Complete Persepolis notes for IB English Language and Literature (Paper 2). Notes have been compiled from various literature journals as well as class notes. Includes themes, character analysis, various literary & stylistic devices used, all of which has been explained in detail with the relevant e...
Table of Contents
Setting/Author’s life:...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................3
Context/Purpose:....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................3
Important events/Messages:..................................................................................................................................................................................................................4
Characterisation:.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................5
Relationships:..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................8
Themes:..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................9
Techniques:...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................18
,Setting, context, author’s life, narrative, characterisation, themes, nature of text, plot, technique, relationships, motif, literary/stylistic devices,
relationships between a text’s audience, author, purpose, style and form
Synopsis:
- Memoir of growing up in Iran during 1979 Islamic Revolution
o From the age of 6, living in Tehran with her parents; Age 14, when she fled to Vienna to continue her education
o Tries to live in a world that is falling apart, realising the unfairness in society
o Raised in a free & open-minded household
- Illuminates similarities and differences between Western and Islamic worlds
o Similarities:
Kids grow up and rebel against their parents/society in an attempt to shape their own identities
Western, materialistic & relatively free life
o Difference: rebellious behaviour that is taken for granted in the US may lead to jail time (or worse) in Iran
- Highlights how the realities of daily living failed to square with the rhetoric of both regimes
o Shows the lives of citizens of Iran during the IR
o Consolidation of power of Islamic Clerics
- Gives voice to those who were pushed back against the hypocrisies of a religious regime that brutalised its citizens as horrifically as the secular government it
replaced (the Shah regime)
- Offers insight into the difficulties that adolescents faced during the Shah regime
- Provides perspective about the suffering and injustices that coexist with the IR
- About understanding, fear and loss
- Coming-of-age story – psychological & moral growth of protagonist from youth to adult hood
- “Through the use of juxtaposition with strong visual imagery, Satrapi illustrates the understanding of how M develops into a strong individual”
- Persepolis 1: told from viewpoint of young girl taking in/trying to make sense of the difficult world around her
- Persepolis 2: young adulthood & how she tries to make sense of herself
- Shift of the revolution from the perceived original ideas of freedom and republicanism to Islamic fundamentalism
In 1970s Iran, Marjane 'Marji' Satrapi watches events through her young eyes and her idealistic family of a long dream being fulfilled of the hated Shah's defeat in
the Iranian Revolution of 1979. However, as Marji grows up, she witnesses first-hand how the new Iran, now ruled by Islamic fundamentalists, has become a
repressive tyranny on its own. With Marji dangerously refusing to remain silent at this injustice, her parents send her abroad to Vienna to study for a better life.
However, this change proves an equally difficult trial with the young woman finding herself in a different culture loaded with abrasive characters and profound
disappointments that deeply trouble her. Even when she returns home, Marji finds that both she and homeland have changed too much and the young woman and
her loving family must decide where she truly belongs.
,Setting/Author’s life:
- 1970-1984 Iran
- Satrapi’s maternal grandfather was the son of the deposed Qajar emperor
- Marji and her mother were progressive Muslims; felt the need for gender justice
- Rebelled against societal restrictions without rebelling against the veil itself
o Treated the veil as something that she had to live with
o Rebelled against certain restrictions of the Iranian society
- Attended French, co-ed school in 1979
-
Context/Purpose:
Context Elaboration
1. Historical/political context - Islamic Revolution in 1979
o Islamic leaders focused on the people’s discontent with the Shah’s government/socioeconomic changes, calling for overthrow
of the Shah
o Widespread uprisings in 1978-1979 resulted in the collapse of Shah’s government
Messages by the then exiled Ayatollah Khomeini was distributed and spread throughout the country using smuggled and
duplicated music cassettes
After a landslide victory in a national referendum in which only 1 choice was offered (Islamic Republic: yes or no), Khomeini
declared an Islamic republic, became the supreme spiritual leader of Iran and imposed his ideals of the Islamic government
o Islamic Republic won the people over by using a populist ideology (tied to Islamic principles) which focused on their
discontentment
o IR was violent due to aggressive nature of Khomeini’s ruling
Had to follow rules as stated in the Quran
Large number of people started to oppose the stringent regulations and revolt against the new governing system
Most of their followers were Shia Muslims
- Changes after IR:
o Females were required to wear the veil while attending school
o M and F were separated from one other to stop the beginning of capitalism
o ‘Guardians’ hired to walk the streets and arrest women for their ‘inappropriate’ appearance (eg. wearing too much makeup,
showing too much hair, veil that is too short)
Those caught were lectured on their appearance and then released
- At the time of writing, Iran had extremely fragile relations with western powers given the fundamentalist stance of the regime
