Reader Responce, Persepolis

The graphic novel begins with a brief explanation of the events surrounding the Islamic revolution. Marjane is a 6 year old girl caught in the heart of the revolution. The first chapter is called The Veil because In 1980 a new law passed stating that veils were required at all times in school. Marjane hates this new law.

    Every night she has conversations with God. From this young age she decided she wanted to be a prophet. She feels the suffrage of the poor and the pain in weak and the elderly. When she tells this to her teacher, her teacher become concerned and called her parents in for a talk. Her parents are active demonstrators against the Shah, and Marjane wants nothing more than to join them and their protest.

    Marjane's Parents of course, would never let her go because the protests were so dangerous. Shah soldiers would shoot into the crowds, and they would retaliate by throwing stones. This part of the story (explained by a few panels of simple, black and white pictures) was the part that took me back the most. Marjane wanted only to join her parents in protest, even though they were returning every night battered and bruised from the days demonstration. Its hard to imagine what this would feel like if you were just a young girl to witness your country in such a struggle and your parents working so hard with all the other citizens. I'm sure it would be confusing and extremely hard to understand.

The second chapter tells us about the Rex Cinema Massacre. The Shah was trying to gain support against a group of religious terrorists, however his plan backfired. From the story it seemed like the Rex Cinema was set on fire and police were told not to go in and rescue the victims. This seems like an obvious give away that the Shah had something to do with it (the people evidently thought this too). It reminded me of the 9/11 conspiracy theory. The one that stated that our government staged 9/11 in order to gain national support to move in and secure oil in the Middle East. While I personally don't believe this theory, its a strikingly similar comparison. 

In short I believe the first few chapters of Persepolis are filled with so much information about the Islamic Revolution and the events that coincide, its hard to actually take it all in the first time. The story is in the form of a graphic novel, but the pictures depict an entire, almost separate but parallel story in themselves. Reading though the words is one part, but to truly understand the entirety of the story requires a lot of slow reading along with much slower interpretation of the pictures. Not just the background, but the expressions, banners, signs, and emblems that are littered throughout persepolis.