Words under the Words

The author's grandmother is very kindly. The author says that she finds her grandmother's hands when she wakes up from a long fever. Her grandmother gently touches her forehead. Her grandmother's hands can make her cool down and get into a good shape. She is a woman who enjoys her life. She loves cooking and baking. As the author says, her grandmother's days are made of bread. She is looking forward mail's coming, but she never gets upset when there is no mail. She loves her life and didn't complain about anything. She is experienced and knowledgeable. She says that nothing can surprise her, and she knows all most every thing. She believes in Allah. She thinks Allah is everywhere in their lives. She  talks about Allah all the time: when she goes to orchard and even when she is telling a folktale. She is a person who the author loves and a person who loves her family, her life and her God. 

Fig tree

It means that the author's father finally finds a fig tree in America which represents his homeland. He misses his country so much but he could go back because of the war. This fig tree he finds in America gives him relief. 

Questions

Why doesn't the author's father never plant a fig tree in their new house? 

Why does the author say "I wave the flag of stone and seed, table mat stitched in blue"?  

A New Impression of Iran

Recently, we read Persepolis for English class. It is a great comic book which was written by Marjane Satrapi and it was published in Paris, France. This book is basically telling all the stories from the author's childhood in Iran. The author uses all the pictures and images to show us her memories about Iran. It shows a totally different Iran to us and make us know more about what was happening at that time in Iran. 

As I mentioned before, this book is published in France instead of publishing in Iran. Marjane Satrapi leaves Iran and writes this book. Why she did not choose to publish it in Iran? She can not write out her memories and published it to let all the people know the real situation of her country when she is in Iran, or she will be in danger or killed by the government. However, she leaves Iran and wants to let all the people outside of Iran know the truth. Once she decides to publish it in France, she will never be able to get back to Iran. The people who she was writing to are us, people outside Iran. She wants us to see the real Iran. It is not like what the movie or social media tells us, fancy, wealthy and interesting culture. Iran actually has a disgraced history and a brutal government. People are suffering and struggling in Iran. The whole society goes into chaos and fears. The Iran isn't like the old Persian Empire which has advanced civilization any more. All kinds of demonstrations are led by people. Iran starts war with neighbouring country. The government is urging young boys to join the war. Many people die and sacrifice and they all become the government's tools. The government also opposes anything that is from the West. They think it is the symbol of decadence. All these images of Iran's darkness come from the author's childhood memory. The author's purpose is by show us all these stories that happened in her childhood to let us see Iran clearly and thoroughly and do not believe in what the social media tells you. Hear the real story about Iran which is in a Iranian girl's mind. 

I think Marjane Satrapi achieves her purpose. First, her book of telling the truth of Iran is published. It was printed and sold to the public. People outside of Iran are able to know her memories and true stories when she was in Iran. Second, she also makes the government of Iran be aware of what they are doing to their own people. She let them know that they can not just try to hide the truth and pretend they have done nothing horrible. The fact is the fact. They can not change it. All people will know Iranian people are suffering and the country is not in peace. They probably will take some actions to help the Iranian people to raze the current situation and rebuild a new ideal country. 

Persepolis: A New Explanation of God

     Do you believe in God? There are a lot of people in the world have faith in God. They believe God is the master of our whole world and they honor him. However, in Persepolis, written by Marjane Satrapi, the main character Marjane shows us the perspective of God in a little girl's mind. The book told stories from the author's childhood in Iran by using many pictures and drawings to express her thoughts. By acting like her conscience in Persepolis, God supports Marjane, comforts her, and makes her learn to judge the wrong and right things in her life. 

     God is a very kind and peaceful figure in the book. God is very tolerant. When Marjane shouted at him about her uncle Anoosh's death, God wasn't mad at Marjane. Marjane is actually struggling with herself. She is mad at that she cannot do anything to help Uncle Anoosh to get out of the prison. She is indeed upset but could do nothing. He always gives Marjane supports whenever she needs. For example, he supports Marjane's dream. The picture shows that God holds Marjane like holding a baby and says: "Yes you are celestial light, you are my choice, my last and my best choice." (Satrapi 8) In fact, Marjane definitely cannot talk to God like that. God is created by her own imagination. It is the voice from her inside world. The talking with God every night is actually the communication between the girl people see and the real person she is. She needs to be the person she doesn't truly want in the day, but she can be herself when she talks with God at night. God in her mind gives her strength to continue doing what she truly want. She will not be controlled or changed by anyone. God gives her a strong support to her dream and every decision she makes. 

