrapi grew
Iran finally agreed to a cease-fire in August 1988. Experts up in a close-knit family that emphasized intellectualism and
estimate one to two million people were wounded or killed free thought over the religious dictates of the governing
during the war, with Iran suffering the most losses. As Iraq Islamic Republic. Satrapi attended French-language schools
invaded Kuwait in 1990, Iran and Iraq came to a formal peace throughout her childhood, where she excelled in math. Her
settlement, and Iraqi troops were finally removed from Iran. education continued at home, as her parents encouraged her
to explore Western texts, films, art, and music that were
becoming increasingly difficult to find in Iran. However, typical
Autobiographical Comics and children's fare, such as fairy tales and comic books, didn't
interest her much. By age eight, she was watching films by
Satrapi's Style Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. By age 11, she was reading
books by Victorian novelist Emily Brontë (Wuthering Heights,
Comic books have been around for over a century, but it wasn't 1847).
until the mid-1980s that people began viewing them as a
During the 1980s life changed significantly for residents of
medium for sophisticated literature. American writer Frank
Tehran, the Iranian capital. The ongoing Iran-Iraq War (1980–
Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986), American
88) stripped the city of supplies and able-bodied young men.
writer Art Spiegelman's Maus (1987), and English writer Alan
Leaders of the Islamic Republic cracked down on everything
Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons's Watchmen series (1986–
Western, from music to fashion to political views, endangering
87) differed from traditional comic book fare. Dark and often
Westernized Iranians. Alcohol was prohibited, secular school
gritty, they used multidimensional characters to explore
curriculum was suddenly based in religion, and women were
serious themes. They were also long, which earned them the
required to wear headscarves in school and in public. It wasn't
moniker "graphic novel."
a safe place for Satrapi, a rebellious teenager who identified
Satrapi doesn't consider herself a comic artist, and she admits more with international freedom movements than with the
oppressive regime in Iran. Her parents decided it

Persepolis Study Guide Characters 4
would be best for her, at age 14, to finish her schooling in

Austria, where she would live with family friends. Persepolis and Beyond
Although inspired, Satrapi knew next to nothing about the
Europe, Iran, and Back Again structure and form of graphic novels. She continued working
on her children's books, piling up rejection letter after rejection
Life in Austria didn't go as Satrapi planned. Her surrogate letter. In 1999 Satrapi decided the best way to get published
family asked her to leave after just 10 days, and she spent the would be to do it herself. Instead of self-publishing one of her
next four years bouncing from boarding house to boarding completed children's books, she started a new project—a
house while completing her high school education. An outcast comic about her childhood in Iran. Satrapi was determined to
because of her Iranian heritage, Satrapi fell in with a crowd show Iran as she knew it—not the country of religious fanatics
very different from her friends back in Tehran. She engaged in usually portrayed in the Western media.
illegal behavior she knew would shame her parents, such as
Before the ink on the first page was dry, Satrapi knew comics
drug use. After the failure of her first real romantic relationship,
were the right medium for her. She continued drawing and
she found herself homeless, heartbroken, and alone.
writing, completing the first volume of Persepolis in 2000. Her
Satrapi returned to Tehran and her parents in 1988, where she work immediately found a home—l'Association, a well-known
was accepted into art school. A lifelong sketcher and doodler, publisher of French comics. Persepolis was an instant critical
Satrapi's interest in art bloomed when she saw an original and commercial success, and it was followed by three more
painting by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso during a family trip to volumes, one published each year through 2003. The
Madrid, Spain, when she was nine. Though she studied oil collection has sold over one million copies and has been
painting for a few years in her early teens, Satrapi veered translated into over 24 languages. Capitalizing on the success
toward graphic design in university. It was there she met and of the book, Satrapi then cowrote and codirected an animated
married her first husband, Reza, who was also an art student. film based on her story, also called Persepolis. Released in
Their relationship lasted just a few years. At 24 a newly 2007, it was nominated for dozens of awards, including a
divorced Satrapi left Iran once again for Europe. Golden Globe and an Academy Award.
After finishing her graphic design studies at l'Ecole des Arts Satrapi followed Persepolis with two more graphic memoirs.
Décoratifs (School of Decorative Arts) in Strasbourg, France, Embroideries, published in 2003, is a compilation of
Satrapi earned a living doing freelance design work—while also autobiographical stories about life and love from her female
laboring on the children's books she'd always wanted to write family members and friends. Chicken with Plums (2004) is
and illustrate. A friend found her a spot at L'Atelier des loosely based on the life of her great-uncle, a renowned lute
Vosges, a graphic artists' cooperative in Paris. The other player. Satrapi has also published several children's books,
artists were all men, and most were cartoonists. They were many of which were written before Persepolis.
fascinated by Satrapi's stories of Iran, and several encouraged
Satrapi's success and her status as Iran's first published comic
her to create comics about her life there. Thinking comics were
book author has not endeared her to the leaders of the Islamic
"bullshit stories" for kids, Satrapi had no interest in writing or
Republic. No longer welcome in Iran, she has made her home
even reading them until—in 1988—she picked up a copy of
in Paris, where she works as an artist.
Maus by American artist and author Art Spiegelman.
Spiegelman's graphic memoir about his father's experiences
during the Holocaust and their father-son relationship sparked
something in Satrapi, who begrudgingly admitted comics were h Characters
probably the best medium for blending her art with her
narrative voice.

Marjane Satrapi politically up-to-date, Ebi prefers to get all his news and
information from the BBC, which, unlike Iranian state media,
presents an outside perspective of current events. Though he
Opinionated, intelligent, independent, and rebellious, Marjane
never explicitly says he's a communist, he provides Marjane
Satrapi, born in 1969, is a child when the Iranian Revolution
with reading material about Marxist theories and tends to
begins in 1978. She daydreams about becoming a
agree with the socialist ideals of his brother. Unlike Anoosh,
revolutionary like her beloved Uncle Anoosh, and she eagerly
however, Ebi is cautious. Following the Iranian Revolution, he
reads everything she can about her country's political situation.
keeps his rebellion inside the home—where he reads Western
Education is a mainstay throughout the rest of the precocious
books, listens to Western music, drinks alcohol, and holds in-
preteen's life—she is constantly reading to learn more about
depth discussions about the state of Iran's government. He
the world and herself. As she grows older, she begins to
insists his daughter be educated about the topics facing their
question the methods and morals of Iran's Islamic
country so she can form her own opinions and speak
government, which always gets her in trouble at school but
intelligently on nearly any subject. Ebi loves Marjane
never at home. Taji and Ebi raise her to ask questions and
unreservedly, and he would do anything to protect her. Yet he
push back when she thinks something isn't right, and she
also knows she needs to make mistakes, such as getting
does. Over the 16 years covered in Persepolis, Marjane
married, for herself.
matures and finds her own path in life, but she always remains
deeply devoted to her family and her country. She is proud to
be Iranian, and she is proud to be a member of her family.
Though her travels take her far away, she always carries a Grandmother
piece of home in her heart.
Grandmother plays a large role in Persepolis and in Marjane's
life. Her late husband was the son of Ahmad Shah, a former
Taji Satrapi emperor of Iran. When Reza Shah took over Iran, Grandma's
husband and his family lost everything. Living in poverty, she
held the family together while her husband was jailed off and
During most of her youth, Taji's father was in jail, and young
on for his communist beliefs. Surprisingly liberal-minded for
Taji grew up in poverty. She, more than anyone else in the
someone of her generation, she is suspicious of governments
Satrapi family, knows the importance of a good education. Her
that claim to have the people's best interest at heart but really
education gave her the tools to improve her social status, and
only do what is best for themselves. She is the person to
she wants the same for Marjane. Taji recognizes early on that
whom Marjane goes for advice, and she is the one who
her daughter is not made to live under Iran's repressive laws,
comforts Marjane when things go terribly wrong. However, she
so she pushes Marjane to focus on her studies, especially
is not softhearted—her expectations for her granddaughter are
French, so she can one day leave and do what she wants with
just as high as Taji's and Ebi's. Beyond anything else, she
her life. Taji understands this means Marjane won't always be
wants Marjane to remember who she is: the granddaughter of
close, but it's a sacrifice she's willing to make for her
a man who dedicated his life to making his nation a better
daughter's happiness. Though also a liberal, she does not
place. She expects the same kind of commitment and ideals
have Ebi's natural optimism about Iran's future. Her fleeting
from Marjane.
wish to relocate to the West is tempered by the negative
experiences her friends and family have had outside of their
homeland. It is too late for her to start over again, and she
doesn't want her daughter to miss that opportunity. Uncle Anoosh
Uncle Anoosh had fled Iran years earlier fearing he would be
Ebi Satrapi arrested for treason. After spending several years in the USSR
(Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or Soviet Union), he
Mustachioed Ebi Satrapi is one of six brothers. Though he is returned to Iran, where he was arrested and imprisoned for
not as outspoken as his brother Anoosh or his Uncle nine years. Upon his release, he visits Marjane's family and
Fereydoon, he is a rebel in his own right. Well-read and becomes one of her favorite relatives. Within a few months he

is rearrested and executed as a Russian spy.
Markus
Markus and Marjane date and smoke marijuana together. He
gets her involved in buying their supply, and soon she's the
drug dealer for the whole school. When Marjane catches
Markus with another woman, they break up and never see
each other again.
Reza
Reza and Marjane meet and fall in love at the university. After
two years of surreptitious dating, they grow tired of not being
able to be seen together in public. They marry and soon
realize they have made a mistake. They eventually divorce.

Character Map
Ebi Satrapi
Intelligent, liberal engineer;
enjoys Western thought
and culture
Brothers Spouses
Taji Satrapi
Uncle Anoosh Intelligent, liberal fashion
Father
Political prisoner; communist designer; promotes
education
Beloved
relative
Mother
Marjane Satrapi
Spirited, independent
Mother
Iranian; rebels
against the Islamic
Ex-boyfriend
Grandmother
Markus Grandmother
Selfish, cheating Spouses Liberal, opinionated
theater student advice-giver
Reza
Tidy, bookish art student
Main Character
Other Major Character
Minor Character

Full Character List Behzad is an illustrator at the

magazine where Marjane works.
Behzad
He is arrested for drawing a
burglar climbing a man's beard.
Character Description
Enrique is Marjane's first boyfriend.

Marjane Satrapi is an Iranian girl
A half-Austrian, half-Spanish
Marjane Satrapi who comes of age during the
Enrique anarchist, he doesn't realize he's
aftermath of the Islamic
gay until he nearly sleeps with
Revolution.
Marjane.
Taji Satrapi is Marjane's
Taji Satrapi
mother. She is a fashion
Farnaz is Marjane's old childhood
designer.
friend who tells her being unhappily
Farnaz
Ebi Satrapi is Marjane's father. He married is a lot better than being
Ebi Satrapi divorced.
is an engineer.
Marjane's grandmother is Farzad, one of Marjane's friends

opinionated, open-minded, and from university, falls to his death
Farzad
loving. The mother of Taji, her when the guardians of the
Grandmother
Revolution raid a party.
deceased husband was once a
prince.
Fereydoon (Satrapi) is the uncle of
Ebi and Anoosh and great-uncle to
Uncle Anoosh is Ebi's brother. A
former political prisoner with tales Marjane. He serves as the
Uncle Anoosh Uncle Fereydoon
worthy of any storybook, he is minister of justice of the Iranian
young Marjane's idol. province of Azerbaijan before his
execution by the shah's police.
Markus is Marjane's "first great

love." They date for two years and Gila is a graphic designer at the
Markus Gila economics magazine where
break up when Marjane catches
him cheating on her. Marjane is an illustrator.
Reza is Marjane's husband. God is an all-mighty deity. He and

Reza They marry when she is 21 and God Marjane are close friends until the
divorce when she is 24. death of her Uncle Anoosh.
Anna is Marc's younger sister. The unnamed head of the Visual

Marjane overhears her saying Communications Department at
Anna Head of the Visual
terrible things about Marjane in a Marjane's college assigns Marjane
Communications
café. and Reza the project to develop a
Department
theme park based on Persian
mythology.
Armelle Armelle is Julie's mother.
Dr. Heller runs the second
Yonnel Arrouas is Marjane's boarding house in which Marjane
Dr. Heller
physics teacher in Austria. She lives in Vienna. She accuses
Yonnel Arrouas
confides her troubles to him, but Marjane of theft and prostitution.
she doesn't think he believes her.
The unnamed hospital director who
Neda Baba-Levy is Marjane's will not grant Uncle Taher
neighbor and friend. She and her permission to go to the United
Neda Baba-Levy Hospital director
parents are killed by a missile that States for medical care is
hits their house on the Sabbath. Marjane's aunt's former window
washer.

Houshang is Zozo's unemployed Marc is a graduate of the French-

Houshang husband, who used to be a CEO in language school Marjane attends
Iran. Marc in Austria. He assumes she is
French, and she is too
embarrassed to tell him otherwise.
Ingrid is Enrique's friend. Marjane is
initially jealous of her but then
Ingrid
befriends her after she and Enrique Marjane's aunt is married to Uncle
Marjane's aunt
break up. Taher.
Jean-Paul is a new student at Marjane's unnamed nervous aunt

Marjane's French-language school Marjane's nervous panics when she hears sirens
Jean-Paul in Austria. He asks her on a date, aunt during an illegal party and hands
but it turns out he just wants help her baby to Marjane.
with his math homework.
Marjane's unnamed uncle throws
Promiscuous and rebellious Julie a party to celebrate the birth of his
Marjane's uncle
Julie is Marjane's first friend at her new child. The party ends when family
Austrian school. members think there's a raid.
Kaveh is Marjane's friend who The unnamed mayor of Tehran

moves to the United States shortly tells Marjane her idea for a theme
Mayor of Tehran
Kaveh after Iran becomes an Islamic park will never be realized
republic. Marjane has a crush on because it features too many
him. women.
Mehri Mehri is the Satrapis' live-in maid.

Khosro creates and sells fake
passports to Iranians trying to
Khosro leave the country between 1980 Mohsen Shakiba is a former
and 1983. He flees to Sweden political prisoner of the shah's
after the authorities ransack his regime who was imprisoned for
home. Mohsen being a revolutionary. He is
murdered by the guardians of the
Marjane's former childhood friend Revolution shortly after his release
Kia Kia loses an arm and a leg during from prison.
the Iran-Iraq war.
Momo is one of Marjane's friends
Laly Jari is Siamak's daughter. at her French-language school in
When her father is released from Momo Vienna. Six years older than
Laly
prison, she brags to Marjane that Marjane, he is obsessed with
he is a hero. death.
Lucia is Marjane's Austrian The unnamed Mother Superior is

Lucia roommate at the Catholic boarding Mother Superior the head nun at Marjane's first
house in Vienna. boarding house in Vienna.
Dr. M. is a pseudonym for the The unnamed mullah, or theological

influential intellectual who holds scholar, administers Marjane's
Dr. M.
monthly discussions about politics theological exam prior to her
Mullah
and philosophy in his home. acceptance into university. He is
impressed with her honesty about
her religious beliefs.
Mali is Taji's childhood friend. She
and her family briefly live with the
Mali
Satrapis after they are forced to Mrs. Nasrine Mrs. Nasrine is the Satrapis' maid.
leave their home in Abadan.

Persepolis Study Guide Plot Summary 10
Mrs. Nasrine's unnamed 14-year- Siamak Jari is Laly's father and the
old son is given a golden key at husband of Taji's best friend. He
Mrs. Nasrine's son was imprisoned by the shah's
school. He is told it is the key to Siamak
heaven for fallen soldiers. regime for seven years for writing
subversive, communist-influenced
articles.
Niloufar is the 18-year-old
communist who Khosro hides in
Niloufar Marjane's Uncle Taher
his home. She is executed by the
guardians of the Revolution. desperately misses his son, whom
Uncle Taher
he sent to Holland. Taher dies of a
heart attack before they can
Olivier is one of Marjane's friends reunite.
at her French-language school in
Olivier Austria. He and his brother, Thierry is one of Marjane's friends
Thierry, are Swiss orphans who at her French-language school in
live with their uncle. Thierry Austria. He and his brother,
Olivier, are Swiss orphans who
live with their uncle.
Pardisse is Marjane's classmate.
Her father, a fighter pilot, is killed
Pardisse
in action at the beginning of the Victor is Dr. Heller's dog. He
Victor
Iran- Iraq War. defecates on Marjane's bed.
The unnamed patrolman follows The unnamed widow joins the

the Satrapis' car home so he can protest outside the hospital after
Patrolman check their house for alcohol and Widow the gathered crowd claims her
then forgets all about it when Ebi husband—who died of cancer—is a
gives him a bribe. martyr.
Peyman is Marjane's slightly Wolfy is the 19th man Julie has

Peyman
older male cousin. Wolfy slept with. He's the first Marjane
has seen mostly naked.
Ramin is Marjane's childhood

friend. Marjane devises a plan to Zozo is Taji's best friend. An angry
attack him with makeshift brass expatriate living in Austria, she
Ramin Zozo
knuckles as punishment for his shirks her promise to take care of
father's actions during his time with Marjane.
the shah's secret police.
Roxana—a friend of Marjane's in

k Plot Summary
Roxana Tehran—throws the party where
Reza and Marjane meet.
Shahab is Marjane's older male

cousin who is enlisted in the
Iranian army. He tells Marjane
Childhood in Iran
Shahab
about the thousands of teenage
boys who are senselessly killed in Marjane Satrapi is eight years old when the Iranian Revolution
battle every day. begins in January 1978. Many people in Iran, including her
left- leaning, liberal parents Ebi (father) and Taji (mother),
Shirin is Zozo's materialistic want the shah to step down from his position as leader of the
Shirin
daughter.
country. There are constant protests, and although Marjane
doesn't fully understand the situation, she wants to take part.
She abandons her dreams of becoming a prophet in favor of
becoming a revolutionary like Che Guevara (1928–67), an

Argentinian Marxist known for his political activity in South safety in a country at war and under an Islamic government,
America and Cuba. decide to send her to live in Austria for the foreseeable future.
She is 14.
Marjane comes from a long line of rebels. Her grandfather,
who had been a prince, began spending time with communists
and eventually became one himself. That made him an enemy
of the state, and he was repeatedly in and out of jail. On Teenage Years in Austria
Marjane's father's side, Uncle Fereydoon was part of the
movement to proclaim the Iranian province of Azerbaijan a Marjane arrives in Vienna, Austria, more confident than
sovereign entity. Her communist Uncle Anoosh was held as an scared. She has been coming of age ever since she smoked a
Iranian political prisoner for nine years. cigarette at 12, and she's confident that being 14 is practically
like being an adult. But things start going wrong almost
Marjane idolizes Anoosh, who is released from prison shortly immediately. Marjane was supposed to live with Zozo, Taji's
after the shah's removal. Unfortunately, the removal of the best friend, who had moved to Austria years before with her
shah in early 1979—a victory for the revolutionaries—left a husband and daughter. Things are terrible at Zozo's house—
political vacuum quickly filled by Islamic fundamentalists. Zozo is cruel to her husband, and her daughter is disgustingly
Fearing any threats to its newfound power, the Islamic regime materialistic. Life as expatriates has not gone well for them.
hunts down and executes all known communists, including After 10 unbearable days, Marjane accepts Zozo's
Uncle Anoosh. Marjane is devastated, and she completely arrangement for her to live in a boarding house run by nuns.
forsakes her relationship with God. Marjane's roommate, Lucia, is very kind but speaks only
German. Although Marjane speaks French, English, and
The Islamic regime grows steadily more powerful and begins
Persian, she cannot communicate with Lucia. Surviving her
imposing restrictive, faith-based rules on the Iranian public.
loneliness, Marjane eventually befriends a group of social
Women must wear veils to cover their hair in public, alcohol is
misfits: Julie, Momo, Thierry, and Olivier. They're enamored
banned, and speaking out against the regime is a punishable
with war, anarchy, and everything else on the fringes of
offense. All trappings of Western culture—including Western
society. Marjane's efforts to fit in feel false, but it's nice to no
music, books, artwork, and clothing—are illegal. Marjane and
longer be lonely.
her family, who are known for being progressive and
embracing several aspects of Western culture, are forced to Marjane is kicked out of the boarding house for insulting the
hide their true selves so as to stay on the right side of the head nun, Mother Superior. She moves in with Julie and Julie's
government. Marjane has a particularly difficult time with this. mother, who thinks Marjane is a good influence on her
She questions the regime at school and talks back to her daughter. Marjane studies hard while Julie cuts class and
teachers. Her parents, who believe an education at a French- chases older men. Marjane is shocked to learn Julie has slept
language school will be the ticket to a life outside of Iran, don't with 18 men, and she can't help but be embarrassed by the
chastise Marjane for this behavior. They, too, find the regime's public displays of affection surrounding her at parties and get-
rules ridiculous. togethers. She may be liberal and rebellious when it comes to
the Islamic Republic, but she is still a product of her culture,
The tension between Iranian citizens and the Islamic regime is
which reserves such behavior for private moments.
exacerbated by the Iran-Iraq War, which begins in September
1980. Thousands of poor teenage boys are enticed to join the Marjane's changing public persona mirrors the changes in her
Iranian army thanks to promises of a glorious afterlife. With no body. Now in her mid-teens, she cuts her hair into a spiky
training, the majority of them die in battle. In the cities, food punk-rock style and starts smoking marijuana with her friends.
and supplies are low, refugees from other parts of the country She feels terribly guilty every time she talks to or thinks about
are pouring in, and frequent bombings have citizens fearing her parents—they're enduring a war while she's engaging in
for their lives. Schools begin to close, and adequate medical disappointing behaviors and hiding her Iranian heritage. In
care is scarce. A nation at war doesn't question its leaders' mid-1980s Europe, Iranians were viewed as the enemy thanks
governing philosophies, and the Islamic regime's laws grow to the media's portrayal of them as dangerous Islamic fanatics.
even more oppressive. Ebi and Taji, worried about Marjane's After overhearing some classmates speak disparagingly about
her and her family, Marjane finally explodes. "I am Iranian and

proud of it!" she yells. She feels more like herself after that. never ask her about the past three months, she agrees to
come home.
Julie and her mother leave Vienna, so Marjane finds a room at
a communal boarding house. She's allowed to stay there for
only four months, but it's the best place she's lived so far.
While she's there, her mother comes to visit for the first time in Adulthood in Iran
19 months. Their reunion is slightly awkward, but Marjane is
the happiest she's been in a long time. Taji helps her find a Marjane immediately feels the oppressive atmosphere as
new place to live, cooks all her favorite foods, and promises to soon as she enters Iran. Tehran has changed a lot—every
make her some new clothing. She's outgrown everything she other street is named after a martyr, and enormous posters
owns. plastered on the sides of buildings depict their faces.

