PERSEPOLIS

 by Marjane Satrapi

Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood.  New York: Random House, 2003. 153 pp.

Question:

Did the war have an impact on Marjane's life? And if so, which part of her life in Iran broke her the most?

I beleive that the war in Iran  took away the childhood of Marjane Satrapi just as it did for thousands of children in Iran at that time. In the book it first shows the overthrowing of the Shah, and it shows that everyone is happy, including Marjane's family. But the rest of the book isn't smooth sailing. After the Shah leaves, other problems keep on pouring in. Family members and friends are thrown and tortured in jail, Iraq invades Iran, and Marjane deals with the fact that she is growing up in a war-torn country.

Throughout the book, you can tell that Marjane is deeply affected from various events. She becomes upset when she learns that her father is not a hero since he was not in jail like his friends, but Marjane is pleased with the fact that her grandfather was the prince of Iran before the Shah, and that her uncle was in jail.

After she meets her uncle, she instantly falls in love with his stories. She learns that he was put in jail for nearly ten years, and lived in Russia and divorced a woman there. One day however, her uncle abrubtly ends his visit. She later learns that he was put in jail and executed.

After this incident she decides to no longer pursue the dreams she had as a child and basically shut herself into politics.

To conclude, the war had a huge impact on Marjane Satrapi's life and unfortunately hurt her at many different moments of her childhood.