The life of any individual consists of a lot of significant stories and details which shape the personality because these stories provide the discussion of the real experiences or real scenarios which are possible to be used or followed by the other people. In her graphic novel Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi presents the autobiographical story, which is based on the combination of the other persons’ life experiences, which became influential for Marjane’s life.
Creating her own story, Marjane was affected by many different and rather vivid stories heard and observed during her life. It is possible to refer to the relatives’ experiences, to the family’s story, or stories of the most influential and respected people as they were discussed by Marjane. Furthermore, it is also necessary to refer to the historic events as the important background for forming the personal vision of the reality.
Thus, all the stories which were heard or discussed by Marjane affected her life and personal experience significantly because the young woman not only acted in relation to her considerations influenced by the conclusions made from stories but also assessed the life situations with references to these events and the other persons’ experience.
The story of Marjane’s life is presented in the book from her childhood, when the first visions of the world are formed, to the adulthood, when the previous experience is rethought from the point of more deep analysis, and this experience acquires the new meaning for the person’s development.
That is why, Satrapi not only tells the specific autobiographical story but also comments on the importance of different stories in the personal life as the significant and influential background of the personal growth. The book is the collection of a lot of stories, and each of them symbolizes the important stage in Marji’s development.
The author effectively uses a number of situations to create the complex picture with the help of their chronological presentation. Marji’s first desire to reject the social repression is observed when she does not understand the necessity to wear the veil and to be separated from the boys at school. Thus, Marji can examine the role of the religious fundamentalists in the society. It is the beginning of the girl’s personal story, which develops on the background of the Islamic Revolution.
The Islamic Revolution changes the life of all people in Iran and divides the population into the opposite categories. From this point, any person’s story is usually influenced by the definite historic events. The life of Marji will be full of such events when the Islamic Revolution and the Iran-Iraq War change the traditional way of living and make people be repressed because of their visions and political beliefs.
In her book, Satrapi provides the life story where the personal experience is closely connected with the historic events and political situations which acquire the personal features for Marji because her relatives and friends are actively involved in these events.
Marji’s opinion on the importance of politics and history in the people’s life is formed when she discovers the stories of her grandfather and uncle Anoosh, when she feels that nobody can be protected from the influence of the political oppressions. The story based on the national aspects becomes the part of her personal experience and her visions of the meaning of political repression are formed. It is important to note that there are no stories in the book which lack the political background.
It is possible to note that Marji’s visions of herself as the personality are shaped by the combination of the national and personal motives. The role of the national and religious identity along with the impact of the historic events on Marji’s life cannot be overestimated. It is rather difficult to state what makes Marji’s character so rebellious, the impact of the stories about her relatives and friends or the girl’s inner inclination to percept these stories as the examples of personal revolutions against the current orders.
There are too many people round Marji who have the prison experience because of their desire to be free in their actions and beliefs. Becoming older, Marji builds her life according to some principles studied from the stories experienced and heard.
These principles are the freedom and rebellion, and these concepts make the young woman go to Europe to avoid the possible results of being actively opposite to the current regime. The aspects of Marji’s life in Europe and her return back to Tehran, which are associated with the woman’s depression can be discussed as the result of the conscious attitude to the social and political situations in the country because this attitude is based on the personal experience and stories.
Satrapi’s Persepolis is the complex story of a person’s life which is significantly influenced by the political and national aspects. The country’s historical background, the personal religious background, and the story of the family matter in shaping the personality. Moreover, the person’s life depends on a variety of stories which were heard, observed or experienced during the life because these stories are the emotional and factual background of the personality.