Embarrassed about her failure to live abroad on her own, she
Marjane moves into Dr. Heller's stately home, which serves as doesn't want to see anyone except her parents and her
a boarding house. Dr. Heller is mentally deranged, but grandmother. A reunion with her friends only emphasizes how
Marjane doesn't spend a lot of time at home. After dating an much she doesn't belong—their blow-dried, heavily made-up
anarchist, Enrique, who turns out to be gay, she ends up with exteriors are Western, but their traditional values are
Markus, who claims he loves her laid-back, independent unmistakably Iranian. Marjane thinks it would be best if she
nature. They date for two years, though mostly in secret, as killed herself. After two failed suicide attempts, she decides
Markus's racist mother hates Marjane and Dr. Heller thinks God doesn't want her to die. She starts wearing makeup, gets
Marjane's a prostitute. Markus encourages Marjane's drug a perm, and becomes an aerobics fanatic.
use, mostly marijuana, and even prompts her to start selling
marijuana to kids in their school. Her career as a drug dealer Marjane meets Reza, a former soldier, at a party. They start
is short-lived. Following her postgraduation test but before her dating, but they have to do it in secret—it is illegal for
college preparation courses, the school's principal tells her unmarried men and women to be seen together in public.
drugs on campus won't be tolerated. Reza wants to leave Iran, but Marjane, having just returned,
wants to stay in the country a little longer. They decide to go
Although she's not dealing anymore, Marjane starts doing to university. To do so, they must pass the national exam.
more drugs than ever. Even Markus, who used to encourage They study hard, and both end up passing the first portion of
her "decadent" side, distances himself from her. She stops the exam, which is practical skills in art—their desired subject.
going to class while Markus seems increasingly busy. Marjane The second part of the exam is a theological test. Marjane
hopes the trip she scheduled with a friend for her 18th birthday studies relentlessly, but she just can't remember all the
will make Markus realize how much he loves her, but when she names, dates, and histories. On the day of the exam, she
misses her train and goes to his apartment to surprise him, she decides to be completely truthful and admits she doesn't pray
finds him in bed with another woman. in Arabic and she doesn't believe women should have to wear
the veil. The mullah—a Muslim theological scholar—
Marjane is devastated. Markus was her entire support system
administering the exam is impressed by her honesty, and she
in Vienna—she no longer had any friends because she spent all
passes. Reza also passes, and they both are admitted into
her time with him. When Dr. Heller accuses her of stealing a
university.
valuable brooch, she lashes out, grabs a few things, and
storms out of the boarding house. She is homeless and alone Marjane studies graphic arts at school. It's difficult because
on her 18th birthday. female models are required to wear a chador, a billowing robe
that obscures the female figure. The students get permission
Marjane lives on the streets of Vienna for three months. She to use male models, who can at least wear figure-fitting
has no money and no place to sleep, so she scrounges for clothing; however, a class supervisor instructs Marjane to not
food in dumpsters and rides the city trams for warmth. It's look at the male model that she's meant to be drawing. She
winter, and her smoker's cough turns into something far also has difficulty adhering to the strict dress code. After
worse. She passes out after coughing up blood and finds challenging the code in front of the whole school, she is given
herself in the hospital, where she learns she has bronchitis. the opportunity to design a uniform that meets the needs of
After a tearful call to her parents in which she makes them her fellow female art students while still adhering to Islamic
promise to code. The person who gives her that opportunity is none other
than the mullah who administered her theological test.
Marjane continues to rebel against the Islamic regime, this

time alongside some of her fellow classmates. They take turns
serving as clothed models in one another's homes, and they
throw parties almost every night. When one of her friends dies
during a raid of one of the parties, Marjane and her friends
throw an even bigger party the next night. They don't want the
guardians of the Revolution, a branch of the Iranian armed
forces charged with protecting Islam, to think they've won.
Reza proposes to Marjane in 1991. They've been together for

two years, and she loves him but isn't sure whether she's
ready to get married. She's only 21. Her father supports the
marriage, but her mother wants more for Marjane. Marjane
agrees with her father that she won't really know if she can be
happy with Reza until they get married and live together. After
wavering, she accepts Reza's proposal. Her mother—trying to
put on a brave face—stages a lavish wedding reception and
then ends up crying in the bathroom. When Marjane and Reza
go to their new apartment that night, Marjane realizes she has
made a terrible mistake.
The newlyweds quickly begin arguing about everything, and

they're sleeping in different rooms by the end of the first
month. They are briefly brought together again in 1993 when
the director of the university's art department asks them to
collaborate on the design of an Iranian theme park. They're so
busy working they forget to fight for six months. Enormously
pleased with their work, the director has Marjane present their
project to the mayor of Tehran, who appreciates the idea but
says it will never be implemented. Marjane is disappointed and
realizes the end of the project will also be the end of her
marriage. After seeking advice from her grandmother, she
asks Reza for a divorce. He still loves her and wants to make
things work, but he grants her request.
Marjane's parents are delighted by the news of her divorce.

Her father claims he always knew it would never work out, but
he wanted Marjane to figure that out for herself. With her
family's blessing and encouragement, she decides to leave
Iran for good. She moves to France in September 1994 with
her mother's strict instructions not to return. Though sweet, her
freedom comes with a price—she sees her grandmother only
one more time before the elderly woman dies in 1996.

Plot Diagram
Climax
11
10
12
9
Falling Action
Rising Action 8
13
7
6 14
5
15
4
Resolution
3
2
1
Introduction
9. Marjane walks in on her boyfriend with another woman.

Introduction
10. Marjane lives on the streets for three months.
1.New Islamic law forces Marjane to wear a veil at school.
Climax
Rising Action
11. Marjane returns to Tehran and her parents.
2. The Satrapis' friends and family begin leaving Iran.
3. Family friend Mohsen is murdered for being a communist.

Falling Action
4. Uncle Anoosh is arrested and executed.
12. Depressed, Marjane attempts suicide twice.
5. Marjane is nearly arrested for wearing Western clothing.
13. Marjane studies graphic design at university.
6. A ballistic missile kills Marjane's neighbors.
14. Marjane and Reza marry.
7. Marjane moves to Austria by herself. She is 14.
8. Marjane is kicked out of a Catholic boarding house.

Resolution
15. Marjane divorces Reza and moves to France.

Timeline of Events
January 1978
The Iranian Revolution begins.
January–April 1979
Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the leader of Iran, is

replaced by the Islamic Republic.
Mid-1979
Marjane's Uncle Anoosh is arrested and executed on

false charges of spying.
Early 1980
Marjane and her classmates are now required to wear

hijabs, or veils, to school.
September 22, 1980
Iraq invades Iran, marking the official start of the Iran-

Iraq War.
November 1984
Wanting to keep her safe, Marjane's parents send her to

live in Austria.
10 days later
The family friend with whom Marjane is supposed to live

sends her to a boarding house.
February 1985
Marjane is kicked out of the boarding house for insulting

Mother Superior. She moves in with Julie.
May 1986
Marjane moves into a short-term communal apartment.

She lives with eight gay men.
June 1986
Marjane's mother visits her in Austria.

A
Late 1986
Marjane begins dating Markus, whom she calls her "first

love."
few weeks later
August 1988
The Iran-Iraq War ends.
November 22, 1988
After breaking up with Markus, Marjane insults Dr. Heller

and ends up living on the streets.
February 1989
Marjane moves back to Iran.
March 1989
Depressed, Marjane tries twice to commit suicide.
April 1989
Marjane begins dating Reza.
A few months later
Marjane and Reza are accepted into university.
1991
Marjane and Reza marry. She immediately regrets it.
September 1994
Marjane moves to France after divorcing Reza.

Persepolis Study Guide Chapter Summaries 18
c Chapter Summaries Iran's government treated its citizens. Many thousands of

people died during the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and the
Islamic Republic's subsequent rule. Satrapi doesn't take those
deaths lightly. "One can forgive but one should never forget,"
Introduction she writes. Her story holds up a magnifying glass not only to
her own life, but to the actions of a repressive regime she
believes has crushed the spirit of many Iranians.
Summary
Author Marjane Satrapi (who is also the narrator of The Veil
Persepolis) gives a brief history of Iran, which was founded in
the seventh century BCE, destroyed shortly after, and then
resurrected in the sixth century BCE. Iran, formerly known as Summary
Persia, was once a wealthy country, which attracted invaders
from around the world. Despite frequent invasions, the country Marjane Satrapi (referred to by her family as Marji) is 10 years
retained its own language and culture. That changed in the old in 1980. She lives in Iran with her parents, Ebi (father) and
early 20th century, when monarch Reza Shah began Taji (mother), and she attends a religious French-language
embracing Western influences and modernization. The school. Until last year she went to a secular coeducational
discovery of oil in Iran followed, and Western countries quickly French-language school, but the 1979 Iranian Revolution
took an interest in the nation. That led to years of political changed everything. Now the Iranian government is strictly
turmoil—the exile of Reza Shah, a coup against Prime Minister focused on following the teachings of Islam. Girls and boys
Mohammed Mossadeq, and the Iranian Revolution of 1979, can no longer attend school together, and girls must wear veils
which culminated with the unseating of Reza Shah's son, when out in public. Marjane and her friends take off their veils
Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. and play games with them. Marjane's mother has publicly
protested the veil but stopped after her picture appeared in
Satrapi notes the "fundamentalism, fanaticism, and terrorism" European newspapers and an Iranian magazine.
depicted in Western media is not representative of her native
country. She wrote Persepolis for those who died in the name Though Marjane doesn't like her veil, she still considers herself
of Iran, who "suffered ... repressive regimes," or who were to be very religious. When she was six, she decided she
forced to flee their homeland. wanted to be a prophet. She kept it a secret from everyone but
her grandmother, who thought Marjane's ideas about equality
and putting an end to suffering would make her an excellent
Analysis prophet indeed. When Marjane's parents eventually find out
about their daughter's career goals from a meddling teacher,
When Marjane Satrapi began writing Persepolis, she wasn't a Marjane assures them she wants to be a doctor when she
comic book writer or even a novelist. She wrote unpublished grows up. That night she talks to God, who seems hurt by her
children's books. Living in Paris, she was struck by how lie. She assures Him that she does want to be a prophet but
negatively the Western world perceived the nation she loved. that she'd rather keep it a secret.
That, combined with pressure from her cartoonist associates,
is what pushed her to tell her story. "I believe [a] ... nation
should not be judged by the wrongdoings of a few extremists," Analysis
she writes in the introduction. Though she lived in Iran during
some of its worst days, the happy memories of its culture and Satrapi begins her story in 1980 following the 1978–79 Iranian
its people remain at the forefront of her mind. She wants Revolution—which was sparked by political dissent against
others to see Iran the way she sees it—as a loving home with a Iran's leader, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. Most of Satrapi's
complex past and troubled present. story is presented in chronological order, but several
flashbacks—such as Marjane's decision to become a prophet
Satrapi's introduction also indicates her discontent with how

when she was six—provide context for events in the present. a stack of books about revolutionaries selected by her parents.
As this is a memoir, it is helpful to distinguish between Her favorite is a comic book called Dialectic Materialism that
Marjane Satrapi the author and Marjane Satrapi the character. contrasts the ideas of German political theorist Karl Marx (1818–
This study guide refers to the writer of Persepolis by her last 83) with those of French philosopher René Descartes (1596–
name and the girl shown in the drawings as Marjane. 1650).
Marjane's upbringing marks her as different from other One evening Marjane overhears her parents talking about a
children her age. Her parents, who are known for being fire at a local cinema that was filled with protesters. They were
"modern and avant-garde," publicly protest against the shah's locked inside the building, and police "forbade people to
regime and likewise encourage Marjane to speak her mind rescue those locked inside." The shah attributed the 400
even when her ideas fall outside the accepted political and deaths to "religious fanatics," but Marjane's father is sure "it
social norm. They are neither concerned about nor was the shah's fault!!!" Marjane barges into her parents' room
embarrassed by Marjane's desire to become a prophet—they and tells them she wants to demonstrate against the shah with
defend her to her teacher and try to engage in a dialogue them the next day. Her father tells her protesting is very
about her desires at home. Marjane has realized, however, dangerous—"they shoot people!" Despite Marjane's pleas, her
that sometimes it is safer to keep her thoughts to herself. Her parents won't let her go. With tears streaming down her face,
mother goes through the same thing after she is photographed she asks, "God, where are you?" He doesn't show up at her
at a protest against the veil. Unlike Marjane, Taji isn't simply bedside that night.
afraid people won't understand her—she's afraid for her life. If
the Islamic regime could identify her, she would surely be
punished. She also quickly learns it is often safer to keep Analysis
private thoughts separate from one's public life.
The chapter's title, "The Bicycle," is the metaphor Marjane
The veil Taji protests and Marjane detests is also known as a
uses to explain the revolution to her friends. "When the wheels
hijab. Shortly after he came into power in 1979, Iranian leader
don't turn, it falls," she says. She supports the revolution
Ayatollah Khomeini incorporated an array of anti-women
because of what her parents have taught her, and she wants to
changes into the national culture. Following Islamic tradition,
ensure it maintains its momentum. That's why she is set on
women were now barred from becoming judges, and beaches
becoming a revolutionary herself. Though Marjane may know
and sports teams were segregated. He also suggested women
more about Iran's history and the current revolution than others
wear hijabs in the workplace. That "suggestion" became law in
her age, she is still a child. The revolution is like a game to her
1983, and all women were expected to wear the hijab and a
—as far as her own life is concerned, there are very few
chador, or loose, flowing gown. This was ostensibly to protect
concrete consequences. At nine, she doesn't understand why
a woman's modesty, but for Marjane and her mother the veil is
her parents won't let her put her beliefs into practice, nor does
symbolic of the oppression they feel under the new Islamic
she see that knowledge about a particular situation doesn't
regime. They don't want to wear it, but the consequences of
make one mature enough to handle it. Her parents give her
not following orders are far too severe.
books to educate her so she knows the truth about what is
happening around her, but that doesn't mean they think she's
The Bicycle ready to fight alongside them.
Marjane's newfound interest in dialectic materialism

complicates her relationship with God. Dialectic materialism is
Summary based on the teachings of German philosophers Karl Marx
and Friedrich Engels, who together wrote The Communist
In 1979, "the year of the revolution," Marjane decides she'd Manifesto. It is a philosophy that states the material world—
rather be a revolutionary like Che Guevara or Fidel Castro anything observed by the senses—is in a separate reality from
than a prophet. She and her friends hold demonstrations in the the mind and spirit. Religion—which is fundamentally based on
Satrapis' yard daily. When she's alone, Marjane plows through the idea that life and the world initially developed as an action
of God—doesn't fit within the

parameters of Engels and Marx's philosophy. There is no

place for God in dialectic materialism, and the more Marjane Analysis
learns about it, the less interested she is in her own
relationship with God. That comes with its own consequences, Learning about her family's fall from power gives Marjane even
most notably God's decision not to comfort Marjane after her more reason to dislike the current shah, but it also prompts her
parents tell her she can't go to the protest. Marjane can either to take a closer look at her own heritage and how it is directly
spout the tenets of dialectic materialism or rely upon God's connected to current events. At first Marjane romanticizes her
comfort and protection, but she can't do both. grandfather's status as prince—and her own relationship to
royalty—but she soon realizes there was nothing romantic
about her grandparents' lives. Her fantasies are quickly
The Water Cell replaced with the harsh reality of Persian politics. Her
burgeoning understanding of the world around her parallels
her grandfather's interest in communism. As a prince he
disagreed with Karl Marx's notion that "the rabble can rule,"
Summary but when his title and his life of luxury were taken away from
him he was able to see the suffering of the lower classes.
Marjane's parents demonstrate against the shah every day.
Political ideologies are much easier to understand—and
Jealous they're spending more time doing that than playing
sympathize with—when one has a personal connection to the
games with her, Marjane tells them, "As for me, I love the king,
issues at hand.
he was chosen by God." Her father tells her that's not what
really happened. Fifty years before, the father of the current Marjane was destined to be a rebel. Her parents—who are
shah "organized a putsch [a violent rebellion] to overthrow the college-educated and employed in white-collar careers—first
emperor and install a republic." Reza Shah wasn't well- protest against the shah and then against the fundamentalist
educated, and the British took advantage of him when they Islamists threatening to take control of the nation. Her
learned of his plan. They promised him the path to becoming maternal grandfather, once part of Iran's political machine,
emperor would be easy if he allowed them to have all the oil works actively against it after being removed from power.
they wanted. "God has nothing whatsoever to do with this Marjane's Uncle Anoosh—who is introduced in a later chapter—
story," Marjane's father says. He then tells her the emperor is a former political prisoner accused of subverting
Reza Shah deposed was none other than her maternal great- government control. The common thread between these
grandfather. That means Marjane's grandfather was once a people—in addition to their blood—is education. Knowledge
prince. doesn't just bring power—it encourages questions. Marjane's
parents and extended family have seen others become
Reza Shah took everything from her grandfather's family,
complacent under ill-suited leaders. Even though she is only
even the bathroom tiles. Marjane's grandfather was educated,
nine, they want Marjane to be educated enough to ask
so Reza Shah—having very little education himself—named
questions and form her own opinions, not follow the herd. Her
him prime minister. Marjane's grandfather began spending
rebellious streak may come naturally, but it is also carefully
time with intellectuals who touted the benefits of communism,
cultivated by people who have spent much of their lives
and he eventually became a communist himself. His beliefs
searching for freedom and truth.
landed him in prison throughout Marjane's mother's childhood.
"Sometimes they put him a cell filled with water for hours," Taji
says. Marjane forgets about playing games with her parents.
She wants to take a bath so she can know "what it felt like to
Persepolis
be in a cell filled with water."
Summary
Marjane's grandmother comes to visit. She tells Marjane how
terrible the shah was to their family and how difficult it was to
raise her children in poverty while her husband was in jail.

