The Veil of Childhood: An Analysis of Raised Fists in Persepolis
Persepolis follows the story of author Marjane Satrapi's childhood in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. Throughout the novel there are twenty images in which a person or persons are raising their hands in a fist to indicate protest or defiance. The protests range from debate over women wearing or not wearing the veil to citizens wanting the Shah to step down. Acts of personal defiance include when Marji smokes her first cigarette or when her friends try to attack Ramin. The quantity and defiance of these protests show that Satrapi's childhood was very tumultuous because there were so many instances of unrest. It also shows how confusing it must be to grow up in a place with such conflicting views and uncertainity.
The second instance of fists being raised in the novel is the first panel on page 5. The panel is divided into two sides. On one side women wearing veils are raising their fist in demonstration for every woman to wear a veil. On the other side there are women without veils shouting "freedom!". The caption of the image says "Everywhere in the streets there were demonstrations for and against the veil." As we can see illustrated in the image there are two conflicting sides. The second panel of page 5 shows Marji's mother at one of the demonstrations wearing no veil; this shows that Marji's family are against the veil. The business of there being two conflicting sides to the veil continues to be illustrated on page 6. The first panel shows a young Marji divided in half. One half of her is veiled and the other half isn't. As a child Marji does not know what to think about the veil and is confused by it. The veil represents religion and traditionalism. Those against the veil represent freedom and modernity. Marji understands that her family is moderately religious but they also have very "modern and avant garde" values. From the issue of the veil alone we can start to understand how confusing it must be for Marji growing up in Iran.
Marji's parents are very active in demonstrations. Young Marji wants to come with her parents to one of their demonstrations but they refuse to take her with them because they are very dangerous. On the first panel of page 18 we see a group of people protesting and shouting "Down with the king!". Among these people are Marji's parents who as she tells us demonstrate every day. The conflict over the veil is a smaller piece of a larger issue. This demonstration takes place before the veil. The demonstrators believe that the Shah is not fulfilling his proper duties as king and no longer want a monarchy so they demonstrate for him to step down. Marji seeing her parents demonstrate and her being a child cause her to want to demonstrate too. Marji decides that she and Mehri will go to a demonstration. After Marji's parents leave to demonstrate, Marji and Mehri sneak out and attend a demonstration. In panel seven on page 38 Marji and Mehri are shown raising their fists at the demonstration. The demonstration was for the removal of the Shah. When Marji and Mehri return home Marji's parents are both very angry with them because they went to a demonstration. Marji and Mehri don't understand why because the parents always go out to demonstrate and feel they should too.
Marji's decision to attend the demonstration is also an act of personal defiance against her parents. There are other instances of personal defiance in the book as well. For example Marji skips a class to go out with her friends to Jordan Avenue. When Marji gets home that day her mother scolds her for skipping class and then trying to lie her way out of trouble. Marji has been rebelling against her parents and especially her mother for sometime. This behavior is similar to the state of conflict in Iran. As a way to consumate her defiance against her mother Marji smokes her first cigarette. In the last panel on page 117 we are shown Marji holding the cigarette with her fist in the air. Marji believes that by smoking she is showing her independence from her mother and stepping into adulthood. As a young child Marji and her friends would have their own demonstrations for fun. This is another example of children mimicking adults. One of these instances is when they put nails between their fingers, raise their fists, and look for a boy named Ramin who they want to beat up because his father was part of the secret police in the Shah's regime (p. 45). Before Marji and her friends can beat up Ramin, her mother intervenes and scolds her. Marji does not end up hurting Ramin. She tells him that he is not responsible for his father's actions. Although Marji does not end up defying her mother in the end, the original idea to beat up Ramin is an act of personal defiance. Marji knows that her parents attend demonstrations and disagree with supporters of the Shah. She then tries to replicate this behavior by having her own demonstrations. It also shows how confusing it must be for Marji as a child. She is told one thing like supporters of the Shah are bad, but then when she tries to do something about someone who is a supporter of the Shah she is reprimanded. This is the same case when Marji and Mehri sneak out and attend a demonstration. Marji knows that her parents are frequent demonstrators and she too wants to demonstrate because she is told it is a positive and important thing. Then when Marji attends a demonstration she is reprimanded again. The issue of the veil is also a confusing point for Marji. She does not know which side she is on because there are aspects from each side that she follows.
In Persepolis there are many cases of demonstrations and personal defiance. These situations are shown when a person or group has their fists in the air. The demonstrations range in issues. Two of the most prominent issues are the conflict over the veil and the Shah. Marji has several cases of personal defiance; she attends a protest despite her parents' warnings, smokes her first cigarette, and tries to beat up another boy. All of these cases of demonstrations and personal defiance illustrate how difficult, divisive, and confusing Marji's childhood was.
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The Veil of Childhood: An Analysis of "Persepolis"
Non-FictionThis is an english paper I wrote my sophomore year of highschool about Marjane Satrapi's first "Persepolis" book. In this essay, I write about images in the books about raised fists and their meanings.
