“The world is not divided between East and West. You are American, I am Iranian, we don’t know each other, but we talk and we understand each other perfectly. The difference between you and your government is much bigger than the difference between you and me. And the difference between me and my government is much bigger than the difference between me and you. And our governments are very much the same.” -Marjane Satrapi
Let’s talk about one of Iran’s most notable historical sites, the Achaemenid Persian empire’s ancient capital of Persepolis. Persepolis, meaning the Persian City, was one of the greatest cities of the ancient world; that is until it was sacked by Alexander the Great in 330 B.C. Now its ruins are a reminder of a kingdom that once dominated the known world.
Since Alexander, the country and its people have exchanged many hands and leaders, but amazingly, the Persian sense of culture and identity has persevered. It is with this vast cultural insight that author Marjane Satrapi had chosen the title for her graphic autobiography, Persepolis.
Persepolis is a graphic novel that captures Marjane Satrapi’s youth in a corrupt and ailing Iran, led by Mohammad Reza Shah, who was a puppet leader of the West.
The Shah’s leadership faced further scrutiny as he undertook an alarmingly autocratic and sultanic stance, which subsequently resulted in arbitrary arrests and torture by his secret police SAVAK. His rhetoric would eventually lead to revolution leaving the Shah as the last king of Iran.
Though Satrapi conveys her experiences in a simple black and white comic-style approach, there’s nothing black and white about the content of Persepolis. What’s unique about the graphic novel is how Satrapi conveys the ultimate disintegration of the Shah’s government by the Islamic Revolution through the perspective of her and her family’s personal experiences. It’s such events that help humanize Iranian society for an uninformed Western audience and Satrapi’s dilemmas from her youth, exposing the injustices they faced and the necessity for a change in its leadership.
Growing up in an upper-middle-class family, both Satrapi’s parents shared revolutionary values. Her father was a photographer who covered the protests taking place. Coverage of such demonstrations was illegal and very dangerous if caught. Her mother was a passionate woman who raised her with empowering female ideals which eventually helped to shape Satrapi’s strong voice. Also to note, Satrapi’s great-grandfather was once emperor of Persia before the father of the Shah overthrew him. Additionally, her grandfather was once a Persian prince but suffered both prison and torture for his Communist beliefs.
When Satrapi’s grandmother comes to stay with Satrapi’s family, she serves almost as a secondary mother to her. One evening Satrapi asks her grandmother about the times her grandfather was imprisoned for political crimes. However, instead of answering her, she dances around the subject, adding that the Shah was even “ten times worse” than the Father of the Shah. He was wasteful and bombastic and kept none of his promises, unlike the other historical kings of Iran. Then Satrapi’s grandmother describes how, during his rule, “all the country’s money went into ridiculous celebrations of the 2500 years of dynasty and other frivolities” but none of this benefited the people, who couldn’t care less. She claims that the Shah did this only “to impress heads of state.”
Satrapi’s grandmother then expresses her happiness “that there is finally a revolution.” From her grandmother’s perspective, we discover how public opinion of the Shah saw him wasting enormous amounts of money on propaganda while the people of Iran suffered from poverty and hunger. She highlights the great distance between the Shah and the common people, also indicating how rulers often try to control rather than serve those whom they rule.
For many Iranians, they weren’t necessarily seeking a religious government to overtake the secular, rather they sought any change as they regarded it better than their current circumstances under the Shah’s regime. To put it simply, any change would mitigate the injustices experienced through the Shah’s decadent lifestyle at the expense of Iranians.
Another significant person in Satrapi’s childhood is her Uncle Anoosh. His visit deepens her interest in politics when he tells her stories of being imprisoned as a communist revolutionary under the Shah. His vivid and impassioned stories lead her to value ideas of equality and resistance.
One day, during the revolution, Satrapi’s father is late getting home, and everyone begins to fear the worst. When he finally returns, he describes a story that all too well captures the sentiment of the Iranian plight. He tells how he had gone to the hospital where a group of people was “carrying the body of a young man killed by the army.” Satrapi’s father describes how the people honored the young man like a martyr. But when another dead body was carried out of the hospital, this time of an old man, the people crowded around called the old man a “hero,” just as they had called the first. Yet, when Satrapi’s father asks the old man’s widow about his death, it turns out he died of cancer — he wasn’t a martyr after all. Still, at the crowd’s insistence, the old widow actually joins in their demonstration honoring the dead old man and defiling the Shah. Together they shout: “The king is a killer!”
In her youth, Satrapi had access to various educational materials such as books and a radio which exposed her to Western cultural ideas at a very young age. By discovering the views of numerous philosophers, Satrapi reflects on her class privilege and is eager to learn about her family’s political background.
This curiosity inspires her to participate in popular demonstrations against the Shah’s regime in which people call for his exile as a way to safeguard their rights. Unfortunately, after the Shah’s departure, Satrapi notices the rise of religious extremism in her society.
This extremist awakening strikes her personally when Satrapi learns her Uncle Anoosh was executed by the new Islamic revolutionary authorities under false accusations. Satrapi and her family are faced with an all-new problem. Under the newly theocratic state, their freedoms are further dismantled as women are forced to wear the hijab, participate in Islamic customs, and subsequently become second-class citizens. In response to the West and its dealings with the Shah, the new government completely rejects the Western world, including their goods and culture. And anyone who refuses this new form of government or its ideals is swiftly purged.
By standing up to one unjust government, the Iranian’s and their revolution had paved the way for another. Under the Shah’s secular government, Satrapi grew up with Western ideals and interests, but after the Islamic Revolution, she is faced with new challenges. The people fought for a better way of life and to pull themselves out from under the boot of the West. But the true irony of the revolution transpired much differently, resulting in the complete authority of an Islamic elite. However, as noted above, the Persian culture has withstood time and conquest. Over the centuries, governments and religions had come and gone, and the Persian identity has endured them all.
On the subject of religion, Satrapi doesn’t mince words. In an interview with Believer Magazine, Satrapi said:
“Religion on the rise everywhere really scares me. Are we going to burn old ladies again? Ten or fifteen years ago if you said you didn’t believe in God, no one paid any attention. Now it’s a political statement somehow to be atheist or agnostic. When people ask me what is my religion, I say I don’t have any. And some people are shocked. They don’t understand. I say I don’t need it. I respect humanity. That’s my religion. I can’t stand these religions that are really businesses. So much money everywhere that’s going to buy a really nice house in heaven or what? I don’t get it.” -Marjane Satrapi
Persepolis has made a great impact on the world. Its success has led to its 2007 film adaptation of the same title, as well as a sequel following her time in Austria, return to Iran, two failed suicide attempts, and the decision to leave Tehran for Paris. Satrapi’s work presents the revolution from the point of view of an Iranian and paints an empathetic portrait for Western audiences.
It’s like Satrapi said, we understand each other and we’re more alike than we care to realize.