Marjane wants to know more about her grandfather, but Iran's history is also the beginning of her understanding of her
Grandmother avoids the subject and instead talks about family and herself.
herself and how much she dislikes the shah.
The title of this chapter, "Persepolis," refers to the ancient
Marjane, her mother, and her grandmother worry about Ebi, Persian capital destroyed by Alexander the Great in 330 BCE.
who went to take photos of a demonstration hours ago. Coined by the ancient Greeks, it means "City of the Persians."
Marjane worries he is dead. When he finally does come home, Satrapi names this chapter "Persepolis" to show the intensity
he tells them about taking pictures at a hospital following the of her grandmother's feelings about the shah. Grandmother
protest. One of the protesters, a young man, was killed, and thinks he, like Alexander the Great, is putting his own desires
the other protesters were hailing him as a martyr. Another above those of the people of Iran. In Alexander's case, the
man's body was brought out of the hospital at the same time. Persians were committed to maintaining their own culture.
The crowd proclaimed him a martyr too, even though his She hopes the same thing is true now.
widow said he died of cancer. "No problem. He's a hero," one
of the protesters said. The widow ended up joining the protest.
Marjane's parents and Grandma laugh uncontrollably at Ebi's The Letter

story, but Marjane doesn't get the joke. "I realized then that I
didn't understand anything," she says. She decides to read
everything she can about Iran and the revolution. Summary
Marjane reads a lot of books by Ali Ashraf Darvishian (born
Analysis 1941), "a kind of local Charles Dickens." Most of his stories are
about working-class children forced into labor at a young age,
Marjane's parents and grandmother laugh at Ebi's story which makes Marjane feel guilty about everything her family
because it illustrates the single-minded childishness of the has, most notably her father's nice car and their live-in maid,
protestors. They connect everything, even a death caused by Mehri.
cancer, to their cause of overthrowing the shah. Their
enthusiasm is so infectious as to convince the man's widow Mehri is one of 15 children. Her parents couldn't afford to take
that he is actually a martyr when she knows perfectly well he is care of all of them, so Mehri and her sister were sent to
not, or that the distinction does not matter as much as political Marjane's family and her uncle's family to be maids. Mehri
change. Marjane doesn't understand the subtleties of the cared for Marjane when Marjane was small, and Marjane grew
revolution or the act of protest itself, so she doesn't see how up thinking of Mehri as more of a sister than an employee. In
her family can laugh at a tragic story about "cadaver, cancer, 1978 Mehri fell in love with the boy next door, whom she saw
death, murderer." She doesn't realize they are laughing at the through Marjane's bedroom window. The two never actually
protestors' illogical assumptions and the absurdity of the spoke, but Marjane wrote letters to the boy for Mehri, who was
situation. illiterate. After the two exchanged letters for six months,
Marjane's parents found out about the clandestine courtship.
Marjane's age and lack of maturity prevent her from fully Marjane's father confronted the boy and told him Mehri was his
grasping the nuances of the revolution and her own family's maid, not his daughter. No longer interested in Mehri, the boy
story. Marjane wants to hear the nitty-gritty details about her handed Marjane's father the stack of letters. Ebi notices the
grandfather's torture, but her grandmother decides it would be handwriting on the letters is Marjane's. "You must understand
better to supply her with historical details about Iran that that their love was impossible ... In this country, you must stay
support the reasons for the revolution. She is afraid of filling within your own social class," he told his daughter. Marjane
Marjane's head with gory images, but she's also losing her was confused—she couldn't figure out whether her father was
audience. Like most children, Marjane doesn't care about the for or against the restrictions imposed by social classes.
how or why—she just wants to know what happened. She
realizes the best way to get the information she wants is to A few months later, after she "under[stands] the reasons for
find it herself. The beginning of her personal education about the revolution," Marjane talks Mehri into sneaking out of the
house and protesting with her. They stay out all day. When

they finally get home, Marjane's mother slaps them both. massacre united the masses. Marjane and Mehri didn't protest
Marjane had unknowingly decided to protest on the very day in Jaleh Square—they were in a different neighborhood—but
dozens of demonstrators were killed, which later became the threat to their lives was there all the same. Violence could
known as Black Friday. There were rumors Israeli soldiers erupt at any demonstration, and Marjane, only eight at the time,
were to blame, but as Marjane later reflects, "In fact it was had neither the physical strength nor the maturity to handle the
really our own who had attacked us." situation. The fact that "[their] own" were attacking the
protesters bothers Satrapi years later. In the last frame in the
chapter, which shows handprints on Marjane's and Mehri's
Analysis faces, she likens the Iranian soldiers' actions to that of her own
mother. Those who were supposed to protect did the most
Marjane has been raised to believe in the rights of the
damage of all.
proletariat, or working class, but she's not a member of it. With
two white-collar parents who can afford vacations and
Western imports, she belongs in the upper-middle class. The
disparity between herself and the children she reads about
The Party
causes her a great deal of shame. She feels guilty about her
father's nice car and her family's maid, not understanding how
hard her father works for his income nor that her family is Summary
actually helping Mehri's family by employing her as their maid.
Marjane sees things as simply black or white, good or bad, Massacres continue regularly after Black Friday. The shah tries
and it's hard for her to comprehend gray areas that seem to make Iran into a democracy, but Iranian citizens continue
contrary to everything her parents have taught her. She's their revolt. He finally resigns. United States President Jimmy
upset that Mehri won't be able to marry the boy next door, Carter refuses the shah entry to the United States, so the shah
because her parents have taught her everyone is equal. The takes refuge in Egypt. Marjane's father says the shah and
idea that only people in the same social classes are equal to Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat "betrayed the countries of
one another is completely foreign—and upsetting—to her. Yet [their] region by making a pact with Israel." The entire country
because her father says it, she accepts it. celebrates the shah's departure.
Marjane's relationship with Mehri changes in just a few Strange things start happening after the shah's departure.
moments. Marjane still loves her, but she is also acutely aware Marjane and her classmates are told to rip photos of the shah
of her own higher social status. Mehri is older than Marjane from their textbooks even though their teacher once told them
and knows better than to take her to the protests, especially "the shah was chosen by God." The Satrapis' neighbor claims
after Ebi and Taji already told Marjane she couldn't go, but a scar on her cheek is from a bullet that grazed her during the
Marjane waves her arm as if she's making a royal riots even though it was there long before the revolution
proclamation and Mehri gives in. They are no longer sisters, began. Marjane learns her friend Ramin's father was a
but servant and employer. Though Marjane dislikes the idea of member of SAVAK (Organization of National Security and
differences between the classes, she can't forget it once it's Information), the shah's secret police force. The neighborhood
pointed out to her. kids say he killed one million people. Marjane and her friends
decide to get justice for the "dead million" by attacking Ramin
Black Friday occurred on September 8, 1978, following with homemade brass knuckles fabricated from nails.
months of protests. A religious demonstration attracted Marjane's mother stops the would-be vigilantes before they
thousands to Jaleh Square in Tehran even though the find Ramin. She takes Marjane home and explains it isn't
government had declared martial law—the complete control of Ramin's fault that his father killed people. "It is not for you and
a country by its army—on September 7. Protestors ignored the me to do justice ... I'd even say we have to learn to forgive,"
soldiers' warnings, and dozens of people were wounded and she tells Marjane.
killed by gunfire. Many cite this event as the "point of no Marjane later tells Ramin she forgives him for his father's sins.
return" for the revolutionaries. Negotiations with the shah's Ramin says his father killed communists, who are evil.
government were no longer possible, and rumors about a Marjane reports this back to her mother, who is disappointed
government-led that Ramin "repeats what they tell him." Marjane looks in the

mirror

and tells herself to forgive. It makes her feel like someone Israel, Iran, and Egypt is even more complicated. It dates back
"really, really good." to the late 19th century when Jews and Palestinians claimed
Israel as their respective homelands. Iran, which considers
itself to be Persian, not Arabic, saw Israel as a natural ally
Analysis since both countries opposed Arab and communist
interference. The Arab states, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia,
"The Party," the title of this chapter, refers to the celebrations
and Iraq, on the other hand, sided with the Palestinians. Egypt
that occur after the shah is removed from power. The
broke with the Arab community in 1979 and signed a peace
revolutionaries, including Marjane's parents, don't yet know the
treaty with Israel, an agreement that was shepherded by the
clergy who fill the void left by the shah will eventually make
United States. Both Egyptian and Iranian leaders believed
conditions worse in Iran than they were under monarchal rule.
supporting Israel would gain favor with the United States and
Knowing no better, the adults are excited about the future. The
bring them greater global bargaining power. After the
children, however, are still living in the past. They have seen
revolution, the new government of the Islamic Republic of Iran
their parents take sides for so long—revolutionaries versus
broke all ties with Israel.
acolytes of the shah's government—that they continue to
divide themselves even after the revolution has ended.
Marjane's insistence that Ramin be punished for his father's
supposed misdeeds underscores her continued
The Heroes
misunderstanding about the revolution and why it happened.
While her mother understands Ramin's father was carrying
out his assigned orders, Marjane thinks he murdered for the Summary
pleasure of it. She does not understand the concept of duty,
nor the reasons that a person would choose to support the A few days after the shah's resignation, three thousand
shah. She only knows what other people tell her. She's fully political prisoners are released. The Satrapi family knows two
prepared to believe Ramin's insistence that his father killed of them, Siamak Jari and Mohsen Shakiba, both of whom
only communists, which Ramin says makes it okay. Marjane were arrested for being communists. Siamak is the husband
has not yet started forming opinions for herself—she only of Marjane's mother's best friend. Their daughter, Laly, once
thinks what other people tell her to think. The same can be told Marjane that Siamak was on a trip. Marjane pointed out
said for Ramin and all the rest of Marjane's friends. They are "on a trip" is adults' code for "dead," which didn't go over well
their parents' inadvertent mouthpieces. at all.
The transition between protests and peace is jarring for Siamak and Mohsen visit the Satrapis after they are released
Marjane, and her understanding of the world is thrown into from prison. They tell horror stories about the torture they and
turmoil once the shah is no longer in power. One day she is their friends suffered. Marjane and her parents are shocked.
told the shah was chosen by God, and the next day she is told Marjane tells Laly "it's a good thing" her father wasn't killed in
to forget him. She is told Ramin's father has committed prison like another family friend, Ahmadi, and then points out
unforgiveable crimes, and then she is told to forgive him. she wasn't entirely wrong when she told Laly he wasn't on a
Friends and acquaintances revise their past to be more trip. Laly boasts that her father is a hero. Marjane,
admirable in the present. It's all politics, and none of it makes disappointed to have a father who isn't a hero, goes outside to
sense to Marjane. play with friends, where she invents torture-inspired games. It's
great fun, and she feels an enormous sense of power
The international politics behind the shah's removal are also afterward, though that is soon replaced with sadness. Her
complicated. The United States and Iran had a fairly close mother consoles her and promises the torturers will "pay for
relationship during Jimmy Carter's term as president, but it was what they have done." Marjane forsakes dialectic materialism
more because of Iran's oil reserves, not the shah himself. and finds solace "in the arms of [her] friend."
Carter didn't allow the shah refuge in the United States,
because he didn't want to anger the next regime, which would
control the country's oil supply. The relationship between

Analysis Moscow
Mentions of alcohol, drugs, and sex in later chapters of
Persepolis have caused a few raised eyebrows by parents and
educators throughout the years, but it is the depictions of Summary
torture in "The Heroes" that caused the book to nearly become
Marjane's disappointment that her father isn't a hero is
banned in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) in 2013. This
tempered by her heroic uncle, Anoosh, who was in prison for
imagery—an underwear-clad man being whipped, burned with
almost all Marjane's life. He visits Marjane's family upon his
an iron, and then totally dismembered—was deemed too violent
release, and Marjane is so smitten with him she begs him to
for "general use" in the classroom. Students in the district
spend the night. He does and tells her his story.
argued these images are no worse than those shown in
historical textbooks about the Holocaust or slavery. CPS
When Anoosh was 18, his Uncle Fereydoon became the
ultimately rescinded the ban on the book for grades 9–12, but
minister of justice of the Iranian province Azerbaijan, which he
several other schools have challenged the use of Persepolis in
and his friends had recently proclaimed independent from Iran.
schools since then.
Like his uncle, Anoosh believed all people were "equal in the
eyes of the law." Anoosh's father, however, was still faithful to
Satrapi's use of this imagery is deliberate and with good
the shah. He thought Anoosh was a traitor. Anoosh went to
reason. She and her parents were horrified when they first
Azerbaijan and became his uncle's secretary. One night
heard the stories about what happened to Iran's political
Anoosh dreamt of "dead people, blood." The next morning he
prisoners—and that sense of horror remains with her to this
woke to find the shah's soldiers surrounding his uncle's home.
day. Depicting the torture both verbally and visually creates
Fereydoon was arrested and eventually killed, but Anoosh
the same visceral reaction in readers as Marjane and her
escaped. He traveled for days in the cold and the snow to
parents feel in the book. Satrapi could have taken the easy
reach his parents' house. He was near death when he arrived.
way out and simply said, "We were tortured," but that wouldn't
His father forgave him, but Anoosh couldn't stay long. The
accurately convey what these men suffered at the hands of the
shah's soldiers were looking for him. He swam across the Aras
shah's regime. The images that are perhaps the most
River and into the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics,
distressing contrast an iron searing Ahmadi's helpless body
or Soviet Union). He studied in Moscow, where he earned a
with the sketch of Marjane glancing fearfully over her shoulder
doctorate in Marxism-Leninism, and married a Russian
at her mother's iron—an everyday domestic appliance.
woman. Though they had two daughters together, they got
Standing in the background, Marjane seems smaller and less
divorced.
significant than the iron, which makes it even more
Lonely, Anoosh returned to Iran in disguise. He was eventually
threatening. Siamak's and Mohsen's experiences aren't theirs
captured and put into prison for nine years. He was tortured,
alone—everyone who hears their stories lives with the fear that
though he says his ex-wife put him through worse. "I tell you all
the same things could happen to them.
this because it's important that you know ... Our family memory
All of this is a lot for Marjane to take in. As is natural for a child, must not be lost," he says to Marjane. Marjane promises never
she explores the notion of torture by playacting it with her to forget. Anoosh tucks her into bed and gives her a swan
friends. It feels good at first, but then it becomes scary and made of bread.
overwhelming. The "friend" she takes solace in is God, who
has returned after her abandonment of dialectic materialism.
He provides her with the comfort she wouldn't be able to get Analysis
from Marxist theory alone.
The Azerbaijan of which Uncle Anoosh speaks is a province in
northern Iran, not to be confused with the country of the same
name on the other side of Iran's northern border. Ownership of
this part of Iran has changed hands numerous times over the
years. Azerbaijan belonged to Iran when the 20th century
began but was in the hands of the Turks during World War I.
The Soviet Union then claimed it during World War II. It is
shortly after World War II that Uncle Fereydoon and his friends and family members also depart. Marjane's mother wonders if
come into the picture. Avowed communists, their declaration of they should go, too, but Ebi insists everyone they love will
Azerbaijan's independence was backed by the Soviet Union. come back. "They're just afraid of change," he says. Then he
Independence from Iran lasted only a year—in 1946 Iranian receives a phone call. Mohsen Shakiba drowned in his
forces invaded and reclaimed the land. That's when bathtub. Only his head was in the water, which indicates he
Fereydoon was killed and Anoosh went back home. was murdered. "The deliverers of divine justice" strike at
Siamak Jari's house next. He isn't home, so they kill his sister.
Anoosh and Fereydoon's story is important for a few reasons.
First, it is evidence of the rebellious streak that runs through Anoosh continues to insist "everything will be alright," but he
the paternal side of Marjane's family. Second, it establishes doesn't seem as confident as before. When Marjane leaves
Anoosh as a communist. In "The Party," Ramin tells Marjane school one day, it is her mother who picks her up, not Anoosh.
his father killed only communists, which implies communists Her mother says Anoosh's wife called him and asked him to
are inherently bad. But Anoosh is a communist, and Marjane come back to Moscow. Marjane knows that's a lie—Anoosh
adores him. Through him, she begins to understand that never talks to his wife. Her father later confesses Anoosh was
people's goodness or appeal cannot necessarily be arrested. He gets only one visitor in prison, and he wants it to
determined by their political point of view. Before, she had be Marjane. She puts on her best dress and goes to see him.
seen things as black or white; now, she is beginning to also He promises "the proletariat will rule" and gives Marjane
see some shades of gray. another bread swan.
The third and most important aspect of Anoosh's recollections Anoosh is executed not long after their visit. Marjane lies in her
is his insistence that Marjane remember them. He wants future bed and tells herself everything will be all right. God comes to
generations to understand both sides of Iran's political history, comfort her. She kicks him out and tells him she never wants
not just the parts deemed appropriate by the ruling to see him again. She is "lost, without any bearings" when her
government. His experiences, and those of his family, are parents shout for her to go into the basement. They are being
reminders of the importance of freedom and the lengths one bombed. The war with Iraq has begun.
should be willing to go to achieve it. Satrapi goes above and
beyond her childhood promise. Through Persepolis, she
ensures millions of people around the world become familiar Analysis
with the stories of Anoosh and the rest of her loved ones. Her
books are their legacy. Leftist revolutionaries such as Marjane's father and her Uncle
Anoosh never intended for Iran to become an Islamic Republic.
They and their fellow liberals thought Iran would become more
The Sheep progressive, not more repressive. They severely
underestimated the desire for power within the clergy,
particularly in Ruhollah Khomeini. Khomeini had been an
Summary outspoken critic of the shah since the early 1960s and had
been calling for his removal ever since then. Exiled from Iran in
Marjane's father and Anoosh discuss politics. Ebi is worried November 1964, he settled in Iraq and continued to petition for
"the Republic wants to be called Islamic" even though the Iran to become an Islamic republic. This made Iraqi president
revolution sprang from the left, or liberal dissidents, but Saddam Hussein understandably nervous—if Iranians began to
Anoosh isn't too concerned. He thinks the religious leaders, favor an Islamic republic, what's to stop Iraqis from doing the
realizing they don't know how to run a country, will "return to same? He kicked Khomeini out of Iraq in 1978. Khomeini moved
their mosques," leaving the proletariat, or working class, in to Paris and sent tape-recorded messages to Iran to rally the
charge. revolutionaries. When he returned to Iran on February 1, 1979,
two weeks after the shah's departure, he was hailed as a hero
Not everyone agrees with Anoosh. Like Ebi, many fear life and as the religious leader of the revolution. With so much
under rule of the Islamic Republic. Marjane's friend Kaveh and public support, he was able to finally do what he always
his family leave Iran for the United States. Several other wanted: make Iran an Islamic state.
friends

Many Iranians mistrusted the Islamic state from the beginning,

which is why some of Marjane's friends and family leave their Analysis
homeland for new lives in the West. Uncle Anoosh, however,
still believes in the power of the people. He can't see that the The changes following the Islamic Republic's rise to power are
communist theories he champions don't work in the real world swift, and the rules for proper behavior seem to shift overnight.
where people, even holy men, thirst for control. His communist From Marjane's point of view, it is as if Iran took three
beliefs and his history as a rabble-rouser make him a direct enormous steps backward in the peoples' quest for civil
threat to the clergy-led government. That's why he and liberties. Universities are closed, women are required to wear
hundreds of other former political prisoners are killed shortly hijabs, or veils, in public, and there is a strict code of conduct
after their release. Death of a loved one is never easy to preventing interaction between unmarried men and women.
handle, and Marjane can't understand why Anoosh is arrested Those caught disobeying or protesting the government's new
and killed for crimes he never committed. She kicks God out of rules face severe punishment, which makes it imperative to
her bedroom because she can't reconcile the deity who has hide conflicting viewpoints. This theme of public versus private
protected her for so long with the religion behind the execution lives runs throughout the rest of the book as Marjane, her
of her beloved uncle. This is the last time Marjane speaks family, and her friends present pious and proper facades to
directly to God. She is done with Islam, at least for the time mask their true selves, which appear behind closed doors.
being.
Though Marjane is against the Islamic Republic, she still
supports the country of Iran and wants to protect it from "Arab
invaders." The invaders are the Iraqis, whose attack of the
The Trip western Iranian border on September 22, 1980, marked the
beginning of the Iran-Iraq War. In dispute was border territory,
both land and water, between the two nations. Iraqi president
Summary Saddam Hussein wanted complete control of both banks of
the Shatt Al-'Arab, as well as Iraq's Khuzestan province, which
Once Iran becomes the Islamic Republic, life changes for the was mainly populated by ethnic Arabs. He was also very
country's inhabitants. Fundamentalists take over the American concerned about the growing power of Islamic clergy in Iran
Embassy in Tehran, all universities are closed, and women are and feared that the newly minted Islamic government would
forced to wear headscarves in public. Marjane's mother is spark rebellion in Iraq's mostly Shiite population. Conquering
harassed on the street for letting her hair show, and a his desired territories would expand Iraq's influence in the
demonstration protesting fundamentalist fashion requirements region while diminishing the power of the Islamic Republic,
turns into an angry brawl. Neighbors who once embraced thereby protecting Hussein's own position of power.
miniskirts and alcohol are suddenly perfectly pious citizens.
Marjane's parents insist she tells people she prays several
times a day even though she doesn't. The F-14s
Sensing their ability to leave the country is coming to an end,
Marjane and her family go on vacation in Spain and Italy.
When they return, Grandmother informs them Iran is now at Summary
war with Iraq. Iranian fundamentalists "tried to stir up their Iraqi
Shiite allies" against Saddam Hussein, who had always Marjane is visiting her father's office when a battalion of fighter
wanted an excuse to invade Iran. Grandmother calls this "the jets flies overhead. Ebi, an engineer, thinks they are Iraqi
second Arab invasion." Marjane is ready to fight. planes. Their fears are confirmed when they turn on the radio—
Iraqi forces have bombed Tehran. Marjane and her father
hurry home to check on Taji. She's fine. She was in the shower
and didn't even hear the bombs explode.
Marjane is eager for Iran to defeat Iraq, but her parents don't
seem to share her nationalistic enthusiasm. Satrapi uses

