The Famous Book “Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi

Novelist, Tom Robbins is known for saying, ̈Our similarities bring us to common ground. Our differences allow us to be fascinated by each other.¨ Similarities and differences are something common in human society. The book “Persepolis” is about the coming of age of a young girl during the Islamic Revolution. An Unforgettable childhood in a large and loving family in Tehran. A young life that is twisted together filled with the universe trails yet is full of the joy of growing up. Despite our similarities, the meaning of the veil is dignity and honor to some while it is being a disadvantage to others.

There are always two points of view to everything in life with the character Marji and me. I feel like we have many similarities and differences, one being our opinions and views of the veil. ¨We didn't really like to wear the veil, especially since we did not understand why we had to ̈. While on the other hand, I found out about the intentions of the veil and the purpose it served in my early teens ever since then I have always loved to wear the veil until it became a part of my dignity, honor, and self-respect towards my self. 

The influence of a parent is strong for every child. The differences between Marji and me are the influence of parents. “At one of the demonstrations, a german journalist took a photo of my mother, I was really proud of her. Her photo was published in all European newspapers¨(Persopolis page 5). While my mother always told me about the veil and advised me to wear it for honor for our family. Ever since my childhood days, I wore it to protect the honor of my family, until my connection with God got stronger over the years which now became such a meaningful thing to me.

Marji and I differ in the cultural value of women, for example, women in Iran during the revolution were treated as objects. “It was against the law to kill a virgin, so a guardian of revolution marries her and takes her virginity before executing her ̈. The punishment of rape and execution of Niloufar proves that women were seen as property something that had a set of laws and no freewill. Whereas society today women are no longer treated as property, they also have more rights, they are more independent and no longer in need of men to do anything. “After Niloufar was executed to make sure her awful fate was understood they sent 500 tuman. In my culture, we have marriage money called ̈mahr̈ which is money paid by the groom to the bride which the bride gets to decides how much money she wants.

Overall the veil is an honor and dignity to some while to others there is a disadvantage. The book “Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi is a coming of age of a young girl who grew up in tragedies of the Islamic Revolution. During her life in Tehran Marji had gained wisdom through hard experiences. Marji learned to experience the heartbreaking reality of worldwide problems. All in all, she gets through the hard times she learned to be independent to take of her self without her parents around and she becomes more patient, which led to her success.