Persepolis Review

How could someone go through such hard times and be so blunt about everything going on in the surrounding area? When reading this book and having it be a true story I was so confused as to how someone could survive this so strongly. Reading such a veritable book, it was scary to believe that this actually happened.

Persepolis taught me a lot about the horrible history of Iran through the eyes of a girl during the Islamic revolution. In Persepolis Marji talks about her struggles in Iran during the 1980’s however, she also talks about what happened in the past. She starts off talking about the beginning of the revolution when women just started wearing the veil. However, before that in the introduction, Marji talks about how Cyrus the Great established the Persian Empire in 6th century B.C. and how that was called Persia until Reza Shah came into power in 1935. Reza Shah changed the name to Iran and began to westernize it. During WWII Reza Shah declared Iran a neutral zone, which was then invaded by the alliea. Reza Shah was sent into exile, which then turned over Iran to his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Pahlavi was mainly known as the Shah. Marji then talks about how Mohammed Mossadeq nationalized the oil industry in 1951. That in turn cause Britain and the US ordered an embargo on the oil exports from Iran. The US and Britain decided that they didn’t like Mossadeq so they overthrew him and put the Shah back in power. The Shah was in power till 1979, a couple months after Black Friday, but then he left because he wanted to escape the Islamic revolution. That brings me back to when Marji started to talk about how the Islamic revolution affected her. Marji was secular in a way that she generally preferred being against to Islamic revolution. During the Islamic revolution there were many martyrs who were sacrificing themselves in demonstrations. Marji, ignorantly at the time, wanted to be a part of these demonstrations because her parents were a part of them. During the revolution there were many bombs that Marji experienced and many killings. Many proletariats, during this time, were taken advantage of because people of higher classes didn’t care as much for them. Another important part of the Islamic revolution was when the US embassy was attacked causing the border to close down, that caused no one to be able to get visas to move to the US.

During the Islamic revolution Marji, being a child still, goes through many difficulties understanding what’s going on where she lives. The first of many important experiences Marji comes across is when it begins to be required to wear the veil. This was important because it comes up a couple times in the book when she is being somewhat rebellious and shows some hair. That shapes her in a way because the veil eventually grew on her and made her feel like she was a part of something. “Down with the King,” said Marji when she was speaking her opinion on what was happening. I think that that quote shows that she was anti what was going on in her country and she was defiantly not afraid to show it even when she was ten. Another event that somewhat shaped her and her views was when she found out her grandpa was a prince. I think that since she knew he was a prince, then later on realized he was a communist she developed communist views such as the proletariats and the upper class should live in peace and there shouldn’t be any class distinctions. Marji states that she had three role models and I think that those are some of the reasons she is what she is in the end of the book. When many of her friends leave to the US I think she realizes that she doesn’t like the world that she is living in which made her a rebel. Since there were so many deaths during these years in school Marji and her classmates were required to mourn the death of these people. That made her realize that she should focus on living instead of being scared. The last main event that shapes her was when she was sent of to Vienna. That was a very sad time for her but she is where she is in present day because of that.

Marji, being the decadent person she is, in my assumption would probably be very independent and well off on her own. The whole book, despite the last couple pages, show that even though she is sad when she leaves her family she still perseveres on her own.

My version of the end of the story:

When Marji arrived in Vienna she saw her name on a card, held by her moms friend Zozo. She knew that she was the one who would be driving her to Austria…The best French school in the world. Those people were very self-centered. Before she took her there she asked if she could take her to a place where they sell Sachertorte, that’s what her father wanted her to try. So they stopped, and were on their way again. During the trip she was showing her some of the main sights to see there.

She was finally there and so excited, even though she secretly missed her family and girlfriends. When she had her suitcase and was walking a girl, about the same age, introduced herself.
“Hello, welcome. You must be Marjane? My name is Ellia and I am here to answer any questions you might have.” Ellia was a very pretty girl and very sweet too.

“Hi, I actually go by Marji. I really appreciate you doing this for me.” I said, a little bit confused by the fact that the city was so quiet. We started walking and talking and that was when I realized that I could get used to this.

That was the beginning of a journey I was very lucky to take. My parents never came to visit because it was thought to be dangerous but, they sent me letters and care packages and another jean jacket from one of their trips. Throughout the years, between 1984 and 1988, I was taking my time just passing through high school. I was really looking forward to studying at a university even though girls weren’t supported too. In 1988 I graduated from Austria’s French school and went to Oxford University in London. I had to take many English courses but I managed. Also, it seemed that many of the men thought weird of my veil and didn’t understand why I wore it. I got so much grief for it in all the four years I went there. When I was done with Oxford in 1993 I decided to take a year off before going to graduate school.

I went back to Iran to see my family and it was an amazing experience to see them again. They were so happy however, many of our neighbors and close friends had passed away from diseases and murder. All of my girlfriends had moved on but I still keep in touch with them to this day. After Iran I went to Australia, France, Ireland, and Italy. Those places were breath taking.

Visiting and traveling was nice but it was time to get back to reality. I then went back to London for four more years and got my graduate degree in foreign literature and graphic arts. By that time it was already 1998. In March of 1999 I met this amazing guy named Yano, we fell in love as soon as we met eyes and that was the beginning of a lifetime relationship. We got married in London on January 27th, 2000 and that was the happiest day of my life. However, a month later my mom was diagnosed with lung cancer from cigarettes and passed away shortly after. My dad, however, is very supportive of me and my husband and if all goes well he will be moving in with us in spring of 2001.

This book has to be one of most powerful short books I've ever read. It was so moving in the sense that this is about a ten year olds journey in a war zone. I cannot even relate to one thing in this book which made it hard for me to believe that this was a true story. However, I did feel a connection to her. I think that everyone should read this book because it will inflict the sadness upon people but create people who want peace.