boldface type to emphasize Marjane's passion as the girl from the war. Pardisse's anger and sorrow put a human face
shouts, "We have to bomb Baghdad!" Her mother responds by on the war for Marjane, which makes it harder for her to
telling her to take her feet off the coffee table. Ebi is support Iran's role in it.
pessimistic about Iran's chances against Iraq, and Marjane—
sporting an Iranian army cap—says he is "a defeatist. He's no
patriot." She revises her opinion of him when he weeps upon
hearing the outlawed Iranian national anthem and celebrates
The Jewels
when Iranian bombers attack Baghdad. Their celebration is
short-lived, however, when they learn most of the Iranian
planes never returned from the mission. The father of one of Summary
Marjane's friends, Pardisse, was one of the pilots killed in the
Marjane and her mother go grocery shopping. The
raid.
supermarket shelves are nearly empty. Marjane's mother
Marjane and her friends write reports about the war at school. says people should only take as much as they absolutely
Marjane writes about the "historical context entitled 'The Arab need but then decides she and Marjane should go to the store
Conquest and Our War,'" but everyone else is more impressed across the street to stock up just in case of an emergency.
with Pardisse's essay, which is a letter to her father. Marjane Later, Marjane's father wants to purchase a few extra cans of
later tells Pardisse she should be proud of her father for being gas. The gas station attendant won't fill their cans because
a hero. Pardisse says it would be better for him to be "alive "otherwise there won't be enough for everyone." He tells the
and in jail rather than dead and a hero." Satrapis that Iraqi forces bombed an oil refinery in Abadan.
Marjane's mother panics. Abadan is the home of her best
Analysis friend, Mali. She tries to call Mali and then Mali's mother, but
nobody answers the phone. That night Mali, her husband, and
The concept of patriotism is at the crux of Marjane's their two sons show up at the Satrapis' door. Mali's husband
disappointment in her father. She thinks being a patriot means managed to save a few family jewels, but that was it.
loving and supporting one's country in every circumstance. Everything else they owned was destroyed.
Patriots, therefore, shouldn't question government actions. Ebi
Mali's family stays with the Satrapis for a week while they sell
and Taji disagree. Like Marjane, they equate patriotism with
the jewelry and find a new place to live. One day at the
love of one's country, but they also believe it is their duty to ask
grocery store, Marjane, her mother, Mali, and Mali's sons
questions of their country's government in order to protect its
overhear two local women complaining about the influx of
people. Their love of country is separate from love of
refugees in Tehran. "They take everything," one of the women
government, which is why Ebi tears up when he hears the
says. The other agrees, adding that most refugee women are
banned national anthem. That is the vision of Iran he supports,
"sluts" who prostitute themselves. Mali is humiliated. Marjane
not the one that has become an Islamic state. Marjane is still
feels terrible for her and ashamed for thinking that Mali's
learning to make that distinction.
children were brats.
Marjane's understanding of war is rudimentary at best, as is
natural for a 10-year-old. She thinks relentless bombing of the
enemy will solve the dispute between the two nations, but she Analysis
never pauses to think about the costs of those attacks. Until
War brings out the best and worst in people. The Satrapis are
now the people actively risking their lives for Iran have been
at their best when they show concern for their friends, taking
strangers. She doesn't know anyone directly affected by injury
them in without a second thought, and they're at their worst
or loss of life. The death of Pardisse's father changes that.
when wanting to hoard goods after looking down on others for
Now she knows someone who has been emotionally scarred
doing the same thing. Satrapi doesn't always depict herself or
by the war. Marjane has spent so much time daydreaming
her parents in the most flattering ways. Doing so would defeat
about heroes and revolutionaries that she doesn't pause to
the purpose of sharing her story. She wants readers to
think how terrible it would be if her own father didn't return
understand the difficulties of war and how even moral and

upstanding citizens can become selfish when their way of life her classmates rebel against the mourning rituals by turning
is threatened. During war the self comes first, followed by everything into a joke. When the teacher threatens expulsion,
family, and then community. This mindset—not the war itself—is the girls' parents take their children's side. Marjane's father
what causes the supermarket shelves to be empty during the even insults the teacher. While Mrs. Nasrine worries about her
early days of fighting. son's future, Marjane goes to her first party. It's at Peyman's
house.
War can also create ugly prejudices. The women in the
grocery store who make disparaging remarks about refugees
act as if they are superior to those who are suddenly
homeless. It doesn't matter if the refugees are educated or
Analysis
wealthy or even if they share the same nationality. Because
Mrs. Nasrine knows enough about life and war not to be
they are in need of assistance, many look down upon them.
seduced by the government's shiny keys and tales of
Others are threatened by the presence of outsiders who will
splendor, but her teenage son sees the key as the ticket to a
now increase the competition for food, shelter, and
glorious afterlife. It's gold, after all, which must certainly mean
companionship. Putting down the refugees makes the women
there are untold riches behind the door it opens. He can't see
in the grocery store feel better about themselves and more
the key is simply a piece of painted plastic, just as he can't see
secure in their own lives.
volunteering for battle will most likely end in death. The key
Underneath their callous exteriors, they probably fear a similar
given to Mrs. Nasrine's son and his classmates is symbolic of
fate for themselves.
the fanciful lies the government tells to cover up an ugly
situation—sending children to their death.
The Key Marjane's cousin Peyman, who is also a teenager, doesn't

have any clue what Marjane's talking about when she brings
up the "keys to paradise" because he comes from a more
Summary affluent family than the Nasrines. Affluence is generally related
to a higher level of education, which opens the doors to better
The Iraqi army makes headway in its bid to conquer Iran. The opportunities. Peyman and his classmates have what the
Iraqis have quality weapons and troops; Iran's only asset is a government would consider "good" futures ahead of them—
seemingly endless supply of soldiers destined for the field. they will be white-collar workers, scholars, and professionals.
Many are poor teenagers, such as the son of Mrs. Nasrine, the They are therefore more valuable to the government in the
Satrapis' maid. At only 14, he believes the "made-up stories" long run. Poor kids, such as Mrs. Nasrine's son, don't have as
about martyrdom promising young men food, women, and many opportunities to financially support the regime. They are
riches in the afterlife. He and the other boys in his school were considered expendable.
given plastic keys painted gold, which they are told will get
The worries of Marjane's parents are far different from those
them into heaven if they are killed in battle. Marjane's mother
of Mrs. Nasrine. Ebi and Taji aren't burdened with the thought
tries to talk some sense into the boy, but it doesn't work.
of their daughter going to war and never coming home—their
Marjane and her mother then visit with Shahab, one of
greatest fear is that she might be kicked out of school for her
Marjane's older cousins. He's in the army, and he tells them
attitude. Ebi and Taji know the only way to save their daughter
what it's like when "buses full of kids" arrive on the front lines.
from a stifling life in Iran is to ensure she has a solid
They are all like Mrs. Nasrine's son, poor, young, and
multilingual education. She'll be able to leave Iran and start
convinced "the afterlife is even better than Disneyland."
over halfway around the world if she wants to. But Ebi and Taji
Thrown into battle with little or no training, thousands
are also known for their rebellious nature. Instead of telling
"exploded on the minefields with their keys around their
Marjane to behave at school, they and the other parents strike
necks."
back at the teachers for insinuating they aren't teaching their
Marjane and her male cousin Peyman, who are about the children proper behavior at home. They are just as frustrated
same age, have much different experiences than that of Mrs. with the new educational system as the kids are, and they're
Nasrine's son. Peyman's school doesn't hand out golden keys not going to back down. This also is a benefit of affluence. The
to paradise to its students. At Marjane's school, Marjane and
Satrapis and their peers still have a choice in their children's family were once friendly with their neighbors, but now they
education. Private schools need to make money, and for that live in fear that their illicit practices will be discovered. They
they need parents to pay tuition. Parents such as Mrs. Nasrine, are always on guard. That doesn't change their habits or
on the other hand, don't have the means to select their child's beliefs, however. The parties they have behind closed doors
school. If they threaten to leave, they have nowhere else to go. are the few times they're able to let loose and relax. According
Taji and Ebi can afford to stand behind Marjane when she acts to one relative, "[they] might as well bury [them]selves now" if
up at school. Mrs. Nasrine doesn't have any choice but to go the parties were to stop. To them, having fun and engaging in
ahead with what her son's school says. illicit practices such as drinking alcohol and dancing are worth
the risk of punishment. They present themselves as law-
abiding citizens in public, but in private they celebrate as they
The Wine did before the revolution.
Drinking and dancing in the Islamic Republic are a lot more
Summary dangerous than many Westerners can understand.

Perpetrators don't just pay a fine and go on their way—they
can be imprisoned, beaten, and even killed for tiny infractions
Tehran soon becomes the target of Iraq's bombs. The Satrapis
against Islamic law. It all depends on the mood of the arresting
and their neighbors create a bomb shelter in the basement of
officer and the influence and reputation of the person who is
their apartment building to protect themselves during air raids.
arrested. That is why Marjane's aunt has such a strong
Their apartments change, too. Marjane's mother covers the
reaction when she hears the sirens. Her natural instinct is to
windows with masking tape to prevent flying glass in case of a
protect herself at all costs, even if it means abandoning her
bomb and with black curtains to prevent some neighbors'
newborn baby. It's not a flattering portrayal, but it's the reality
prying eyes. "[Seeing] what goes on in our house would be
of living in constant fear of one's government and its officers.
enough for [the neighbors] to denounce us!" she says. She's
Another reality is how law enforcers do not necessarily uphold
referring to the weekly card games and parties the Satrapis
the law. Marjane's father is able to bribe the patrol because the
host for friends and family. Parties and alcohol are strictly
patrol is more interested in private gain than in enforcing the
forbidden, but people keep having them because "without them
rules of the republic.
[life] wouldn't be psychologically bearable."
Marjane's uncle hosts a party to celebrate the birth of his child.

The power goes out, and sirens start to wail. Marjane's aunt, The Cigarette
the baby's mother, shoves the baby at Marjane and runs to
safety. When the alert ends and everyone returns, Marjane
and her family go home. They are stopped by the local patrol, Summary
who accuse Marjane's father of drinking. One of the patrol says
he's going to follow the Satrapis home to see what they're The Iran-Iraq War has been going on for two years. Marjane is
hiding. 12, and she's hanging out with older girls at school. Two of
They arrive at the apartment building, and Marjane and her them convince her to cut class with them so they can ogle
grandmother run ahead to flush all the alcohol down the toilet. boys at a Western diner called Kansas. Marjane is in big
They finish just in time and then find out the patrol took a bribe trouble when she gets home—the school called her mother to
from Marjane's father and won't be searching the apartment report Marjane's absence. Taji is furious. "Now is the time for
after all. Ebi is disappointed all the alcohol is gone. learning. You have your whole life to have fun!" she fumes.
Marjane thinks her mother is worse than a dictator.
Analysis The Iranian military retakes Khorramshahr from the Iraqis.

Iraq proposes a peace settlement, and Saudi Arabia even
Family is of the utmost importance in Persepolis, and after the offers to pay for reconstruction to the two war-torn countries in
Islamic government takes charge it appears as if family the name of restoring peace. Iran's Islamic Republic refuses
members are the only people one can trust. Marjane and her both

offers because, as it is later discovered, it needs the war to childish than ever.
stay in power. The city's walls are plastered with the graffiti of
"belligerent slogans" as the regime becomes even more
controlling, and Iranians who oppose Islamic rule are
sentenced to death.
The Passport
Marjane, meanwhile, engages in her own act of rebellion by
smoking a cigarette. "It was awful. But this was not the moment Summary
to give in," she says. Now she is officially a grown-up.
It's July 1982. Marjane and her parents are visiting her Uncle
Taher and his family. Taher sent his oldest son to Holland to
Analysis escape the war a few years before. He has thought of leaving
Iran also, but his wife refuses. Since their son emigrated,
Marjane lives in a country where the government determines Taher has had two heart attacks. The borders to Iran are
the messages sent to the mainstream press. The government currently closed, and he worries he'll never see his son again.
lies about its successes during the war to garner support for A few days after the visit, Marjane's parents marvel at how
its actions and to quash any murmurings of dissent. If the difficult it must be to send a 14-year-old to live alone in a new
Islamic Republic positions itself as winning the war, it country. Marjane scoffs at their worries. "At fourteen you don't
becomes more powerful in the eyes of its people, thus gaining need your parents anymore!" she says.
the freedom to enforce even stricter laws and punishments.
Citizens of warring countries are likely to worry more about the The phone rings. Uncle Taher is back in the hospital with his
actions of their enemy than the actions of their government. third heart attack, which was caused by a grenade detonating
War is a distraction for what's really going on at home. That's outside his home. The Satrapis hurry to the hospital, where
why the representatives of the Islamic Republic refuse to sign Marjane's aunt says Uncle Taher needs open-heart surgery.
a peace treaty—they believe the best way to control the Iran's hospitals aren't equipped for that, so he'll have to go to
citizenry is by diverting their attention. That diversion comes at England. The problem is the closed borders. Uncle Taher
a high cost—it is estimated Iran and Iraq each lost 500,000 would need a special permit to leave the country for the
soldiers in the war. That isn't acceptable to Satrapi, and it's operation. Marjane's aunt speaks to the hospital's director,
one of the reasons why she wrote Persepolis. She wants the who happens to be her former window washer. He tells her
world to know the truth about the war and the so-called that Taher will get the necessary documentation "if God wills
religious men who supported it. it." Taher is furious because "all that creepy window washer
had to do" to become powerful was to "grow a beard and put
Marjane quietly rebels against the regime by discussing on a suit!"
politics during school and hanging out at Kansas, which is the
Marjane's father has an idea. He takes Marjane to the home of
local hot spot for Western food and culture. She takes a more
his friend Khosro, who falsifies travel documents. Khosro is
active—and vocal—approach when it comes to rebelling against
hiding Niloufar, an 18-year-old communist wanted by the
her parents. From their perspective, cutting class and then
authorities, in his home. Ebi is told Taher's passport can be
lying about it is probably the worst thing she could do. Her
ready in five days. He agrees to pay $200 for the document—
parents have made it abundantly clear that education is
$502 adjusted for inflation. Before the passport is ready,
Marjane's ticket to a life outside of Iran, and to throw that away
however, Khosro's home is raided. Niloufar is caught and
for an afternoon with the cool girls is both disrespectful and
executed, and Khosro escapes to Sweden via Turkey.
disappointing. It's not that Marjane doesn't want to go to
Three weeks later Uncle Taher is buried. His real passport
school or get a good education—she just doesn't want to be
arrives the same day.
told what to do anymore. She wants the freedom of choice that
comes with adulthood, and she'll do anything to prove she
deserves to have it, even if it means choking down a
disgusting cigarette. She thinks doing "adult things" makes her
an adult, but in the eyes of her parents, it just makes her look
more

Analysis as Nike shoes, denim jackets, and band posters. She requests
chocolate, a jacket, and posters of Kim Wilde and Iron Maiden.
Uncle Taher's predicament epitomizes the theme of religion
Ebi and Taji have no problem locating the things Marjane
and hypocrisy in Persepolis. Taher is very ill. He is in a state-
wants, but they aren't sure how to get the two enormous
run hospital administered by an allegedly religious man (the
posters back into Iran. They end up hiding them behind the
former window washer). Muslims believe God is all-merciful,
lining of Ebi's coat. He looks like he's wearing huge shoulder
and the most merciful thing to do in this case is to allow Uncle
pads, but he gets through customs without any problems. Ebi
Taher to travel to England for an operation. Yet the hospital
and Taji give Marjane her gifts once they get home. Marjane
director takes no action when Taher's case is brought to his
immediately puts on the denim jacket, the Nike shoes, and a
attention. He simply says Taher will receive the care he needs
new Michael Jackson button and then heads out the door to
only if God wants him to. He isn't acting in accordance with
find some black-market cassette tapes.
God's values—he's either leaving Taher's survival up to fate, or
he's purposefully toying with Marjane's aunt, who was once his While she's out, Marjane is stopped by two female guardians
social superior. In either case his devotion to religion is of the Revolution. They chastise her for her Western clothing,
questionable, as are the loyalties of many in positions of power which they call "punk" even though it's not. Marjane is terrified
in the Islamic Republic. They are more interested in furthering when the women threaten to take her to "the committee,"
their own careers than in helping the populations they are which is the guardians' headquarters. She could be whipped
supposed to be serving. for her crimes or even imprisoned for days. Marjane makes up
a story about a cruel stepmother, and the women let her go.
Those who do help others are the ones who suffer the
Marjane says nothing about the altercation to her real mother,
greatest consequences. Khosro takes an enormous risk by
whom she knows would never let her go out alone again if she
allowing Niloufar to stay with him. It is known that she's wanted
knew what happened. Instead Marjane goes to her room and
by the guardians of the Revolution, but Khosro takes her in
listens to "Kids in America."
because her brother was his messenger boy. He has no
familial or financial obligation to take care of her, but he does
so anyway because he's a good person. When the guardians
discover his duplicity, he is forced to leave the country before
Analysis
he meets the same fate as Niloufar. Uncle Taher and his wife
Marjane's idol Kim Wilde is a British rock star whose career
also suffer greatly despite their sacrifices. They send their son
took off with the song "Kids in America," which was released in
to Holland to keep him safe, but the strain on Taher is so great
1981. With her blond feathered hair and androgynous fashion
that he keeps having heart attacks. When he dies, Marjane's
sense, Wilde was the type of woman Marjane wanted to be—
aunt is completely alone. Like Khosro, their determination to
equal parts punk rock and nice girl next door. Her lyrics
do the right thing for someone else turned out very badly for
—"Looking out a dirty old window/Down below the cars ... go
Marjane's aunt and uncle. Life under the Islamic regime isn't a
rushing by"—give voice to the teenage angst Marjane feels but
fairy tale—more often than not it is the villains, not the heroes,
can't adequately express. That's one of the reasons why
who are rewarded in the end.
Marjane is so enamored with the punk scene—the music just
speaks to her. She also likes it because in Iran it's completely
against the law to play such music, let alone own cassette
Kim Wilde tapes of it. Listening to and idolizing British and American rock
bands is a form of rebellion for Marjane, even if she does it only
in her own home.
Summary
Ebi and Taji understand how important music is to Marjane,
Iran's borders open in 1983. Marjane's parents rush to get their and even if they don't always like it, they still allow her the
passports so they can go on a trip to Turkey, just the two of freedom to listen to what she wants. Their promise to bring
them. Marjane scoffs at their choice of destination until she back posters and other Western goods isn't just a nice
realizes they can bring back contraband Western items such gesture—it's an acknowledgment of Marjane's personal

autonomy and a declaration of their love. Bringing back such hit the Tavanir neighborhood. That's where Marjane and her
things is enormously risky, and being caught transporting such family live. She runs home as fast as she can. Her street is
goods into the country could have severe consequences. Taji blocked off, and she becomes frantic upon realizing there's a
and Ebi do it anyway because they know how important these 50 percent chance the missile hit her building. She's relieved
things are to Marjane, especially the posters. The care they to see her mother, who says their family is safe. It was the
take in ensuring the posters don't wrinkle on the journey home Baby- Levy's building, not theirs, that was bombed. Marjane
is symbolic of the lengths they would go to make sure their hopes the Baba-Levys are still at the hotel, but her mother
daughter is happy. cautions that might not be the case. It's Saturday. The Baba-
Levys are Jewish, so Saturday is Shabbat, or their holy day. It
Marjane knows how much her parents love her, and though
is tradition to go home and stay there every Saturday. As
she doesn't always show it, she feels the same way about
Marjane walks past the rubble, she spots Neda Baba-Levy's
them. That's one of the reasons why she never tells them
bracelet among the ruins. It is still attached to her arm. "No
about what happened after she left the house with her new
scream in the world could have relieved my suffering and my
Western gear. They would feel responsible for providing her
anger," Marjane recalls.
with the contraband goods that attracted the attention of the
ladies' auxiliary, and they would feel guilty for not
accompanying her on her outing. Marjane does fear her
parents would take away some of her freedom, but she also
Analysis
doesn't want to let them down by being caught or make them
Ballistic missiles are self-guided rockets filled with explosives.
worry any more than they already do. She protects her parents
They can be launched from almost anywhere—land, aircraft,
just as much as they protect her.
ships, and even submarines—which means the enemy doesn't
need to be close to its target to strike. The Iraqis target
civilians—not soldiers—with their ballistic missiles to dampen
The Shabbat Iranian morale and cause a backlash against the Islamic
regime, and they are often used in retaliation for strikes the
Iranians make against Iraq. Surviving a ballistic missile strike
Summary is nearly impossible, which is why Marjane and her parents
stay where they are when they hear the air raid sirens. It's also
Rumors fly about the Iraqis obtaining ballistic missiles, and for why Marjane panics after hearing they've been used in her
once the talk of the town turns out to be true. It's useless to neighborhood. She is forced to mentally confront the
take shelter in the basement when the sirens go off—ballistic possibility of her family's death every time she hears the
missiles are so powerful that only reinforced concrete shelters, sirens.
such as those in some of Tehran's hotels, can withstand the
explosion. For the first time Marjane realizes just how much The death of the Baba-Levys is a wake-up call to Marjane.
danger she and her family are in. Everyone else in Tehran Before the missile hit their building, the war had never quite
seems to have noticed the danger too. Many flee the city, seemed real. It happened to other people in other places and
leaving the streets deserted. Others, such as the Satrapis' was something she and her parents discussed in abstract
neighbors the Baba-Levys, move into hotels to be closer to terms. The missile literally brings the war to Marjane's
bomb shelters. The Satrapis are in the minority who decide to doorstep. She can't forget it or escape it as long as she stays
stay in their own homes. Marjane's parents are insistent in Iran. She will also never be able to forget seeing her friend's
Marjane continue her French education, which they believe is arm sticking out of the rubble. Years later, Satrapi still doesn't
the only way she'll be able to make a life for herself outside of have words or images to describe the anguish she felt when
Iran. she spotted Neda's bracelet among the wreckage, which is
why the last panel in the chapter is completely black.
One day Marjane and a friend go shopping for jeans and
shoes. They hear a bomb explode in the distance. The The Baba-Levys' deaths are another example of the dangerous
shopkeeper turns on the radio. The announcer says a missile aspects of religion. The Baba-Levys' faith, Judaism, required
them to be in their home on the day of the missile strike. Had
they been Muslim or any other faith, they would have remained

