Marji

Given the setting of the story, many would expect Persepolis to be a dark, depressing work. For the Satrapis, the revolution that they supported against the Shah was hijacked by Islamic fundamentalists. Furthermore, the Satrapi family’s political connections as well as the Iran-Iraq War lead young Marji to witness a great deal of death and violence. However, because the story is told from Marji’s point of view, this tale is rich, nuanced, and often charming.

Marji inherits the values of her parents, Ebi and Taji, and she constantly searches for her own truth. From the beginning of the story, Marji is characterized as a compassionate girl. She empathizes with her maid who is not allowed to eat with the family, and she seeks to write a Holy Book in which it will “simply be forbidden” for the elderly like her grandmother to suffer joint pains. With great enthusiasm, young Marji declares her intention to become a prophet, a revolutionary hero, a tragic scientist like Marie Curie, and so on.

Certainly, Marji approaches life with a youthful innocence, lending a humorous depth to the story. While in her revolutionary phase, Marji is disappointed that her father was never persecuted for his beliefs. Still, this does not prevent her from bragging to her friends that her father was tortured, claiming that “they cut off my dad’s leg, but still he didn’t confess!... So they cut off an arm as well.” Humorous anecdotes like these break up the tension of life after the revolution.

These personal anecdotes also reveal the humanity that is sometimes forgotten by history, a significant role Marji plays in the work. Whether directly or indirectly, Marji feels everything that happens after the Islamic Revolution. Her youthful optimism carries not only her dreams but also the sympathies of the reader. As Marji explores the various facets of her identity, her hopes seem all too fragile to survive in Iran. However, this fragility highlights the importance of religious, political, and educational freedom. Ultimately, each of these freedoms is denied to Marji after the Islamic Revolution, and it is no surprise that her parents choose to send her to Austria to finish her education.

More than anything, the complexity of Marji’s character is juxtaposed against the Islamic Revolution. While Marji’s values and attitudes become more complex, the culture of Iran is simplified under the fundamentalists. Because hair is stimulating, all women are required to wear headscarves. All men are required to wear long sleeves. Universities are closed because they represent the decadent and corrupting influence of the West. In short, for the fundamentalists, there can be no middle ground between fundamentalist religion and modern, secular values. Rather than creating a pluralistic culture, they seek to repress diversity.

Although she is only a child, Marji’s inner conflict is to synthesize the multitude of ideals and values to which she is exposed. Like her parents, she never despairs that a path awaits her—one that will allow her to be true to herself. Although as a child Marji struggles to reconcile her religion with the suffering inherent in the revolution, the adult Satrapi is doing just that with her narrative. Marji listens to Western music, yet she is clearly dedicated to her homeland.

Marji’s compassion, her innocent optimism, and her boundless enthusiasm are the guideposts of her childhood. Satrapi ties the complex struggle for identity that is inherent in any coming-of-age story with the struggle for Iran’s identity. Through Marji’s eyes, a nation in revolutionary turmoil is humanized for the reader in a way that historical analysis is incapable of achieving.

Ebi and Taji