Persepolis

Citation: Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: A Story of a Childhood. Paris: Random House, 2003.

Ages: 13 and up

Genre: Graphic Novel, Multi-Cultural

Themes: War, Friendship, Religion, Islamic Culture, Protesting, Politics

Main Characters: Marjane Satrapi (Author), her mother and father.

Plot Summary:

Persepolis is a graphic novel written by Marjane Satrapi about her life as a young child in the country of Iran during the Iranian revolution. It gives a child's view of the world during this time, while all around her friends were going to jail for protesting, and her parents are trying to figure out where they fit into the world in which they live. Marjane is just trying to make sense of the situation, she does not quite understand what is happening. She must comfort the relatives and friends around her who are loosing their families while feeling the desire to do her part in the protests. As she grows older she starts to rebel against the strict rules around her. Finally her family decides to send her to Austria so that she will be safe.

Writing Style: Persepolis is written in graphic novel form. There is a lot of dialogue between characters and is narrated by Marjane herself.

Assessment of Quality and Utility:

Persepolis does a good job at explaining what it was like to grow up in Iran during the revolution. Marjane Satrapi takes the reader through her life and expresses the emotions one might go through if you were experiencing her life. The confusion and then realization that the world she knows is crumbling down around her.

Persepolis would be a good book to introduce students the Iranian Culture. Also to what it is like to experience revolution and war. It would make a good discussion starter for a Social Studies class discussion of war, and what it feels like live in a world that is unsettled by revolution and strife.