in the hotel where they were hiding. Their home still would
have been destroyed, but at least they would be alive. To Analysis
Marjane, it is as if God lured them out of safety into certain
danger. That is not the merciful, comforting God Marjane "The Dowry" is the final chapter in Book 2 of the original
knows from her childhood fantasies. Like Uncle Anoosh's Persepolis four-part series and the final chapter in the English-
death, the loss of the Baba-Levys pushes Marjane farther language compilation Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood.
away from the faith she once cherished. This is a fitting finale for a book about childhood, as Marjane's
departure from Iran signals the end of her own. There have
been several times throughout the story where Marjane
The Dowry mentally distances herself from childhood—cutting class with

older friends, fighting with her mother, smoking a stolen
cigarette—but she always has the safety net of her parents'
physical proximity if something goes wrong. In Vienna she will
Summary have no one to rely on except herself. Forced independence is
much less enticing than Marjane's fantasies of adulthood. Now
Marjane becomes even more rebellious after the Baba-Levys'
that she's given the chance to take care of herself, she doesn't
deaths. She is expelled from her French-language school for
really want it. She realizes this isn't just the end of her
punching the principal during an argument about Marjane's
childhood, but the end of life as she knows it. Her parents
Western clothes and jewelry. Her aunt is able to get her
might visit her in Vienna, but they will never live together as a
enrolled in a new school, but Marjane causes problems there,
family again. Family—especially the relationship with her
too. Her father seems proud of Marjane's willingness to stand
parents—is extremely important to teenage Marjane. Her
up for the truth, but her mother is angry. "You know what they
family's morals and values shaped her into the person she is,
do to the young girls they arrest?" she asks Marjane. Marjane
and she's not sure who she will be without them.
doesn't. In Iran, it is illegal to kill a virgin. Before young women
are executed, they are forcibly married to a guardian of the Ebi and Taji have always known their daughter wasn't meant
Revolution, who then takes their virginity and sends their to stay in Iran. That's why they sent her to a French-language
families a small amount of money as a dowry. That's what school, and it's why they encouraged her to read books, watch
happened to Niloufar, the communist girl Khosro was hiding. movies, and have discussions beyond her years. Their goal
Marjane is shocked. has always been for Marjane to become an independent
thinker who questions authority and stands up for her beliefs.
A week later, Marjane's parents tell her she will be leaving Iran
Though Ebi and Taji are proud of the way they raised Marjane,
to finish her education in Vienna, Austria. "Considering the
the values they instill in her are detrimental to her survival in
person [she is] and the education [she has] received," they
the Islamic Republic of Iran. Sending Marjane away breaks
think life outside Iran will be much safer for her. She will live
her parents' hearts, but it is also the greatest demonstration of
with Taji's best friend and go to a French-language school.
their love for her.
Although they don't say it explicitly, Marjane understands her
parents won't be joining her.
Marjane is heartbroken about leaving her friends and family. The Soup
She spends her last night in Iran sleeping in her grandmother's
arms. The next morning, her parents take her to the airport.
There are scores of people in line to leave the country, Summary
especially young boys whose families are trying to save them
from being drafted into the army. Marjane says goodbye to her Marjane arrives in Vienna, where she thinks she will be treated
parents. When she turns around for one more look, she sees like a daughter by her mother's best friend, Zozo. However,
her father carrying her mother, who has fainted. she finds Zozo is always yelling at her unemployed husband,
Houshang, and their daughter, Shirin, is extremely materialistic
and talks constantly of clothes and makeup. Within 10 days
Zozo decides Marjane must leave; she sends her to live at a

boarding house run by nuns. Marjane doesn't mind too much— experience is all too common for foreigners starting their lives
the boarding house seems nice enough, and Marjane is anew in a different culture. Doctors, lawyers, and engineers
excited to do adult things, such as shop for groceries, on her moving to a new country often have difficulty finding jobs in
own. She takes enormous pleasure in the well-stocked grocery their fields of expertise and instead are forced to take more
store even though she can afford only a few boxes of pasta labor-intensive blue-collar positions. Zozo and Houshang's
and laundry detergent. story illustrates the disparity between hopes for life in an
adopted country and the reality faced upon arrival. It also
Marjane's roommate at the boarding house is Lucia, an
foreshadows the negative experiences still to come for
Austrian who speaks only German. Marjane speaks Persian,
Marjane, who also has high hopes for her new life in Austria.
French, and English but not German. The girls manage to
communicate enough to share Lucia's cream of mushroom
soup and pistachios Marjane brought from Iran. They join the
other boarders to watch TV—a German-language movie. Since Tyrol
she doesn't understand the film, Marjane becomes
uncomfortable and retreats to the room, but Lucia doesn't
even notice. Summary
Marjane begins classes at the French-language school in
Analysis Vienna. She arrives in the middle of the trimester, and the
other students are already locked into their circles of friends.
Marjane's introduction to Austria is a culture shock in every Her high math scores and awkward French catch the attention
sense of the term. The language, food, and people are of a few of her classmates, and some of them react unkindly to
unfamiliar, and she feels lonely when everyone at the boarding her. Eventually she falls in with a group of older misfits.
house is laughing at a movie she can't understand. But Eighteen- year-old Julie is fascinated with Marjane, who "[has]
Marjane was also lonely living with Zozo's family. Her known war," and 20-year-old Momo is eager to hear about all
experience there was perhaps even more of a culture shock the death Marjane has seen. They also pal around with Thierry
than moving to a new country. Zozo, Houshang, and Shirin are and Olivier, orphan brothers from Switzerland.
all Persian, but they're nothing like Marjane's family. Zozo
resents her husband, who seems resigned to the fact his wife Though Marjane has found a group of her own, she still
only appreciated him when he earned a large salary. Shirin doesn't quite fit in. She's the only one of her friends not
talks about frivolous things that mean nothing to Marjane. celebrating Christmas—it isn't observed in Iran, a
"People [are] dying in our country ... What a traitor!" Marjane predominantly Muslim country—but nobody seems to notice.
thinks. It is hard for Marjane to understand how Persian She dreads two weeks in the boarding house without school
people, even those living abroad, could care about anything and without company.
except the war in their homeland. That's understandable. For Lucia figures this out and invites Marjane to come home with
years no one in Marjane's life has spoken of anything else. In her. Lucia's family welcomes Marjane with open arms, and she
Vienna not only does she have to learn a new culture, she also is treated as one of the family despite the language barrier. By
has to learn how to live outside a war zone. She soon finds old the time she goes back to Vienna, she has "a new set of
habits and thought patterns can be hard to break. parents," and "Lucia [is her] sister."
"The Soup" also gives readers a glimpse of what life is like for
immigrants settling in a new country. In the previous chapters Analysis
everyone who left Iran because of war or political persecution
believed they were going to have much better lives abroad. Marjane is already an outcast in school because of ethnicity,
Zozo and her family prove that's not always the case. and she naturally gravitates toward the other outcasts; or
Houshang was a wealthy executive in Iran, "but in Austria he rather, they gravitate toward her. To them, Marjane is like an
was nothing." The family survives on Zozo's income as a exotic animal from a faraway place—more of a novelty than an
hairdresser, which is partly why she is so bitter. Their actual human. She has seen and experienced things they can
merely imagine. Those things just happen to be related to war,

which they find fascinating in a way only middle-class kids understanding "everything," beginning with herself. She picks
who will never see battle can. They spend a lot of effort trying up her mother's favorite book, The Second Sex by French
to be different from everyone else—hence the fascination with author Simone de Beauvoir. After an ill-fated attempt to urinate
war and death—while Marjane actually is different. That's what while standing, she decides she must first "learn to become a
makes her so appealing to them. liberated and emancipated woman."
Marjane doesn't actually have a lot in common with her new One night in February when the boarding house is almost
group of friends. With their punk-rock personas and empty, Marjane brings a pot of pasta down to the TV room.
nonchalant attitudes toward school, they work hard at being Everyone else eats in there, and she's so hungry she knows a
rebels while Marjane just naturally is one despite her studious single plate of dinner won't be enough. Mother Superior comes
persona. Some of them, such as Olivier and Thierry, come into the room and tells Marjane to show "a little restraint" and
from money, and they all have places to go over the holidays. then says, "It's true what they say about Iranians. They have
Marjane is alone and on a very strict budget. She's also far no education." Marjane responds by saying the nuns all used
more naive than her older, worldly friends. Desperate for a to be prostitutes. She is evicted from the boarding house after
sense of kinship, Marjane overlooks all this and finds herself in an argument with Mother Superior's assistant, though she is
a group much different than the people she would normally allowed to stay through the end of the month.
hang out with in Iran. She's friends with them, but she doesn't
feel like she belongs. Panicked, Marjane calls Julie, who says Marjane can live with
her family. Marjane packs her bag and says goodbye to Lucia.
When Marjane visits Tyrol with Lucia, she finds her As Marjane gets on the bus, Satrapi shares directly with
roommate's relatives offer the warm family connections she readers a realization that "reading [isn't] enough. To fit in, [she]
has been missing. She craves the companionship and still [has] a long way to go."
conversation of older people, even if she can't understand the
language. Being part of a family means someone cares for
you, a feeling that has been lacking in Marjane's life since she Analysis
arrived in Europe. She is at her best and her happiest when in
the company of a loving family even if they're not her own. Satrapi breaks the fourth wall at the end of "Pasta" to speak
directly to readers. The fourth wall is a term most often used in
theater to describe the unspoken separation between the
Pasta actors and the audience. In this case the actors are replaced
by the narrator, who is Satrapi herself. She uses this
technique several times throughout Persepolis, usually at the
Summary end of a chapter when she wants to emphasize a particular
thought or lesson. This is extremely effective. Not only does it
Not long after Christmas, Marjane is startled to learn there are catch readers' attention, it also draws readers into the scene.
even more school vacation days coming up. Schools in Iran This makes it much easier for readers to have sympathy for
take a two-week "rest" for the New Year—which happens in Marjane even if they thought she went too far in her argument
March—and then remain in session until summer. Momo has with Mother Superior.
previously chastised Marjane for not knowing about Bakunin
Marjane's verbal showdown with the head nun is another
(1814–76), a well-known Russian anarchist, and now flippantly
instance of her inability to reconcile her concept of religion
assures her "in Europe, we are not forced to work all the time."
with the words and actions of its practitioners. The Viennese
She isn't impressed. She's even less enamored with his
nuns, like the Islamic leadership at home in Iran, are more
attitude toward her, and she decides to spend the school break
concerned with Marjane's respect for them than her respect
reading up on everything her friends already seem to know.
for God. The nuns don't act in a kind or "Christian" manner—
She starts with Bakunin, then the history of the commune,
Mother Superior throws the first insult and then punishes
followed by the work of Sartre (1905–80), her friends' favorite
Marjane for fighting back. The assistant nun, too, shows no
French author. None of it is interesting. She decides educating
mercy for Marjane, who is a 14-year-old girl alone in
herself means

a foreign country. In this case the nuns' racism overrides their

mission to uphold God's word and minister to others. Analysis
That's not to say Marjane isn't part of the problem. Age and Marjane has to navigate the frank and exposed sexual
new surroundings don't seem to make it any easier for her to practices of Julie and her friends. Now that it has been brought
hold her tongue, especially around authority figures. In Vienna to her attention, she adds "sex" to the mental list of things she
she seems more on guard than ever, and with good reason. needs to work on to better "assimilat[e] into Western culture."
For the first time in her life she is a foreigner. Looking and
talking differently than everyone else puts a metaphorical Julie's mother, Armelle, probably wouldn't agree. To her
target on her back, and the only person who can protect her Marjane is the epitome of the perfect daughter—respectful,
from harm is herself. Words are her only weapon, but they hardworking, and polite. According to Marjane, those qualities
serve mainly to get her in trouble. This is another reason why are a given in Iranian families. "Parents are sacred" in Persian
Marjane works so hard at learning everything she can about culture, and to disrespect one's mother by ignoring her
her friends' favorite esoteric topics—she wants to fit in. She questions is unthinkable to Marjane. Her rebellious attitude is
believes if she seems like everyone else, she will no longer be quite different from Julie's. In Iran Marjane was rebelling
a target of speculation and suspicion. against the Islamic Republic, not her parents. Each time she
gets into trouble—by wearing inappropriate clothing or saying
scandalous things—it's because she is trying to prove her
The Pill autonomy under a repressive government. She never directly

disobeys her parents. Julie, however, has no tyrannical
regime or stifling cultural standards to protest, so she, like
most teenagers, aims her adolescent ire at the most
Summary repressive people in her life—her parents. The part of Iranian
culture Marjane honors most—the family—happens to be the
Marjane likes living at Julie's house. Julie's mother, Armelle,
thing Western teenagers are most eager to separate
thinks Marjane is a good influence on Julie, who has a
themselves from.
penchant for cutting class and dating older men. Marjane is
stunned to learn Julie has slept with 18 different guys and is
on the birth control pill. She's even more shocked that Julie is
proud of it. In Iran, "even when you had sex before marriage,
The Vegetable
you hid it," Marjane tells readers. Julie is also very comfortable
talking about her body, which is a sharp contrast to Marjane,
who grew up keeping those things private. Summary
Julie throws a party while Armelle is on a business trip. It's not Between the ages of 15 and 16 Marjane's body goes from that
like any party Marjane has ever been to before. In Iran people of a child to that of a woman. Her personal style changes, too.
dance and eat at parties. At Julie's party "people preferred to She cuts her hair into spiky tufts, applies thick eyeliner, and
lie around and smoke" and kiss. The public displays of always wears a scarf as part of her "look." The school's hall
affection make Marjane uncomfortable. She's even more monitors love her hair and ask her to cut theirs, and she
uncomfortable after the party when she hears two people obliges. Momo questions why Marjane would want to associate
having sex in Julie's bedroom. Marjane assumes it's Julie and with "peons" like that, but Marjane insists they're nice. Their
her new crush, Ernst, but the naked man who walks out of the argument leads to Momo's diatribe about how "life is
room is actually named Wolfy. He's number 19. Marjane starts nothingness," to which Marjane counters life is valuable, as
laughing hysterically when Julie, wrapped in a sheet, and evidenced by the people willing to die "for values like liberty,"
Wolfy, now wearing underwear, join her on the couch. Julie such as her Uncle Anoosh. Momo doesn't have an answer for
thinks Marjane is high, but Marjane is laughing at the memory that.
of her father describing testicles as "ping-pong balls."
Marjane's friends like to smoke marijuana in the woods on the
school grounds. Marjane fakes enjoyment "out of solidarity."

She pretends to inhale when her friends pass the joint, and letting down her grandmother, who insisted she remain true to
then she reddens her eyes to appear stoned like everyone herself. It isn't until she loses her temper in the café that she
else. She feels guilty for not being true to herself, especially really feels like herself again.
when she talks with her parents on the phone. She tries to
forget about Iran during the day, but at night images of her Part of the reason Marjane doesn't feel like herself in Europe
home and family fill her dreams. is because of how much she has changed since she left Iran.
The physical changes she experience make her feel like a
Marjane goes to a party and meets Marc—a cute guy who stranger to herself, and her experimentation with haircuts,
graduated the year before. He assumes she's French, and she fashion, and makeup are an effort to find a persona that
doesn't correct him. A few days later, she overhears his sister, matches her new form. She wants to fit in with her edgy
Anna, talking about her in a café. Anna and her friends make Western friends, but that means letting go of the familiar.
fun of Marjane's accent and appearance. "I would commit Changing her look essentially cuts ties between the Iranian
suicide if my brother was going out with a cow like that!" Anna Marjane and the Western Marjane. Her parents will not
says. The girls say Marjane is lying about "know[ing] war" and recognize her when they see her again, and at times she feels
her parents wouldn't have sent her to Austria if they actually like an imposter. It is only when she allows herself to be proud
cared about her. That's all Marjane can take. She jumps out of of her heritage and who she is on the inside that she
her booth and yells, "I am Iranian and proud of it!" before recognizes the woman she was always supposed to be:
storming out of the café. Her hurt feelings are quickly replaced intelligent, confident, and bold.
by a growing sense of pride.
Analysis The Horse

Marjane is having an enormously difficult time adjusting to life
in Europe. Though she was familiar with parts of Western Summary
culture in Iran, she wasn't prepared for the hatred Westerners
displayed toward Iranians. In 1986, when this part of Marjane's Armelle and Julie leave Vienna, so Marjane finds a temporary
story takes place, Iran wasn't well-liked throughout the rest of room in a Wohngemeinschaft, or communal apartment. She
the world. Part of that dislike stemmed from the hostage crisis likes living there a lot—her eight male roommates are all very
at the United States embassy in Tehran in 1979—the Iranians nice, and she has a whole room to herself. Her mother arrives
earned no good will by refusing demands for the hostages' for a visit just a month or two after she moves in. It's the first
release. Another part of the dislike grew from the media's time Marjane and Taji see each other since Marjane left Iran 19
portrayal of Iran. Television and newspaper reports depicted months earlier. Taji is surprised at how much Marjane has
Iranians as fundamentalist terrorists eager to become martyrs grown, and Marjane is surprised by how old Taji seems.
for Islam and the Islamic Republic. That of course isn't true,
Marjane is relieved to once again talk to someone who
but Marjane's European acquaintances don't know that. They
understands Persian culture, and she and her mother spend
see what the media tells them to see. Though Marjane knows
hours talking about their family and the war. They aren't
popular opinion about Iranians is based on half-truths, she still
completely honest with one another, however. Taji lies about
feels ashamed about who she is.
jewelry she may have pawned for money and claims to like
She also feels ashamed about who she has become. Marjane Marjane's cooking, while Marjane conceals the loneliness she
is partying, doing drugs, and hanging out with a pretty rough feels in Austria. Taji emphasizes the need for Marjane to do the
crowd. She knows her parents would be disappointed in her if best she can in life, even if she ends up a cabaret dancer.
they knew the truth. In their eyes she is the perfect—if slightly
Taji takes care of Marjane during her 27 days in Austria,
rebellious—Iranian daughter. While they evade bombs and try
cooking, soothing her to sleep, and sketching plans for new
to earn a respectable living, she's smoking marijuana and
outfits. She even finds her daughter a more permanent
pretending to be someone she's not. Denying her heritage,
residence with Dr. Heller, whom she and Marjane agree looks
though easier in the short term, also makes her believe she's
like a horse. Before she departs for Iran Taji makes Marjane
promise not to insult Dr. Heller. Marjane promises. She's sad,
but even sadder is the fact she's also "get[ting] used to on Marjane's bed. Marjane can't understand why Dr. Heller
separations." Their visit, while all too brief, is enough to sustain doesn't see this as a problem. All Marjane's friends have left
Marjane for several more months. school for one reason or another, so she spends most of her
time with Enrique, her half-Austrian, half-Spanish boyfriend.
He's an anarchist, which Marjane finds very attractive. On the
Analysis ride to their first "anarchist party" together, she imagines "the
commitment and the battles of [her] childhood in Iran." Her
A lot has changed since Marjane last saw Taji, but mother and
ideas of anarchy are much different from those of Enrique's
daughter keep their conversations fairly neutral. Though she is
friends. "Anarchist party" seems to be code for playing hide-
surprised by Marjane's living arrangements, Taji doesn't make
and-seek and volleyball and singing songs around a campfire.
a big deal about it, and although Marjane knows her mother
At first disillusioned, Marjane lets herself enjoy the night and
would never leave the country without her precious necklace,
decides she will sleep with Enrique for the first time. The next
she doesn't press the issue. Arguments and discussions they
morning, she is still a virgin. She mistakenly thinks he didn't
would have had in the past are neatly sidestepped to make
have sex with her because he likes Ingrid, another member of
room for good memories. They don't have enough time
the group. Enrique then tells her she has helped him figure
together to wallow in their own failings.
out he is gay.
Like Marjane, Taji is coming to understand the negative light in