o In 2002, George W. Bush (President of the US) determined Iran to be part of an ‘axis of evil’
Seen as a catalyst for stigmatising Iran as a nation of ‘fundamentalism, fanaticism & terrorism’
Construction of fallacious images of Iran within Western minds – Iran had an overwhelming image within Western media of
being ‘women in chadors and guys with guns’
Satrapi felt that this obtrusive perception demonstrates a simplification and even a disregard of the complex and multi-
faced social & political situation within the country at the time
Aimed to enlighten the Western world to Iran’s true identity
Offers invaluable platform from which later generations can relate to their own ‘experiences and negotiate their
identities’
2. Cultural context Islam
(eg. movies, music, art, - Major beliefs of Islam & why some groups felt that the revolution was necessary
fashion) - Pre-revolution vs. post-revolution culture
Post-revolution:
- Females required to wear veil while attending school
, - Guardians hired to walk the streets and arrest women that wore too much makeup
3. Social context - Pre-revolution vs. post-revolution norms
(institutions: schools, - Socioeconomic changes benefitted some classes at the expense of others
religion, families, o Increasing gap between running elite and disaffected populace
government)
Purpose - Show that Iran is not a country of fundamentalists and terrorists
- Highlight the inaccuracies of characterisations of the country by the West
Important events/Messages:
Event/Message Elaboration/Additional
1. People who had not experienced the events that she had - Living and imagining are different – relating to someone else’s story will only be partial and reflect
will not be able to fully understand their implications one’s own experience more than the other person’s
regardless of how hard they try - People are unable to identify fully with a situation/each other
o Highlights visual aspects of atrocious events
2. A strict rule, imposed on children, -
3. When we read a literature text that is composed in a - We bring upon our own values, cultures and understandings while making sense of the text and
different context, we are reading it from a different hence, find certain things ridiculous as we are living in a different time
perspective and our reading and interpretation of it may
not be always aligned with people who always live there.
4. Divergence always finds a way to enter communities, - When there’s a will, there’s a way
despite how suppressed they may seem to be KIM WILDE:
- Eby’s coat is matte black – identical to the typical veil (a symbol of restriction) but yet beneath the
coat is a total contrast from its outer experience
o Acts as a way of concealing identity
o Similar to how they covered their windows to conceal themselves from the outside world
5. “To die a martyr is to inject blood into society’s veins” -
6. “In life you’ll meet a lot of jerks. If they hurt you, tell THE DOWRY
yourself that it’s because they’re stupid. That will help - Becomes her mantra when she goes overseas
keep you from reacting to their cruelty. Because there is - Grandma becomes a comfort of her life; acts as her guidance
nothing worse than bitterness and vengeance... Always o Also represents the past that she will be carrying with to a new land; bringing the Persian
keep your dignity and be true to yourself” heritage
Enables her to sustain in Austria
Miscellenous:
- Had to learn to accustom to both new surroundings and new roles
, Characterisation:
- Identities juxtaposes Western image of Iran
Character Characteristi Explanation Evidence/Analysis
c
Marji - Deep - aware of her own class THE VEIL:
connection advantages but defends - “I wanted to become a prophet because our maid did not eat with us”
to faith; full the working class while o Struggled to understand the privileges that she had
of innocence retaining upper class - Imagines herself being (the last) prophet, with a sun mane on her head and people bowing before
and hope privileges even though her
(before); her parents are Marxist o Sun on her head is a symbol of power, growth, health and passion
open- - imagined herself to be a o Light given off by the sun may also be a symbolism of bringing life and hope to the people
minded and symbol of love and
easily tolerance
influenced - advocated for the
by what abolishment of social
others say classes
- her curiosity throughout
childhood foreshadows
an increased interest in
politics as she grew
- Inability to understand
what justice was
- Free- - Thirst for individualism - Rebelled against school regulations as a child
spirited, - Does not respond well o Mocked ceremonial practices done in respect to the war
individualisti to the strict laws put o Wore jewellery to school
c, stubborn, forth by the regime o Refused to follow customs and rules that governed her school
fearless, - Searches for her Led her to eventually be expelled and kicked out
strong- personal identity and - Skipped classes, smoked and took part in risky activities as a teen
willed individuality; tests the o Although she was raised in a free & open-minded household, the government does not hold the
waters to see what she same values
can and cannot get - Parents were forced to make a decision between sending Marji away to secure her safety and taking
away with the risk of keeping her in their dangerous village
o Normal & safe THE DOWRY:
growing process in - Stands up for herself to a teacher in her new school despite being expelled in her previous
Western culture but o Acknowledges that she had to be braver
life-threatening & o Highlights her heightened understanding of the political situation as compared to her classmates
risky in Iran
o Lived a life of threats
and consequences
- Posed a threat to her
safety and education
o Death and injustice
in the
community/Iran –
haven for war and
hatred
- - Against violence; liberal THE CIGARETTE:
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