The Story of M(arjane's)y Life

Do a character sketch of one of the characters in Persepolis. This should include the character's name, age (or ages as the book progresses), gender, appearance, personality, and importance to the plot of the book.

Marjane Satrapi, the main character of Persepolis, is the character I have chosen to sketch out.

At the beginning of the book, Marjane is 10 years old. At the very end of the book, she is 24. Marjane was born a female and remained a female throughout the course of the book. Marjane has dark hair and wears the illustrious veil for parts of the book, but while she is in Austria, she does not. On page 189, she develops a beauty mark on her nose. 

Marjane is a very brave young lady who isn't afraid to be herself when she is fighting for herself but is terrified to be herself when she's just a normal teenager. She's the most important character to the graphic novel, because she is the main character.  

I'm (Not) Coming Home

Why do you think Marjane chose to leave Iran again to go and live in France? Use specific examples from the book to support your claims. Would you have made the same decision? Why or why not?

I think Marjane chose to leave Iran again and go live in France because she knew she wasn't going to have what she wanted in Iran. She constantly fought the school boards for something as simple as a few strands of hair sticking out of her hijab. She had a husband whom she didn't truly love anymore. There was a war going on. All of these things fought against her hopes and dreams. 

An example of a reason why Marjane wanted to leave is the lack of women's rights in Iran. At one point in the book she said "If a guy kills ten woman in the presence of fifteen others, no one can condemn him because in a murder case, we woman, we can't even testify! He's also the one who has the right to divorce and even if he gives it to you, he nonetheless has custody of the children! I heard a religious man justify this law by saying that man was the grain and woman, the earth in which the grain grew, therefore the child naturally belonged to his father! Do you realize?? I can't take it anymore. I want to leave this country!" (337). 

I would have made the same decision too. I couldn't live in a country where my basic rights were revoked. Go, Marjane!

Deciding the Fate of Marjane

Why did Marjane's parents decide to send her to Europe. Do you think this was the right decision? Why or why not?

Marjane's parents decide to send her to Austria because "considering the person [she is] and the education [she's] received, [they] thought it would be better if [she] left Iran" (147). Marjane was very rebellious leading up to this, especially towards her teachers at school. She had even been expelled.

Marjane likes to stand up for what is right, and her parents respect that. But they just can't stand the fact of her not getting the French education they wanted, or the fact that she could get in a lot more trouble than just expulsion. 

I personally also think that the war had something to do with them sending her away. Iran just wasn't a safe place for people to live.

I think their decision to send Marjane away was a good and bad one at the same time. I think it was good that she would be able to be away from the war, live a normal teenage life, and have a better education. I think it was bad because she will rarely be able to see her parents, if ever again. 

We'll just have to see in the next section of the book how everything turns out and whether or not Marjane likes it in Austria.