Enrique is the first in a string of disappointing would-be
which the West views Iran and its people. She remembers
friendships and romances. Her physics teacher, Yonnel
what traveling through Europe used to be like—"They rolled out
Arrouas, reaches out to Marjane when she is beginning to look
the red carpet," she says. Now she is treated like a suspected
strung out from weekends with the anarchists. He invites
terrorist just because of her country of origin. Marjane's Uncle
Marjane over for lunch with his family. His mother loves
Massoud is experiencing the same thing in Germany. "He was
Marjane but his wife doesn't, so she isn't invited over again.
somebody" in Iran, but in his new country he feels worthless.
Jean-Paul, a new kid at school, invites Marjane out on a date,
"It's difficult to start over at zero," she says. This isn't news to
but it turns out he's only interested in her help with his math
Marjane—she has endured all of this and more in Austria—but
homework. By the time she meets Markus, Marjane is
it's good to be with someone who understands. For the first
convinced she's undesirable.
time in a long time, Marjane feels understood.
Markus turns out to actually like Marjane. His mother doesn't.
Marjane is pretty sure her mother comprehends how lonely
She kicks Marjane out of her house. Markus goes to Marjane's
she is in Austria and just chooses to ignore it. Taji isn't being
room at Dr. Heller's boarding house, and Dr. Heller kicks him
callous or unkind. She needs Marjane to stay strong. If
out after calling Marjane a prostitute. Marjane manages not to
Marjane crumbles and admits her unhappiness aloud, Taji will
yell back at Dr. Heller—she promised her mother she wouldn't—
have to decide whether to bring her home or make her stay
and her relationship with Markus is limited to his car, where
against her will. Taji and Ebi didn't send Marjane to Austria to
they smoke marijuana. One night he sends her into Café
be happy—they sent her to be safe. To do so, they need to tell
Camera to buy some hash. Markus tells everyone at school
themselves she's doing great on her own in a new culture,
Marjane has contacts at the café. Now Marjane is the school's
even if it's a lie. Marjane's unhappiness isn't a secret, but it
drug dealer.
needs to remain unspoken.
Analysis
Hide and Seek
Marjane is a full-blown teenager during her time in Europe and
like any teenager, she wants to fit in. This isn't easy for
Summary anyone, but it's particularly difficult for Marjane. She has to
overcome not only personal boundaries, but cultural ones as
Marjane is happy living in Dr. Heller's villa, except for the well. For example, in Marjane's culture men and women don't
presence of Victor, Dr. Heller's dog, who frequently defecates sleep in the same room unless they're married. Coed
sleepovers would

definitely be forbidden. Yet she's determined to fit in with her exam will be about Montesquieu's "Slavery of the Negroes."
Western friends and not "be a timid virgin any longer." Even The next morning Marjane calls her mother, who prays for her.
sleeping with Enrique would be embarrassing for Marjane, but Miraculously, Marjane's dream was right. She scores the
she goes several steps further and decides to have sex with highest grade in the school. After working a few odd jobs over
him. That, too, must be uncomfortable for someone who the summer, she returns to school for another year of
comes from a culture that reserves sex for marriage, but she's university preparation. The principal calls her into his office
willing to break ties with her own cultural traditions in order to and indicates he won't tolerate any more drug sales, thus
feel like she belongs in Europe. ending Marjane's days as a drug dealer.
Marjane's culture also impedes her ability to connect with It is 1988. Marjane's friends are convinced the Austrian
others. In Iran it would be illegal for her to be seen with a man government is resurrecting Nazism. Marjane cautions them
to whom she wasn't married, but casual dating isn't a big deal about exaggerating the situation, but they insist things are
in Austria. It is for Marjane, though. That's because of her getting very bad, especially in the region of Tyrol. That's where
ethnicity. Markus's mother and Dr. Heller both have negative Lucia's family is from. Marjane protests that she knows very
impressions of Marjane simply because of her appearance nice people there, but her friends tell her the situation would
and cultural background. They don't know her at all, but they have been different had she been "a frizzy-haired and dark-
automatically assume she's a "dirty foreigner" taking skinned boy." She wonders how her friends would treat her if
advantage of young Austrian men. Marjane was never the she was.
subject of racist vitriol at home in Iran—she was the in the
majority there, not the minority. Now she is reminded of her Marjane's relationship with Markus is also on the rocks. She
otherness everywhere she goes. has radically increased her use of drugs, causing Markus to
pull away from her. He throws himself into his studies while
Life in Vienna isn't turning out anything like Marjane thought it she barely goes to class. They see less and less of one
would. She wanted to make European friends with similar another, and Marjane hopes spending her 18th birthday on a
revolutionary ideas and philosophies, but the anarchists she trip with another friend will make Markus realize how much he
meets label themselves as such because they want people to loves her. When she misses her train, she decides it's a sign
think they're cool, not because they want to effect social she should spend her birthday with him. She buys warm
change. Marjane's hopes are dashed as soon as she sees the croissants and lets herself into his apartment only to find him in
anarchists playing hide-and-seek. She shuns her few bed with another girl. After one last explosive fight, Marjane
remaining friends to spend more time with the man she loves never sees him again.
only to learn that he's gay. When she finally finds another
boyfriend, he makes her pay for everything and even
persuades her to deal drugs. This is not the life Marjane's Analysis
parents wanted for her, nor is it the life she wants for herself.
Her face in the last frame of the chapter says it all—she is Marjane's childhood dreams have finally come true: she's a
angry. prophet—sort of. This isn't the last "miracle" God performs for
her, and its occurrence rekindles her relationship with Him and
religion. Note that Marjane doesn't pray or speak directly to
The Croissant God herself—she calls her mother and asks her to do it.
Marjane isn't yet ready to renew her commitment to Islam. She
still associates her religion with the repressive and hypocritical
Summary practices of the government back in Iran. Right now admitting
she still believes in her faith would be akin to believing in the
Marjane prepares to take the French baccalaureate—a test government she so dislikes.
that determines whether she will be able to continue her
The way Marjane's friends view Nazism in Tyrol is very similar
studies after high school. As she studies she realizes there
to the way the West, in general, views Iran's Islamic regime.
are a lot of "holes" in her knowledge base. She will "need a
Her friends speak of Tyrol as if its residents are all white
miracle to pass." One night God comes to her in a dream and
says the
supremacists, but unlike them, Marjane has actually been where she lives. She says Iran. He releases her and allows
there. She—a foreigner whose appearance and speech are her to make a phone call to Zozo, who owes Marjane's mother
unlike anything seen in western Austria—was welcomed with some money.
open arms. Marjane knows Lucia's family could never be
Nazis, just as she knows not all Iranians or practitioners of When Marjane arrives at Zozo's house, Zozo tells her that
Islam are fundamentalist terrorists. The difference between Uncle Massoud had come from Germany to look for her. "He
her perception and her friends' assumptions illustrates the moved heaven and earth to find you!" Zozo says. Marjane's
problems caused by judging entire groups of people based on parents keep calling, too. As if on cue, the phone rings. It's
hearsay. Marjane's parents. She asks to come home, and they
immediately say yes, even promising not to ask her anything
Marjane considers herself a fairly good judge of character, but about the past three months. After a brief stop at Dr. Heller's
she's a failure when it comes to choosing boyfriends. Her house to pick up what was left of her things, Marjane spends
criteria seem to be limited to "anyone who likes me back." She the next five days in a cheap hotel. On the day of her flight she
and Markus were never a good fit, but she continued dating looks in the mirror and puts on her veil. "So much for my
him because he was willing to date her. Marjane doesn't individual and social liberties ... I needed so badly to go
understand her relationship with Markus was toxic from the home," she writes.
very beginning—he uses her for her money, makes her buy
drugs, and then insists they keep their relationship a secret
from his mother. Nor does she see how the relationship is Analysis
breaking her down. Marjane is desperately unhappy with
Markus, which is why she self-medicates with drugs—leading This is the second chapter in the Persepolis series named
her to feel more isolated than before. She's much better off "The Veil." The veil in this chapter represents the defeat
without him, but she doesn't see that yet. Marjane feels for not being able to live successfully on her own
in Austria. Her feelings of failure are unwarranted—she was
dealt a difficult hand from the moment she arrived in Europe.
The Veil (2) Nevertheless she fears her parents may accuse her of not
trying her best. Despite her inclination to rebel against those
who try to control her life, Marjane feels a deep responsibility
Summary to fulfill her parents' desires for her. The last thing she wants to
do is disappoint them, which is why she makes them promise
Marjane is crushed by her breakup with Markus. In her eyes, not to ask her any questions about where she's been. She
she has lost "her emotional support, the only person who knows they would be heartsick to learn she had been living on
cared for [her]" and the only person to whom she was attached the streets and scrounging for food in dumpsters. It used to be
—though she will later realize he was using her for money and Ebi and Taji's job to protect Marjane, but Marjane's time in
access to drugs. With no friends or family in Austria, she feels Austria has reversed their roles. Now it is she who has to
completely alone. While she is grieving, Dr. protect them.
Heller accuses her of stealing a brooch. Fed up and tired of
Marjane left Iran thinking she was ready to be an adult and
seeing reminders of Markus in her room, Marjane packs, grabs
returns home feeling less grown-up than ever. This is partly
her passport, and leaves the boarding house. She is now
because when she still lived with her parents she didn't truly
homeless.
understand what it meant to be an adult. She was only 14, after
Marjane spends the winter of 1988–89 living on the streets, all. She never had to manage money, do her own shopping, or
riding trams during the day for warmth and sleeping on even cook for herself. From a child's perspective being an adult
benches at night. After three months of this she comes down seems fun and relatively easy. It isn't until individuals are given
with a severe cough that won't go away. She spits up blood the "freedom" to take care of themselves that they realize how
and passes out and then wakes up later in the hospital. She stressful and difficult it really is.
has bronchitis. The doctor tells her to stop smoking and asks
The stresses of Marjane's final months in Austria nearly kill her.

It is a stroke of luck—or perhaps even an act of God—that she of resignation, not conviction. Marjane goes to bed determined
passes out during daylight hours. If she had fainted at night, her parents will not suffer anymore. She will never tell them
"the glacial cold would surely have prevented [her] from about what happened in Austria.
fulfilling [her] destiny." She understands she wasn't meant to
die—an idea that is emphasized again in "Skiing"—but she
doesn't know what she's supposed to be doing instead. She'll Analysis
have to go home to find out.
Marjane has returned home to a broken country. Reminders of
the war and the sacrifices made to keep it going only add to
The Return the air of oppression under the Islamic regime. Marjane was
used to the heavy feeling of government control before she
moved to Austria four years ago, but now she finds it
Summary suffocating. Coming home has made Marjane realize she
really doesn't fit in anywhere. Struggling to assimilate to life in
Marjane arrives in Iran and immediately feels the "repressive the West was one thing—she was a foreigner, so she expected
air of [her] country." She is chastised for not wearing her veil a certain amount of adjustment. Since Iran is her home,
properly, her bag is searched for contraband, and there are returning there should have been like slipping into a favorite
reminders of the war on every corner. Every other street is pair of jeans—both comfortable and comforting. However,
named after a martyr, and she feels haunted "by the victims of Marjane has grown not only in size but in maturity—and what
a war [she] fled." Things aren't much better at home. was once familiar now doesn't fit.
Conversations with her parents are strained. Even her
The disappearance of her belongings from her bedroom—
bedroom doesn't feel like it belongs to her—the desk is too
particularly her Kim Wilde tapes—is a reminder of Marjane's
small, she has no clothes, and the punk drawings sketched on
failure to thrive in Austria. She wasn't meant to come back
her walls don't match her current persona. Upon learning her
home—though her parents adore her, they want her to have
mother gave away her favorite tapes, Marjane decides to
the best life possible—and they know that will happen only if
make a fresh start and scrubs the drawings into oblivion.
she leaves Iran. Taji really thought Marjane was gone for good
Marjane isn't ready to talk to anyone—not even her former best when she gave the tapes to a friend's daughter. That doesn't
friends—but she is curious about the war. Despite her mother's mean Taji would be upset if Marjane came back home—she
protests, her father tells her how Iran was nearly liberated from and Ebi would both gladly welcome their daughter home.
the Islamic Republic by the mujahideen, Iranian combatants Marjane's bedroom is evidence of that. Her parents could have
who opposed the ruling regime. Supported by Saddam easily converted her room into an office or guest room, but
Hussein, they entered the country from Iraq. Locals mistook they instead kept it exactly as she left it. Marjane will always
them for Iraqis and hid in their houses while the guardians of have a special place in her parents' hearts and home no
the Revolution fought them off. matter where she goes or what she does.
The uprising, though not successful, scared the regime. They The parents to whom Marjane returns are noticeably different
decided to protect their position of power by putting pressure from the parents she left behind. As Ebi and Taji dealt with the
on Iranian political prisoners—many of whom were the grief of sending their daughter to an unknown land, they
country's top scholars and the "legitimate heirs of the watched the destruction of their country from both the outside
revolution." Prisoners were given a choice: they could and from within. If family is the most important thing to Ebi and
renounce their revolutionary ideals and promise loyalty to the Taji, country is a close second. Knowing how close they came
regime, or they could be executed. Tens of thousands chose to liberation at the hands of the mujahideen is heartbreaking,
execution. Possibly a million more Iranian citizens died during as are the deaths of so many people they admired and
the war, and thousands were left widows, orphans, and supported. Even Ebi can't muster his usual optimism about
refugees. Iran's future. His words say one thing, but his lack of
conviction in them says another.
"All that is behind us ... We must go forward now. We must
rebuild everything," Marjane's father says. Yet his tone is one

The Joke living out the dreams of every Iranian teenager eager for
freedom from Islamic rule. They don't understand the reality of
living on one's own in the West just as she doesn't understand
their makeup and clothes are "an act of resistance on their
Summary part." She connects more with Kia because they both have
endured traumatic experiences. Her girlfriends haven't.
Marjane is worried everyone knows about her "failure" in
Europe, but she can't avoid her friends, neighbors, and family
forever. A parade of relatives drifts through her parents' house,
but the only person she wants to see is her grandmother, who
Skiing
is the same as she has always been. Then Marjane
reconnects with her closest girlfriends from school. That may
have been a mistake. They all look like "heroines of American Summary
TV series, ready to get married at the drop of a hat" and think
she looks like a nun. Upon seeing their shocked expressions Marjane is depressed. She decides to give her family a brief
when they learn she didn't frequent nightclubs in Vienna, overview of what happened in Vienna, but they are only
Marjane wonders why they were ever friends in the first place. capable of pity, not understanding. None of them had "known
the confusion of being a third-worlder, they had always had a
Feeling "terribly alone," Marjane has her mother get the home," she muses. Her mother convinces her to go on a ski
contact information for Kia, her old childhood friend who was trip with her friends. At first it's great—she enjoys the mountain
badly injured in the war. Marjane is initially shocked by Kia's air and sunshine—but things turn sour when she admits she not
appearance—he's missing an arm and a leg and confined to a only has had sex, but has had more than one partner. "So,
wheelchair. Marjane feels uncomfortable, but then Kia breaks what's the difference between you and a whore???" one of her
the ice with a bawdy joke. They talk for hours and keep in friends asks. Shocked, Marjane realizes underneath their
touch even after he moves to the United States. "outward appearance of being modern women," her friends are
actually very traditional. She returns home more depressed
than ever.
Analysis
Taking her mother's advice, Marjane sees a string of
Marjane is constantly worried people will learn about her therapists. One prescribes her antidepressants, which leave
"European failure" when in fact she didn't fail at all. She her in a foggy daze. When they wear off, she feels worse than
managed to survive on her own for four years, which is a huge before. "My calamity could be summarized in one sentence: I
accomplishment for someone only in high school. Yet she was nothing," she writes. She decides to commit suicide while
believes she let her parents down by coming home again. She her parents are on vacation. Neither attempt—a fruit knife to
doesn't see the only person disappointed in her is herself. the wrist and taking all her pills at once—works. "I inferred from
Getting together with Kia helps her put things into perspective. this that I was not made to die," she says. She decides to take
"We can only feel sorry for ourselves when our misfortunes are control of her life by waxing, perming, and toning her body.
still supportable," she reflects. Kia has arguably endured more She gets a new wardrobe, wears makeup, and starts teaching
hardships than Marjane, but he's able to laugh and joke aerobics—determined to "meet [her] new destiny."
around and plan for his future. He doesn't wallow in self-pity or
self- loathing, which is a lesson Marjane takes to heart.
Analysis
Marjane feels a kinship with Kia that is missing in her
relationship with her girlfriends. "We were the same age, which The differences between the public self and private self are an
should make it easier to connect," she says, when in fact their important theme in Persepolis. In most cases people hide their
ages probably make it harder for them to understand one Western beliefs and activities behind closed doors so as not to
another. While Marjane imagined everyone and everything in attract the attention of the guardians of the Revolution.
Iran staying as she left it, her girlfriends assumed she was Marjane's girlfriends are different. They present a "Western"

exterior to the outside world—styled hair, noticeable makeup, [she] wasn't able to retain anything." She prays for help.
conversations about boys and clubbing—that belies their
traditional values. They aren't as rebellious as they want On the day of the exam, Marjane decides to be truthful with the
people to think they are. examiner. Among other things, she confesses she didn't wear
her veil in Austria because "if women's hair posed so many
Marjane's admission of having multiple sexual partners causes problems, God would certainly have made [women] bald." She
an even greater divide between her and her friends. Already also tells him she doesn't pray in Arabic because she doesn't
suffering from low self-esteem, she takes their condemnation speak Arabic. She's convinced she has failed the exam, but it
as further confirmation of her perceived worthlessness. She turns out the examiner was extremely impressed with her
can't confess her problems to anyone else she knows for fear answers, which he later says were the only honest ones of the
of further judgment, but the therapists she sees—all men— day. Marjane is accepted into university.
aren't able to relate to her either. Her increasing sense of
isolation and failure are what push her to attempt suicide.
Marjane takes her therapist's admission that she should have

Analysis
died from taking all those pills as a sign that God doesn't want
Marjane's relationship with Islam and God has changed
her to die. Even if no one else believes in her, He does. That's
dramatically throughout her life. Once so devoted she wanted
enough to make her "tak[e] [her]self in hand" and take control
to become a prophet, she gave up many of her beliefs as the
of her life. She doesn't want to be sad Western Marjane
Islamic Republic and the Iran-Iraq War took away friends and
anymore—she wants to be happy Iranian Marjane. It is fitting
family members. By the time she moved to Austria, her
that she alters her appearance to look even more Western
relationship with Islam was completely severed. Not once does
than before. She's reverting to who she was before she
she ask God to help her when she needs it most—at the
moved to Austria—Western on the outside but Iranian within.
boarding houses, in school, and even on the street. Yet God
never gives up on her. He comes to her in a dream to help her
The Exam with her baccalaureate exam, and she has an inkling He was
partially responsible for her survival on the streets. When
Marjane returns to Iran, God slowly but surely becomes a
bigger presence in her life. "The Exam" marks the first time
Summary Marjane has prayed directly to Him since she was a child. She
might not agree with all the tenets of Islam, but she does
In April 1989 Marjane goes to a party hosted by her friend believe in the power of God again.
Roxana. There she meets Reza, a former soldier. In her he
sees a "lightness" he missed during the war, and in him she Marjane's decision to be so open during her theology exam is
sees the "war which [she] had escaped." Their completely extremely risky. She is incredibly lucky not to be kicked out of
opposite personalities complement one another perfectly, and the building or arrested for speaking against Islamic law and
soon neither can imagine a future without the other. the beliefs of the state. Freedom of speech isn't a right in Iran
—if the government doesn't like what somebody says, the
Reza wants to leave Iran, but Marjane isn't ready. Luckily for person will be punished for it. Marjane knows saying what she
her, getting a visa to leave the country is extremely difficult. really believes is hazardous, but she can't help pushing
So as not to "waste years of [their] lives doing nothing," they against those who try to control her. Being open about her
decide to go back to school. They study for the national exam, beliefs—in this instance—works in her favor. She impresses the
which is a requirement for everyone who wishes to go to examiner not just because she's honest with him, but because
university. They are ecstatic to learn they both passed the first she engages in a discussion with him about what religion
part, but Marjane grows worried about the second part, which means to her. He recognizes and appreciates Marjane's
is an "ideological test." She tries to learn everything before the connection with God even if she doesn't strictly abide by the
test: how to pray in Arabic; philosophies of Shiism, the second rules of Islam. His acceptance of Marjane is what makes him a
largest branch of Islam; and the names of all the imams, "true religious man."
historic Muslim leaders. But "the words were so obscure that

