Persepolis 2

The book Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, discusses the regime and how it became more repressive in Iran. This book follows the life of a middle-class teenage girl in Iran having to live her teenage years as a youth in revolt. Persepolis portrays stories of a young woman being executed at the age of 18, of innocent brave men risking their lives for the one’s they hold dearest to them, and many more intriguing memories of the author. The final chapters of the book discuss the tragedies of living in Iran in such a crucial time. At any given moment one family could we wiped out, such as a Jewish family in the book, the Baba-Levys. Marji was racing home after shopping to discover her family was almost massacred by a missal, and instead it was her neighbor’s house. This book brings to light the radical differences between the country of Iran and the United States of America. Just because people from the United States of America have a different lifestyle does that make it a better place to live in? One reason America and Iran have a feud is because of this very question.

            I personally have never had to deal with these kinds of dangerous predicaments the author Marjane Satrapi is discussing in her book. I am blessed to live in a time and country where I can feel safe and don’t have to worry about coming home to my house being hit by a missile. In America, we have the freedom of speech, freedom to express oneself, and many more rights not available in many other countries. Living here, I take for granted my every day freedom’s that people have died to uphold and people would literally die to have. Having read Persepolis, it has opened my mind to the world around me and how it is has been made more apparent that not every one on this globe is equal. Why is it that I have the right to say and do what I want, but on the other-side of the globe someone could be murdered by the very government sought to protect them for doing the same action I did? One quote that really stuck with me was “To die a martyr is to inject blood into the veins of society” (115). Basically, this quote states that if one dies for their country, they are doing a great service for that country. If this is true, what did the young girl in this story, Niloufar, die for? Marji believed her to be a real martyr who died for nothing. Marji rejects this quote and for good reasoning. She believes she can make a positive difference through education and she will avenge her friend by standing up for what she believes in.