Book Review: Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Do you know anything about Iranian/Islamic Revolution?

Iranian revolution is the phase that played a major role in making the history of the world. The main reason behind the revolution was the clash between two ideologies. One was the imposition of Westernisation while on the other hand one was to oppose the Westernisation theory and to promote the basic Islamic rules that people should follow.

Persepolis is a graphic novel which is also an autobiography of Marjane Satrapi. It is a story of a girl, Marji, experiencing the history of making. Marjane described how she was growing up, while she was living in Iran, during the islamic revolution.

It begins with all women being told to wear veils. Then Marji’s French school is changed to segregate the boys and girls. Marji doesn’t understand what’s going on around her. Violence is a daily event as protests fill the streets. She decides that she wants to be a prophet because she sees many problems in the world that she thinks she can fix. Meanwhile, Iraq begins bombing Tehran, when Marji was in her teenage. She started to become rebellious and uncontrollable by her parents. 

In a country at war, Marji’s parents were worried about her safety; so they decide to send Marji away from Iran to Austria. Marji arrives in Vienna. She realises that the European culture was totally different from hers and it puzzled her. The story then follows her life in Vienna, where she gets into a drug business and dates a boy named Markus. Markus cheats on her, and in hopelessness, Marji begins to live on the streets. After two months, she lands up in a hospital. Finally, she reconnects with her parents, who arrange for her to come home. 

Marjane satrapi has narrated her life during the horrifying episodes of Islamic revolution in the most uncomplicated way and the graphic format supported that well. A great move as it describes all harsh occurrences effortlessly, without giving much details, everything is covered. Read it to know the history and to experience a great graphic novel.

Rating: 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️