Feminism Theme In “The Complete Persepolis” By Marjane Satrapi

Introduction

“The Complete Persepolis” is an autobiography written by Marjane Satrapi. The author describes her childhood and adult life in Iran at a time when the Islamic revolutions were very strong. The book was originally written in French and had two publication; one talking about Satrapi’s childhood and the other dwelling upon her adult life. The author portrays her time in high school in Vienna, Austria, presenting what she has encountered after going back to Iran for her campus life where she settled and got married. The book has been converted into various languages, which include Greek, English, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, and another couple of languages; over a million copies have been sold.

Thesis Statement

The author of the book shows the impact of the Islamist Revolutionists on the various cultures in the country. Despite her young age, Marjane Satrapi depicts the zeal to fight for revolution and feminism.

Plan of Development

When writing the book, the author sets out to prove that Iran is not the nation that the West describes. The Western nations have created an image of Iran as a nation of terrorists and fundamentalists. Consequently, Satrapi took it in her hands to prove that this notion is accurate. The author also talks about the transitions in the government in Iran. The change of power initially started from the Indo-European nomads, handed over to the Persian Empire, and finally, the power was seized by the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

Marjane Satrapi was born in Iran in 1969. Her parents were educated people and since she was an only child they brought her up in a way that inspired her free spirited nature. Her childhood life was surrounded by political turfs and the takeover of the Islamic revolutionist, Ayatollah Khomeini. This led to the Iran-Iraq war that resulted in some cultural restrictions: at the age of ten Satrapi had to wear a veil to school. When she was 14, her parents made a unanimous decision to send her to school in Austria where they had friends who would take care of her and she was then enrolled in a French school.

Her life in Austria is rather tough and disconnecting. She faces a lot of problems while living in Austria; she is constantly worried about her parents and struggles to fit in the school with her different culture. Moreover, she is angered by the growing misconceptions about her country that she learns from people. She is further accused by her landlady of stealing from her. She also has to cope with a breakup with her boyfriend. Finally, she realizes that she has no place to live and finds herself on the street where she lives for a while until one day she gets up in a hospital bed.

Angry and frustrated, she decides to go back home and on arrival, she is quite amazed by the changes in her nation; consequently, she suffers depression. However, she is a strong woman and within no time she copes up with the changes, enrolls in an art-college, and meets an adorable young man who she eventually gets married to. Nevertheless, she divorces him due to her independent spirit that she learned from her parents. Finally, she leaves again for college in France. In the book, there are a couple of themes that are portrayed, but this paper will focus on the theme of feminism.

The author portrays the theme of feminism looking at the Islamic culture and demeaning how it treats women in a low state. Marjane Satrapi hopes that she could help out and bring about revolution that would result in the women and the men being treated in the same way. Portraying her mother, the writer shows the picture of a feminist and a heroine. Her mother is her inspiration and she admires her duty in trying to fight the oppressive rule of their nation, Iran. Her mother encourages her to study hard in order to be educated more than she is and push forward feminist acts like her.

Her childhood is also seen to hold a lot of controversies. At an age of ten, Marji is forced to wear a veil to school. This is a result of the Cultural Revolution that has come about due to the Islamic Revolution taking over Iran. The rule was forced into all the school and despite the protests, the public had no way to oppose this. Initially, Marji was attending a French non-religious school which was abolished, and a rule imposed that boys and girls should not study in one institution. However, her mother protested and due to this, her picture surfaced in the newspapers in Europe.

The author believes in change as seeing herself in a future position where under the help of God will enforce social and cultural equity among all citizens. Satrapi talks about her vision to her classmates and teacher and they all burst in laughter. This does not make her lose hope and she holds on to her dream believing that it will come to be revealed one day. Marji and her friends often like to play games pretending to be revolutionary figures like Che Gueavara; and she has learned all this from the books her parents gave her. She overhears her parents one night talking about a fire that consumed 400 lives in a local theatre, and that the fire was ordered by those in power. Her parents talk about getting involved in a demonstration and she pleads to join them in the demonstration, an offer which they gladly decline due to her age.

The author depicts the need and strength to bring about revolution. Despite being very young, Satrapi believes she has a role to play. Her parents are Christians and are not very welcoming to the Islamic rules being imposed on every citizen without minding the cultural and religious differences in the population. This spirit is also seen in the author and if she had the capacity to bring change at her tender age, she would surely do that. The author believes in a nation being democratic and she even gets angered when she hears her schoolmates in Vienna talking negatively about her nation despite knowing the real situation there.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the author portrays the theme of feminism showing that in a Muslim culture, the Muslim and the non-Muslim women have to wear a veil. For men there are no rules that show that it is a chauvinistic culture. The author through her spirit presents that women can stand up and fight for revolution in a nation. She believes that women and men deserve the same rights, and therefore, women should stand for their rights.Consequently, the book is recommendable for anyone living in a culturally oppressed country to serve as an inspiration.