Persepolis

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi is a graphic memoir and coming-of-age tale about Satrapi’s experiences growing up in Tehran, Iran, before and after the revolution in 1979. Originally published in France to critical acclaim in four volumes between 2000-2003, it was translated into English in two volumes in 2003 and 2004 and explores themes of Coming of Age During Revolution, Civil Unrest, and War, Family Resistance and Heroism, Joy in Wartimen, and Putting One’s Faith in Religion or Political Ideology. Named a New York Times Notable Book as well as a Time Magazine “Best Comix of the Year,” the book was a San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times bestseller. Characterized by Satrapi’s distinct black-and-white visual style and whimsical, rounded drawings depicting the violent events before and after the revolution, Persepolis and Persepolis 2 were also made into a critically acclaimed animated movie in 2007. The book’s title refers to the ancient Persian city of Persepolis.

Content Warning: The source material and study guide contain discussion of sexual assault, political repression, torture, and wartime violence, including civilian death.

Plot Summary

Satrapi begins her story with an introduction that details Iran’s historical context and the events leading up to the revolution. Iran as a nation and cultural entity persists despite centuries of outside influence and invasion. This sets up Satrapi’s book as a means to help preserve Iranian culture as she knows it in the face of the oppressive fundamentalist regime.

The story opens in Tehran in 1980, a year after the revolution, as Satrapi and her female peers are forced to wear veils. Though it has since reopened, her coed bilingual school initially closed because it was seen as a symbol of capitalism. She and her family are disoriented by the rapid changes and rise in Islamic extremism in Iran and are struggling to adjust.

Satrapi reveals she believed herself to be a prophet at the age of six, but she no longer believed this once the revolution began. She becomes fascinated by socialist revolutionary icons like Che Guevara and Karl Marx and wishes to join her parents, who go to daily demonstrations. When Satrapi overhears that 400 civilians were killed in a movie theater, she pleads with her parents to let her join the protests, but they tell her it is too dangerous.

Satrapi’s parents are educated and progressive, and they tell her that her grandfather was once an Iranian prince. The shah appointed her grandfather as prime minister but eventually imprisoned and tortured him. When she hears that her grandfather was held in a “water cell” for hours a day, she soaks in the bathtub for as long as she can to better understand his plight. These family stories fascinate Satrapi, and she becomes obsessed with asking questions about the heroes of her family.

Desperately wishing to better understand what is going on in her country and why her parents are demonstrating, Satrapi immerses herself in books. Despite the difference in social class, Satrapi befriends her maid, Mehri, and helps her write love letters to the boy next door in exchange for a day at the protests. When they return later that evening, they learn that these protests ended in a massacre.

As violence and tensions escalate, more and more massacres occur, yet political prisoners are also freed. Satrapi meets her parents’ friends who had been imprisoned and tortured, as well as her uncle Anoosh, all of whom share stories of resistance. Uncle Anoosh tells her about the time he spent in Moscow, where he earned his doctorate. Then he suddenly vanishes. Satrapi learns he has been imprisoned for espionage. She visits him in jail; he is executed shortly afterward, which breaks Satrapi’s heart.

The family takes a vacation in Europe, but right before they return home, the Iran-Iraq War breaks out. The fundamentalist regime cracks down on “Western” ideas, closing schools and universities as well as forcing women to wear the veil. Satrapi and her family grow more anxious, which is exacerbated when her mother is assaulted. A family friend’s house is destroyed in a bombing, and while they stay with Satrapi and her parents, they hear other Iranians gossiping about “refugees.” Satrapi’s mother despairs that Iranians are fighting against and looking down upon their fellow citizens.

Although she is instructed not to draw attention to herself and to keep her head down, Satrapi and everyone around her still find moments of fun and joy, playing illegal music and making and drinking illicit alcohol. However, as the war continues, Satrapi grows more and more disillusioned and rebellious. Her uncle Taher, whose health is declining, is unable to receive adequate medical treatment in Iran; Satrapi’s father attempts to get him an illegal passport, but the man who will forge the passport for them is raided and Taher dies.

A year after Taher’s death, Iran reopens its borders. Satrapi’s parents travel abroad and bring her back illegal Western clothes and music, which get her into trouble with the law and result in a close call with the Guardians of the Revolution. Tehran becomes the target of Iraqi bombings, and Satrapi’s next-door neighbor’s house is destroyed, killing the girl who lived there who was close in age to Satrapi.

Terrified of what will happen to their daughter, Satrapi’s parents send her to a French school in Austria to keep her safe. They tell her they will soon join her abroad, but she knows they are lying to her. When they drop her off at the airport, she turns around one last time to say goodbye, only to find her mother has collapsed from heartbreak.