The Makeup Analysis

Falsely accusing the man on the steps of harassment is
Summary probably one of the worst things Marjane has ever done in her
life. She knows it, too, which is why she's so surprised about
Marjane and Reza's relationship becomes official once they Reza's reaction. His praise of Marjane's "instinct for survival"
are both accepted into university. Most of their time together is may come from his experience as a soldier in the war. He
spent indoors, as it is illegal for unmarried men and women to knows the value of relying on one's wits to get out of tough
be seen together in public. When they do venture out, they do situations. It can be argued those who aren't smart enough to
it carefully. avoid capture deserve it. But Marjane isn't on the battlefield—
she's in the middle of Tehran.
The closer Marjane and Reza get, the more they nitpick at
each other. Marjane thinks Reza is too much of a homebody, While Reza has no empathy for the victim of Marjane's lie,
and Reza doesn't think Marjane is glamorous enough. She Marjane can't stop thinking about what will happen to him. Her
decides to "make an effort" one day by wearing more makeup family has made a point of teaching her about fairness and
than usual. Waiting for him outside a shopping center, she kindness, traits they don't often see exhibited in the ruling
panics when a guardians of the Revolution vehicle pulls up. regime. When she arrives home she runs into her grandmother
Marjane is sure she will be arrested if she's spotted wearing —someone whose opinion carries much more weight than
lipstick. Thinking quickly, she tells one of the guardians, Reza's. Grandmother's disappointment in Marjane isn't that
"There's a guy who said something indecent to me," and then she lied to protect herself. Her fury comes from Marjane's
points to a man sitting alone on the steps of a building. The dismissal of another human's worth. Framing the bystander for
man protests his innocence, but Marjane insists he harassed acts he didn't commit is an indication Marjane thinks she is
her. The man is hauled into the van. better than him and more deserving of freedom, and
Grandmother finds that attitude despicable. Her disgust with
Marjane locates Reza, who saw the man being taken away, Marjane's behavior has a pronounced effect on Marjane, who
and tells him what she did. To her surprise, he laughs. "That's would rather not exist than live with the guilt of disappointing
too cool! What an instinct for survival!" he says. Marjane her grandmother.
wonders what awaits the man at the guardians' headquarters,
and Reza says he'll probably be slapped or whipped, though, Reza's callous reaction to the man's plight is an early indicator
knowing the guardians, he could very well be hanged instead. that he and Marjane aren't a good romantic match. Their
Reza tells Marjane a story about two friends accused of being relationship is new, but there are already cracks in its
gay by the guardians. Both were injured in the encounter but foundation. They each have a laundry list of things they want
survived. to change about one another, yet they stay together instead of
Reza considers them lucky, since by law homosexuality is an splitting up and finding other people to date. That's in part
offense punishable by death. because of the restrictive rules of the Islamic regime. It's hard
to date when unmarried men and women aren't allowed to be
Marjane finds her grandmother waiting for her at home. seen in public together, and it's even harder to meet someone
Laughing, she tells her how she accused a man of a crime to who's a good match. Reza and Marjane are happy enough,
save herself. Grandmother responds by calling her a "selfish and they haven't been able to spend enough time together in
bitch." "Have you forgotten who your grandfather was?" she private to figure out this relationship might not be destined for
asks and then goes on, "'Integrity'!!! Does this word mean the long term. Reza's laughter at Marjane's story should be a
anything to you?" It is the first time her grandmother has yelled red flag, but she takes it as a sign of his admiration and
at her, and Marjane promises herself it will also be the last. affection.

The Convocation equality of women, but rather about the political, social, and
economic freedoms of a repressed people. "The Convocation"
is one of the few places where the differing standards for men
and women are brought up. Being female is a disadvantage
Summary for the women in Marjane's art program. The flowing garments
they wear to supposedly protect themselves from the lust of
Marjane begins university in September 1989. She and Reza
men get in the way of painting, sketching, and sculpting. As
are both in the college of art, but they have to pretend they
mentioned in the next chapter, "The Socks," drawing women
don't know one another so as not to raise any suspicions about
dressed in such clothing is just as futile. The rules applied to
their relationship. Men and women take classes separately
women's wardrobe and behavior hamper the practical aspects
from one another, and there are times when they're even
of Marjane's art education.
forced to use different staircases.
The hypocrisy of the clothing requirements isn't lost on
A week after classes begin, students from all the colleges are
Marjane. Women are forced to cover their bodies so as not to
called to the main campus. The convocation, or large
arouse every man in their path, but men can wear whatever
assembly, is for a lecture on moral and religious conduct.
they want—within reason. That's because the fundamentalist
Much of the talk is dedicated to what women should and
Islamic clergy doesn't believe women are capable of attraction
shouldn't wear.
and sexual arousal. As Marjane sees it, there are two
Marjane stands up and asks how she and her classmates are
problems with this. The first is the gross misunderstanding and
supposed to make art while wearing longer headscarves and
outright denial of the existence of female sexuality. The
whether Islam is "defending our physical integrity" or if it's just
second is the assumption men are unable to control
opposed to current fashions, such as wide-legged pants. She
themselves when they see strands of hair peeking from under
also points out there are no rules for men, who all have
a headscarf. Women are treated like virginal saints while men
different haircuts and wear different clothing. If male students
are the lust-filled devils eager to defile them. It's not fair to
are in danger of becoming aroused by a shorter headscarf,
either party.
how is she expected to "feel nothing when watching these men
with their clothes sculpted on"? Marjane is incredibly lucky she wasn't kicked out of school for
speaking her mind in front of the entire student body. Again, it
Marjane is called in front of the Islamic Commission after the
is the mullah from her theological exam who comes to her
lecture. The "commission" turns out to be none other than the
rescue. His decision to have Marjane come up with a solution
mullah who administered her theological exam. After telling her
instead of assigning her a punishment is more evidence that
that scripture views the veil as being "synonymous with
he's a "true religious" man. He doesn't agree with her opinions
emancipation," he allows her the opportunity to design a new
—"You're honest, but you are lost," he says. However, he does
uniform for women in the arts college that fits both their artistic
admire her desire to speak up when she sees a need for
needs and the dress code of Islam. She does. The short
change. Unlike many of his peers, the mullah does not
headscarf and wide-legged pants are small but important
believe in a dictatorship of faith. He would rather engage in
changes. Marjane is proud of herself for the first time in a long
constructive conversations about faith and its meaning and
time, as is her grandmother. They are finally on speaking terms
work to win over hearts and minds.
again.
Analysis The Socks

Several scholars and reviewers have interpreted Persepolis as
a feminist work, but Satrapi is quick to distance herself and her Summary
story from that label. She does not personally identify herself
as a feminist, and she believes it does more harm than good Art school—particularly figure drawing—isn't easy under the
to designate literature as masculine or feminine. As a whole, Islamic regime. Female models are required to wear the veil
Persepolis is not about the political, social, and economic and the voluminous chador, which completely obscures their

bodies. The women are eventually allowed to draw male somewhere in the middle.
models, who can at least wear form-fitting clothing. Even that
is problematic—Marjane gets in trouble for looking at a male Satrapi's illustrations are often overlooked in discussions of
model and is told to draw him while looking at a door. her work—many people get caught up in the broader story
about her life and the words she uses to tell it. However, there
It is 1990, and the time of grand protests has long passed.
are places in Persepolis where the illustrations cannot be
Now everyone lives in fear of imprisonment and execution.
ignored. One of those instances is the raid of the party. For
Rebellious gestures are small—makeup, sunglasses, loud
three pages images, not words, tell what happened to Farzad.
laughter. Marjane is even arrested for wearing red socks under
Without words to slow the pace, readers' eyes rush through
her chador. Though it seems like most of her classmates are
the pictures, which echo the frenetic panic that led to the end
rebelling against the regime in some small way, Marjane often
of Farzad's life. Depicted as a simple silhouette, Farzad and
forgets many are traditionalists at heart. That point is driven
his actions are especially important in this sequence. Right
home when she is shunned by half her female classmates
before he falls he is literally reaching toward the moon, as if he
after blurting out she uses birth control so she can have sex
wants to grab hold of it. He misses. The moon symbolizes his
with her boyfriend.
hope to escape the regime's grasp. One wrong step—and he
dies.
Half of her classmates, however, have more progressive
views. Little by little they form a clique, taking turns modeling
for one another in more revealing clothing and channeling their
fury with the regime into raucous parties—several of which are The Wedding
broken up by the guardians of the Revolution. Night after night,
the revelers are taken to jail until their parents can bail them
out. They find all this funny until one terrible night when Summary
Farzad, trying to escape the guardians, falls to his death while
jumping between rooftops. Unsure of their next move, the Reza proposes to Marjane in 1991, and Marjane isn't sure how
students do what they think best: they throw a massive party to react. For 21 years her parents have taught her to be strong
the following night. Marjane "never drank so much in [her] life." and independent, and she doesn't want to cede that freedom
to a husband. On the other hand it's extremely difficult—and
dangerous—to maintain a secret romance in Iran. Marjane and
Analysis Reza aren't ready to legally join themselves together, but they
really don't have any other choice unless they want to break
Like their parents before them, Marjane and her friends find up. Taji is out of town, so Marjane seeks her father's advice.
themselves hiding their true natures from the prying eyes of He says she'll know if she can be happy with Reza if they live
the Islamic regime. The way they present themselves in public together, which can only happen if they marry. Marjane
is nothing like they are in private, a point that is driven home decides to say yes.
by the two half-page illustrations of Marjane and her friends. In
the top frame, where they are all wearing hijabs and chadors, At a celebratory dinner, Ebi tells the newly betrothed couple he
they all look remarkably alike. Satrapi shows their entire will approve their marriage if they agree to three things: Reza
bodies, keeping their faces purposefully small to emphasize must grant Marjane the "right to divorce" during the signing of
their uniformity. The bottom frame, which is drawn as if they their marriage certificate, they must leave the country after
were posing for a photograph, allows readers a closer look at finishing their degrees, and they should separate if they
each woman. From their hairstyles to their clothing and become unhappy together. "Life is too short to be lived badly,"
makeup, none of them look the same. While it's great they he says. Ebi seems upbeat about the marriage, but Marjane's
have safe places in which they can unwind with one another, mother doesn't. She tells Marjane to think about it some more
the mental stress that comes with managing two different until she returns home in three weeks. During a private
personalities makes the women feel "schizophrenic." They conversation Ebi somehow changes Taji's mind, and she
know who they're supposed to be, and they're pretty sure returns home brimming with wedding plans.
about who they want to be, but their real selves are lost
Marjane finds her mother crying in the bathroom during the
elaborate wedding reception. Taji is worried Marjane is
ruining

her future, but Marjane assures her she knows what she's She doesn't have that luxury now because Reza is her home.
doing. That confidence fades when she and Reza return to They go from spending a few hours here and there together to
their new apartment, which now feels like a prison. Marjane living in the same space. That's difficult for any couple, but
suddenly realizes she has made a huge mistake. She and especially for one who hasn't shared an abundance of private
Reza fight constantly, and by the end of the first month they're time. They have to get to know each other all over again, and
sleeping in different beds and associating with different groups they don't like what they see.
of friends. Soon they are insulting one another daily.
Analysis The Satellite

The new Islamic regime rolled back much of the civil rights
progress achieved by the country's previous leaders. Many of Summary
those civil rights pertained to women, who—by 1979—had
achieved significant advancements in gender equality. Women Iraq invades Kuwait in 1991. Most people in Iran don't care
could vote, work outside the home, and obtain divorces much—they are no longer the targets of Saddam Hussein's
through the court system just like men could. That changed bombs and there's food in the grocery stores, so they convince
when the fundamentalists came to power. Women no longer themselves they're happy. The Islamic Republic has complete
had the right to instigate a divorce, and if a woman and man control of the country. Many protesters who haven't fled have
did separate, the man and his family would take custody of any been killed, and most Iranians try to convince themselves
children. By the time Marjane returned to Iran, however, laws everything is fine. Things start to change when satellite TV
had begun to shift back toward equality. A 1985 law made a enters the country. Now people can watch programming from
woman's request for a divorce valid as long as her husband all over the world, and the guardians of the Revolution can't do
signed a document prior to the marriage allowing her this right. very much to control it.
That's the document Ebi is talking about when he presents his
Prior to the arrival of the satellite dish, Marjane and her parents
conditions for Marjane and Reza's marriage.
discussed current events. Now Marjane spends 12 hours a day
Ebi brings up the subject of divorce because he knows on their couch watching whatever is on TV. Her father
Marjane and Reza's relationship won't last. He also knows his confronts her about it, asking if she's depressed about her
headstrong daughter is more likely to rebel against any marriage. She is, but she doesn't want to admit it. Everyone
advice than listen—this is something she needs to figure out she knows is getting married, and she dislikes her own
for herself. Ebi's conditions for his daughter's marriage also marriage so much she can't figure out why anyone else would
ensure Marjane will leave Iran after graduation from college. want to put themselves through it. She apologizes to her father
Ebi and Taji's greatest hope for their daughter—other than her the next day. He gives her three books about world affairs.
happiness—is that she moves far away from the strict That opens a new sphere of interest, which comes along with
regulations of Iranian life. "If she spends her whole life in Iran, new contacts. Marjane begins attending monthly meetings of
she'll wither," Ebi says. His little speech does double duty—it local intellectuals hosted by Dr. M. As she participates in these
ensures Reza knows Marjane will not suddenly change into a stimulating activities, she starts seeing a change in herself.
dutiful, submissive wife after marriage, and it assures Marjane "Once again, I arrive at my usual conclusion: one must
she can leave the union whenever she wants. That sense of educate oneself," she says.
freedom makes her more comfortable with the thought of
being married.
Analysis
Marjane's sense of freedom fades on the wedding night. Her
feelings of imprisonment aren't completely unusual. After all, The introduction of satellite television changes the way middle-
she's spent a good portion of her life doing what she wants and upper-class Iranians receive information and think about
when she wants without input from anyone else. If she was their government. Up to this point the government has been
tired of Reza, she could just go home to her parents' house. able to shape the information received by its citizens—only a

few sources, such as the BBC (British Broadcasting that brought Marjane and Reza back together is deemed
Corporation) where Ebi gets his news—provide unbiased news "unachievable."
coverage. The advent of satellite technology allows news and
entertainment to flow from every corner of the world, and Marjane knows the end of the project means the end of her
receiving nations can't do anything to change the content. For marriage to Reza. Farnaz, a childhood friend, cautions it might
example, it's much harder to lie about winning a war when just be easier to stay married. Divorced women in Iran are the
international news outlets air coverage of battles won and lost. subject of leers and jeers from men who think the loss of a
Satellite television also brings in scores of shows that violate woman's virginity means she'll sleep with anyone who asks.
Islamic media standards. In "Skiing," Marjane watches a Marjane then consults her grandmother, who has been
Japanese soap opera about a prostitute. Prostitution "[doesn't] divorced. She assures Marjane she had "always told [herself]
suit Islamic morals," so the TV station that airs the show has that [she] would be happier alone than with a shitmaker!!"
the voice-over artists change the script to make the prostitutes Grandmother advises Marjane to think it over and tell Reza
hairdressers. The Islamic Republic doesn't have that kind of when the time feels right.
control over satellite channels. Messages and lifestyles that
conflict with Islamic code are out there for everyone to see. Marjane takes a job as an illustrator at an economics
Satellites bring the world into Iran whether the government magazine. She likes her work, but it's also dangerous. The
likes it or not. government is targeting artists, including Marjane's coworkers,
and it takes action against individuals who demonstrate even
As Iranian citizens become more connected to the world, a bit of disrespect to Islam in their work. Her friend Behzad is
Marjane becomes more connected to Iran. The new stack of one of those arrested. Marjane thinks him heroic for standing
books her father gives her pulls her out of her torpor and away up to the regime. However, when she and the graphic
from the television—and gives her something besides her designer Gila visit Behzad at home, they soon see he is
failing marriage to think about. Intellectual stimulation has a patronizing toward his wife, which dismays them. She decides
good effect on Marjane—it gets her engaged in her it's time to leave Iran for good. When she gets home that
surroundings, helps her make new friends, and makes her night, Marjane tells Reza she wants a divorce.
seem more like a mature adult and less like a student. The
self- portrait at the end of the chapter captures this perfectly. A few days later Marjane tells her parents she's getting
Readers now see a new Marjane—a woman who is solemn, divorced and moving to France. They're delighted. "You
poised, and confident. weren't made to live here," her father says. She makes a brief
visit to France in June 1994 to take an entrance exam for the
School of Decorative Arts in Strasbourg and then returns home
The End to get a student visa. After two months doing the things she
loves with the people she loves, she finds herself at the airport
again. "This time, you're leaving for good. You are a free
woman," Taji says. Marjane returns just once before
Summary Grandmother's death in 1996. Her freedom, she writes, "had a
price."
It is June 1993, and Marjane and Reza are nearing the
completion of their art studies. Their situation changes
significantly when the head of the visual communications Analysis
department asks them to design a theme park based on
Persian mythology. "The subject was so extraordinary that we Marjane and Reza get along so well during their project
forgot our conflicts," Marjane writes. They work tirelessly for because they are functioning more as coworkers than marital
seven months and don't argue once. The head of their partners. Concentrating on their common goal overrides the
department is so delighted with the final product he arranges friction they had experienced in their daily married life. Marjane
for Marjane to present it to the mayor of Tehran, who says it's is a high achiever, and where school is concerned she does
a nice idea but "the government couldn't care less about everything in her power to achieve the best result possible.
mythology. What they want are religious symbols." The She's much lazier when it comes to her personal life. When
project relationships go awry, Marjane shuts down completely. That's

Persepolis Study Guide Quotes 51
how she ended up homeless in Austria and why she tried to new Islamic regime assumed power, veils suddenly became
kill herself after returning to Iran. Solving complex math mandatory for women outside the home. Marjane doesn't
problems and designing entire theme parks are easy for dislike the veil itself—it is meant to be a symbol of freedom and
Marjane, but relationships are hard. devotion in the Islamic faith. At age 10 Marjane is extremely
devout, so wearing the veil wouldn't necessarily be a problem.
The relationship between two other people is the tipping point
The thing that's problematic is she's being told what to wear.
for Marjane and her own marriage. Seeing the way Behzad
Marjane doesn't like to be told to do anything. That, more than
treats his wife confirms what she and her parents have always
the meaning behind the veil, is what gives her pause.
known: Iran is not the place for a strong, independent woman
such as herself. Behzad's wife had a career of her own before
marrying Behzad, and she was probably able to speak for
herself too. Now Behzad answers questions directed toward "In this country you must stay
any woman, whether she's his wife or not. His behavior is
within your own social class."
indicative of what Marjane feels to be the mindset of the
typical Iranian man—he is the focus of the household, and
— Ebi Satrapi, The Letter
everyone else supports him. Reza doesn't act like this, but
he's the exception to the rule. Even if Marjane did stay with
Reza, she would still encounter patronizing or misogynistic Marjane doesn't understand why the family's live-in maid,
men at work and in her social life. She doesn't want to live in a Mehri, can't marry the boy who lives next door. She was under
place where she isn't valued as much as her husband, nor the impression her father wanted to break down the barriers
where a woman becomes less of a person after getting between the classes. That's not really the case. Iran has a
married. It's time for her to go. firmly entrenched class system, and it is very difficult to move
up in social status. Instead of breaking down class barriers,
Marjane's departure from Iran is much easier this time around,
Ebi hopes for equal treatment between the classes. Just
but that doesn't mean it isn't painful. She understands she
because individuals are poor doesn't mean they should be
won't be coming back to Iran anytime soon, and if she does, it
punished or oppressed.
will most likely be only for a visit. She fulfills her parents'
dreams for her, but to do so she has to leave her family, the
heart and soul of her life, behind. Taking charge of her own life
means missing valuable time and crucial moments with her
"The battle was over for our
most beloved family members. Persepolis's bittersweet ending parents but not for us."
hints at Satrapi's lingering guilt for missing the last years of her
grandmother's life. Every choice comes with a price, and
— Marjane Satrapi, The Party
losing time with Grandmother is hers.
The end of the Iranian Revolution of 1979 brings relief to
g Quotes adults, such as Marjane's parents, who are eager to go back to

their quiet everyday lives. The children, however, have
become used to the excitement that accompanied the
revolution and aren't ready to give it up. Those whose parents
"I really didn't know what to think
had opposing views during the war still consider themselves
about the veil." enemies, which is why Marjane decides they should punish
Ramin for his father's alleged murder of a million people. The
— Marjane Satrapi, The Veil revolution is a game to the children but not to the adults.
Many devout Muslim women wore the veil prior to the Islamic
"Bad people are dangerous but
Revolution, but it was a choice, not a requirement. After the

forgiving them is too." since the 9th century. Iraq isn't invading to force Iranians to
become "more" Muslim—if anything, Iraqi president Saddam
Hussein fears an uprising of fundamentalists in his own
— Taji Satrapi, The Heroes
country. The strict Islamic rule Iranians are now facing comes
directly from its own fundamentalist government.
In the previous chapter, "The Party," Taji tells Marjane to
forgive those who have done bad things. After hearing
Mohsen's and Siamak's stories of torture, however, Taji
"Of course they mean
suddenly decides "all torturers should be massacred."
Marjane doesn't know what to think. Taji wants Marjane to something to me! But we are
understand that when people forgive too much, the
wrongdoers continue to do increasingly terrible things. At
still living!"
some point it has to stop. This escalation of wrongdoing will
cease only if the world's onlookers stop making excuses for — Taji Satrapi, The Key
those who inflict evil upon others.
Hundreds of Iranian men are dying each day in the Iran-Iraq
War, and Marjane worries her mother doesn't care about the
"You are the little girl I always ongoing loss of life. Taji insists that the deaths of the martyrs
do matter to her but that it is more important to take care of
wanted to have." those who are still living than to mourn the dead.
— Uncle Anoosh, The Sheep
"Always keep your dignity and

This is probably the greatest compliment Uncle Anoosh could
give Marjane. He has two daughters, but they are in Russia
be true to yourself."
with his ex-wife. He hasn't seen them in almost a decade—after
his divorce he returned to Iran, where he was held as a political — Grandmother, The Dowry
prisoner for nine years. Anoosh missed out on much of his
daughters' childhoods, but he gets a second chance with This is Marjane's grandmother's cardinal rule—be the person
Marjane. She is also everything he'd hope his daughters would you are, not the person you want to be. Grandmother tells
be—smart, inquisitive, and unwilling to accept everything she's Marjane this shortly before Marjane leaves for Austria, and
told at face value. She's also completely enamored with him, Marjane remembers it every time she engages in activities or
which makes her all the easier to love. behaviors that don't feel right. Her grandmother's words are a
constant reminder to be proud of her heritage and how she
was raised.
"The real Islamic invasion has
come from our own government."
"Better that you dance at the Lido
— Ebi Satrapi, The F-14s than in a hole in the wall."
Marjane and Ebi hurry home to Taji after the first Iraqi bombs — Taji Satrapi, The Horse
hit Iran. Marjane, who is 10, casts all Arabs as enemies who
have been trying to take over Iran for thousands of years. She Taji has always encouraged Marjane to be the best at
says the Arabs forced their religion on the Persians. Ebi knows everything she does. That's true even if she's doing something
better than that. Iran has been a predominantly Muslim country that would bring shame to any other family, such as becoming
a professional cabaret dancer. That's why she says dancing at

the Lido—a world-famous Paris nightclub and cabaret—

would

be preferable to dancing at a nondescript "hole in the wall." — Marjane Satrapi, The Convocation
Taji and Ebi will love Marjane no matter how she chooses to
spend her life as long as she is living it to the fullest.
Marjane isn't just rebellious—she's brave. She stands in front of
the student body and asks the questions everyone else is too
afraid to ask. She's not trying to be sarcastic here—she
"Each time that I asked my mother
genuinely wants to know why the width of her pant legs is the
to pray for me, my wish was business of the Islamic Republic. If there's a scripture-based
reason for the administration's rules, then she will abide by it. If
granted." it's just another way of controlling women, then she won't.
— Marjane Satrapi, The Croissant
"We nevertheless learned to draw

God comes to Marjane in a dream and tells her the topic of her
drapes."
French baccalaureate exam will be Montesquieu's "Slavery of
the Negroes." Marjane and God were really good friends until
the death of her Uncle Anoosh a few years before, and she — Marjane Satrapi, The Socks
hasn't talked to Him since. She needs to do well on the test, so
she asks her mother to talk to God about it. This is the first Persepolis is a serious and sometimes heartbreaking story, but
baby step toward Marjane accepting God and spirituality back there are also lighter moments punctuated by Satrapi's dry wit,
into her life. She's not ready to talk to God on her own—that such as this one. The female models at Marjane's art school
comes during preparations for her entrance exams for art must comply with the dress code of the chador, a billowy,
school—so she sends her mother as an intermediary. It's shapeless gown that covers the body from the neck down. The
important to note God was the one who came to Marjane, not model's shape is completely obscured, which makes it
the other way around. He has been watching over her the impossible to practice figure drawing. That's bad news for
whole time even if she didn't know it. burgeoning artists, but Satrapi makes light of it by joking it
helped her and her friends learn to draw drapes—the rippling
fabric of the chador. Quips such as this keep the mood of the
"I feel like I'm constantly wearing a book from veering into despair. As Marjane learns during her
visit with Kia, sometimes laughter is the only way to deal with
mask." tragedy.
— Marjane Satrapi, Skiing
"When we're afraid, we lose all

Marjane says this to one of the several therapists she visits
upon returning from Austria. She feels like she has to keep the
sense of analysis and reflection."
truth of what happened in Vienna a secret so as not to add
even more emotional burdens to her parents' already heavy — Marjane Satrapi, The Socks
loads, but withholding the truth feels false. Keeping her secrets
to herself makes her feel more isolated than ever. Marjane describes how the Islamic regime controls its citizens
by strictly regulating personal appearance. People spend so
much time worrying about their makeup, the length of their
"Is religion defending our physical pants, and the placement of their veils that they have no time
to question the actions of their government or their happiness
integrity or is it just opposed to
with their own lives. Fear prevents people from fighting back
fashion?" against their oppressors, which is exactly what the
fundamentalist government wants.

Persepolis Study Guide Symbols 52
"We're crushed not only by the encourage them to join the army. Meant to be worn around the
neck during battle, the keys supposedly open the gates to
government but by the weight of heaven for fallen soldiers. Heaven is a glorious place full of
our traditions!" riches, food, "houses made of gold," and virginal women. The
government's promises of martyrdom are just like the golden
keys themselves: cheap plastic trinkets in a cosmetic covering
— Ebi Satrapi, The End
of gold paint—they are beautiful, aspirational, and fake. The
keys make the boys feel special even though their purpose in
The traditions Ebi is talking about are the ones that apply a the war is to be another warm body on the field.
conservative stance to women's rights and personal
relationships. Marjane and Reza married because they felt
they had to—it was unheard of for unmarried men and women
to live together to see if they were ready for marriage. Ebi feels Red Socks
traditions such as these force people into making decisions
that aren't necessarily the best for their happiness. Marjane will
enjoy more freedom and be happier if she leaves Iran.
The clothing women wear in Iran during Marjane's 20s is very
specific. In addition to the hijab, they must also wear a chador,
which is a long, flowing gown that hides the shape of the body.
l Symbols Meant to protect a woman's modesty and prevent men

viewing the outlines of her body, the garment offers little
opportunity for expressing personal style. Women can wear
what they want at home, but deviations from the dress code in
Veil public can lead to arrest or physical punishment. That doesn't
mean everyone complies. Marjane and her classmates are
known to add a bit of flair to their outfits—jewelry, nail polish,
lipstick—as a little jab at the repressive regulations. One day
The hijab, which is a veil worn by Muslim women, plays a
Marjane wears red socks underneath her gown. Maybe she
large part in Marjane's adolescence and early adulthood.
did it on purpose, or maybe she just forgot she was wearing
Many devout Muslim women chose to wear the veil prior to the
them before she left the house. In any case, someone sees
Islamic Revolution of 1979 as a symbol of their religious belief.
them, and she is arrested for violating the dress code.
When the new Islamic regime came into power in 1980, the
Marjane's red socks symbolize the small, possibly
veil was suddenly mandatory for every woman venturing into
subconscious acts of rebellion Marjane and her friends
public. Marjane first wears a veil when she is 10. She and her
engage in under the Islamic regime.
friends aren't quite sure what to make of their new
accessories, but the more the wearing of the veil is enforced,
the more Marjane begins to resent it. It is a constant reminder
of the Islamic government's ever-tightening grip over her life Moon
and the lives of those she loves. It symbolizes the oppression
she feels in her homeland under the Islamic Republic.
Marjane and her art school friends party a lot to let off steam
from the pressures of schoolwork and the Islamic Republic.
Golden Key The parties are often raided by the guardians of the
Revolution. During one raid Marjane's friend Farzad falls to
his death from the top of an apartment building. Satrapi tells
this part of the story entirely in pictures. As Farzad and the
In "The Key," 14-year-old poverty-stricken schoolboys in Iran
other men at the party escape by jumping from one rooftop to
are given golden keys by the government as propaganda to
the next, the crescent moon hangs low in the sky behind the
tall
Persepolis Study Guide Themes 53
buildings. In one frame Farzad is seen reaching toward the in control of her own life. Even when she's young she fights to
moon as if he wants to grab hold of it. In the next frame he is make her own decisions, and by the time she's 12 she decides
falling to his death on the street below. This tragic story is a she's ready to be an adult. At 14 she is confident she doesn't
metaphor for life within the Islamic Republic. The moon need her parents anymore, and she moves to Austria sure that
represents the desire for personal freedom. Farzad, like many she will be able to take care of herself. It isn't until she's living
residents of the Islamic Republic, is so close to reaching it, in a boarding house that Marjane understands the downside of
but then he missteps and falls. Every time the progressives being fully autonomous. She can make her own decisions
think they're going to come out on top—as in the Iranian now, but she also has to cook and clean for herself and
Revolution or the mujahideens' attempted liberation of the navigate her way through a strange land full of unfamiliar
country—the fundamentalists get the upper hand. customs. She also learns being independent doesn't
necessarily mean one has total freedom. As a boarder in other
people's homes, Marjane must follow their rules and do what
m Themes
they say as long as she wants a place to live. She must abide
by the rules set by her school and by society in general. Even
after achieving her independence, Marjane remains a rebel—
ready to protest against rules or situations she finds unjust.
Rebellion and Independence

Culture Clash
Marjane has been a rebel ever since she was a little girl. At
age six she wants to be a prophet even though her declaration
angers or puzzles the adults around her. As she gets older she
"As a family we were very modern and avant-garde," Satrapi
rebels against her parents, who tell her she can't go to public
says at the beginning of Persepolis. Though they are proud
protests, and then against her teachers, who make her take
Iranians, the Satrapis embrace Western clothing, music,
part in repeated mourning ceremonies for the martyrs. She
books, and other aspects of popular culture, as well as
fights against the increasingly strict dress code, the ban on
Western philosophy. Throughout her life Marjane identifies as
Western culture, and pretty much everything the Islamic
Iranian and feels a deep connection with Iran because she was
Republic tells her to do. She pushes back to make a point
raised there, but she also finds herself drawn to the West.
about things she thinks aren't right, such as policing a person's
During her early teenage years she's stuck somewhere
beliefs or private activities.
between the two, wearing her hijab while sporting a jean jacket
Marjane comes from a long line of rebels on both sides of her and Nike shoes. This combination of cultures is easy for her,
family. Her Uncle Fereydoon was part of the group that as she is in charge of deciding which parts of Western culture
declared the Iranian province of Azerbaijan an independent she wants to adopt.
nation, and her Uncle Anoosh spoke out against the former
Things change when she moves to Vienna, Austria, at 14.
Iranian government. Her maternal grandfather was a former
Now Marjane is immersed in Western culture, and she wasn't
prince who dedicated his life to defending innocent people. Her
prepared for how different nearly everything would be once
grandmother and parents have all rebelled against the former
she left Iran. Her Iranian values, such as reserving sexual
and current regimes in their own ways—from reading illicit
contact until marriage, staying away from drugs, and
philosophy texts to protesting against the government in public
respecting one's parents, are all called into question. Adhering
to sharing their ideals with Marjane. They nurture her
to her former way of life makes her feel like an outcast;
rebellious spirit so she will ask questions and form her own
however, giving up her beliefs just to fit in makes her feel like a
opinions instead of blindly following the messages of the state.
traitor to her family and her country. She tries to find a balance
The rebellious characters in Persepolis seek freedom: between the two cultures but eventually ends up losing herself
freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom to live in drugs and boys.
one's life the way one chooses. Marjane rebels because she
Marjane is relieved to return to Iran with its familiar culture and
wants to be

Persepolis Study Guide Themes 54
friendly faces. But the West has changed her more than she Iran, instituted Sharia law, or rules outlined in the Islamic holy
realized. Living among other teenagers in Vienna shifted her text the Qur'ān. Sharia law applies to public and private
beliefs about premarital sex, a topic that is still taboo with behavior, and it can even be used to punish people for their
many Iranian teenagers, including her childhood friends. private beliefs. As a child Marjane was a devout Muslim. She
Marjane has inadvertently absorbed Western culture, which considered God her best friend, and she hoped to someday be
makes her return to Iran feel like a visit to a foreign country. the first female prophet. As she got older her beliefs changed.
She again has to learn to assimilate, and again she isn't fully They evolved partly because the new philosophies she
able to shift her views. At the end of the book she leaves Iran studied, such as dialectic materialism (Marxist philosophy that
for good in search of the freedom afforded to her in the West. argues that historical events are caused by social forces driven
This time she knows it's not about changing herself to fit in, but by material needs), conflicted with the very notion of religion. In
about finding the place and the people who are the right fit for addition her views about God did not match the strict and
her. repressive rules the Islamic regime enforced in His name. A
prime example of this is the death of Marjane's Uncle Anoosh.
Marjane is devastated when the Islamic Republic sanctions his
Family execution. God tries to comfort her, but she pushes Him away.
The men who killed her uncle purportedly did so to ensure
God's laws were upheld. She can't reconcile the God who
would approve of her uncle's killing with the God who wants to
Though Satrapi introduces various friends and acquaintances comfort her for it—and she gives up religion altogether.
throughout Persepolis, it is her parents, grandmother, and
It's six years before Marjane reconnects with religion. God
extended relatives who make the greatest impact on her life.
comes to her in a dream and tells her the subject of her French
These are the people she trusts and the individuals she
baccalaureate test. Marjane asks her mother to pray for her
misses the most when she leaves Iran. The family bond
success on the exam. "Each time I asked my mother to pray for
between Taji, Ebi, Grandmother, and Marjane is particularly
me, my wish was granted," Marjane says. It appears God has
strong. "In my culture, parents were sacred," Marjane writes
been watching her this whole time, waiting for the moment she
after watching Julie completely ignore her mother. Marjane
needed help. The more evidence she has of His protection—
has the utmost respect for her parents and perhaps even more
such as surviving a winter on the streets of Vienna—the more
for her grandmother, who holds her to a higher standard than
she is willing to welcome Him back into her life. She may have
anyone else. The shame Marjane feels after telling
given up on religion, but God never gave up on her.
Grandmother about her false accusation against an innocent
man is worse than anything she experienced before, including
Marjane has forgiven God by the time she is studying for her
being homeless in Austria. Ebi and Taji also challenge their
university theology exam, but she still doesn't associate herself
daughter as a means of helping her grow—Ebi gives her books
with the ruling regime's interpretation of Islam. She prays in her
to read so she can be better educated about the war and Iran's
own language, not Arabic, and she doesn't believe the veil
place in the world, while Taji pushes Marjane to focus on her
should be mandatory. "God is always with us, he is in us!
education instead of fooling around and having fun. Family is
Right?" she asks the mullah administering the exam. For
Marjane's support system in Persepolis, but it also pushes her
Marjane there is a clear distinction between religion, which she
to become a better person.
finds repressive, and faith in God, which she finds comforting
and uplifting. One can exist without the other, and in Marjane's
experience they do.
Religion
Religion is at the crux of the social and political changes in Iran

following the revolution of 1979. The Islamic fundamentalists
who filled the void left by the outgoing shah, or sovereign of

Persepolis Study Guide Suggested Reading 55
Public versus Private Selves e Suggested Reading

Basu, Lopamudra. "Crossing Cultures/Crossing Genres:
The Islamic Republic's strict laws about proper dress and The Re-Invention of the Graphic Memoir in Persepolis and
behavior cause sudden changes in Marjane's friends, family, Persepolis 2." Nebula, vol. 4, no. 3, Sept. 2007.
and neighbors. Women who once wore miniskirts now cloak
themselves in the chador (cloth that covers the head and Chute, Hillary. "The Texture of Retracing in Marjane Satrapi's
upper body leaving the face exposed), and children who never 'Persepolis.'" Women's Studies Quarterly, vol. 36, no. 1/2, 2008,
showed any religious inclination boast they pray several times pp. 92–110.
a day. For the most part these people haven't actually
Hattenstone, Simon. "Confessions of Miss Mischief." The
changed their personalities or beliefs—they're just trying to
Guardian, 28 Mar. 2008.
avoid punishment by obeying the laws. Behind closed doors
these same people throw parties, drink alcohol, and question O'Connor, Anne-Marie. "Unveiled, Unvarnished." Los Angeles
the regime's rules. Marjane soon recognizes the "contrast Times, 20 Nov. 2005.
between the official representation of my country and the real
life of the people," and it seems as if everyone is leading a Shaikh, Nermeen. "Marjane Satrapi: 'I Will Always Be Iranian.'"
secret life. Asia Society, n.d.
Devout public exteriors serve as masks for individuals' private
selves, and the difference between the two can be disorienting.
In "The Socks" Marjane says of herself and her classmates,
"Our behavior in public and our behavior in private were polar
opposites," which make them feel "schizophrenic." It's hard to
know oneself when bouncing between two completely
different personalities. Because of this, Marjane struggles with
figuring out who she is and who she wants to be.
In Marjane's experience it is incredibly difficult to discern the

nature of a person from the public persona alone. This is the
case when she reunites with her childhood friends after
returning from Austria. On the outside they look like "the
heroines of an American TV series," fully made-up with
fashionable hairstyles and clothing. Because of their
appearance Marjane assumes they hold the same values as
she does, so she gets a nasty surprise when one of them calls
her a whore after learning she's had more than one lover.
"Underneath their outward appearance of being modern
women, my friends were real traditionalists," she says. The
same thing happens with her art school friends when she
mentions she takes birth control pills. Marjane expects people
of her generation—especially those who rebel against the
Islamic regime through their clothes and makeup—share her
progressive views. Learning they don't share her beliefs makes
her realize that people's public facade doesn't necessarily
have the purpose of avoiding government persecution.
Sometimes its purpose is to project an appearance of
"coolness" and sophistication.
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Persepolis

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What's Inside ABOUT THE TITLE

d In name of the ancient city as the title for her autobiographical

l Symbols.............................................................................52 Persepolis is written in the past tense.

PERSPECTIVE AND NARRATOR

In Persepolis, author Marjane Satrapi says the people of

The revolution began in January 1978 when a newspaper

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As Satrapi notes in the chapter "The Cigarette," Iraq tried to

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would be best for her, at age 14, to finish her schooling in

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is rearrested and executed as a Russian spy.

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Other Major Character

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Full Character List Behzad is an illustrator at the

Enrique is Marjane's first boyfriend.

Marjane's grandmother is Farzad, one of Marjane's friends

Markus is Marjane's "first great

Reza is Marjane's husband. God is an all-mighty deity. He and

Anna is Marc's younger sister. The unnamed head of the Visual

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Houshang is Zozo's unemployed Marc is a graduate of the French-

Jean-Paul is a new student at Marjane's unnamed nervous aunt

Kaveh is Marjane's friend who The unnamed mayor of Tehran

Mehri Mehri is the Satrapis' live-in maid.

Lucia is Marjane's Austrian The unnamed Mother Superior is

Dr. M. is a pseudonym for the The unnamed mullah, or theological

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The unnamed patrolman follows The unnamed widow joins the

Peyman is Marjane's slightly Wolfy is the 19th man Julie has

Ramin is Marjane's childhood

Roxana—a friend of Marjane's in

Shahab is Marjane's older male

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owns. plastered on the sides of buildings depict their faces.

than the mullah who administered her theological test.

Marjane continues to rebel against the Islamic regime, this

Reza proposes to Marjane in 1991. They've been together for

The newlyweds quickly begin arguing about everything, and

Marjane's parents are delighted by the news of her divorce.

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9. Marjane walks in on her boyfriend with another woman.

1.New Islamic law forces Marjane to wear a veil at school.

2. The Satrapis' friends and family begin leaving Iran.

3. Family friend Mohsen is murdered for being a communist.

8. Marjane is kicked out of a Catholic boarding house.

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15. Marjane divorces Reza and moves to France.

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The Iranian Revolution begins.

Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the leader of Iran, is

Marjane's Uncle Anoosh is arrested and executed on