     God comforts Marjane to make her feel better when Marjane is confused by things happened in her society. He gives her a shoulder which Marjane can rely on. He gives her a harbour where Marjane can feel safe and does not need to be nervous about anything that happens in her society or life. For instance, when she hears about people who are put into the jail are tortured and die from it, she starts imagining the scenes in her head and tries to play games about it. However, she is overwhelmed. She is scared and doesn't know what justice is when she cries to her mother. She said: "The only place I felt safe was in the arms of my friend." (Satrapi 53) God can give her relief. She doesn't need to pretend or worry about anything. When she is sacred, confused or even gets lost, she goes to find God. God will clear up all these unpleasant things. In God's arms, she totally relaxes herself from the environment around her and feels safe. 

     God is the person who Marjane turns to when she meets problems in her life. She is only a child. She gets confused easily by all kinds of phenomenon that appear in her life. Instead of asking anyone else, she asks God to find the answer that she can accept to eliminate her confusion. That is her voice from her inside world. The God inside her always can teach her to Judge whether the thing is right or wrong. When her teacher asks her what she wants to be when she grows up, she says she wants to be a prophet. Her teacher finds her parents to tell Marjane's abnormal dream, her parents say they do not worry about it. Although they seem support Marjane's dream, they still worry about Marjane's specialness. They ask Marjane what she wants to be in the future. Instead of saying that she wants to be a prophet, she says she wants to be a doctor. Her parents get relief. However, Marjane feels guilty toward God, because this is not what she truly wants. She wants her parents to not worry about her so she pretends she wants to be a prophet. She cheats herself. At night, God questions her about her dream, she finally confirms her dream and promises that she will let no one know about her dream. God makes her know clearly what she truly desires. 

      For Marjane, God is her friend, her family, her teacher, and a real her. Because he questions her and supports her, Marjane is inspired to be always true and honest to herself. God is a very important figure in Persepolis who supports Marjane, makes her feel comfortable and helps her make the right decision by acting as her conscience. God will accompany Marjane throughout her whole life and reminds her real desires. 

Work Cited

Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: The Story of A Childhood. New York, NY: Pantheon Books, 2003. 

Persepolis: A Collection of Precious Memory

     Persepolis, written by Marjane Satrapi, is a comic book which I think it is suitable for people at whatever ages to read. This book is a memory collection of the author's childhood in Iran. It tells about all the author's stories from years ago. Persepolis uses pictures and some words to  exhibits the thoughts and inside world of a little girl. I really like this book, because of easy to read, warm and impressive scenes, and the true telling of Iranian history. 

     Persepolis is mainly talking about stories that happened on a fourteen-year-old Iranian girl whose name is Marjane. She is very special and more mature than any other children at her age. She has a lot of unique thoughts and can talk to God. She questions the teachers and the environment around her when she know the history of her family and the truth behind the government. She sees all the ugliness in the society. Because of her outspoken, her parents think it is very dangerous for Marjane living in Iran. So they decide to send Marjane abroad to Austria, even though they don't want to. 

     This book isn't like any other books which has a lot of words and long sentences. It is easy for us to read. Although it may have some hard words, this book is consisted by drawings which can provide a better background and explain the situation in Iran at that time better than just the words. Such pictures in the book require more thinking of our own. For example, when Marjane heard about Ahmadi was cut into piece, she thought it as a doll was cut into pieces. In the picture, the man was very fake, and it was empty inside of his body. As we all knew, if a person was cut, there should be blood around. But there was no blood around the man in the picture. Marjane was only a little girl, in her world, there were no pictures of horrifying things like a bloody died body. The picture of the man was the worst condition she could imagine. 

     There are a lot of warm and impressive scenes in the book. Sometimes, I feel it was funny but the author seems to tell us more befind the humor. I was really attracted by those plots, especially when Marjane spent her time with her uncle Anoosh for the last time. Before her uncle Anoosh is executed, he has a chance to see a person he wants. Instead of anyone else, he chooses Marjane. He hugs Marjane and says very warm things to her. I was moved when he gives Marjane the swan which is made of bread. He uses the only thing he can can in the prison to make a swan in order for Marjane to remember him. 

     This book I also a good history recorder. By telling all the stories from Marjane's childhood, the book shows a real Iran to our readers. It enhances my knowledge toward Iran's history. I also get to know what people's lives like when they are in Iran. No one has freedom. People are suffering, struggling with the government and fearing. They couldn't see their future. This book was published in France. It tells the truth of Iran, which means that the author will never be able to go back to Iran once this book is published. This also confirm its reliability. 

     Although this book is a very good, it is all in black and white. It has no colorful pictures. I think it's very hard for readers to distinguish the characters. Especially when the women in the book all wear veils, I can't tell who is who. I get really confused and feel difficult to understand some phenomenons. 

      All in all, Persepolis is an excellent book which is suitable for people at all ages. Although it doesn't have colorful pictures, we still are able to understand the main ideas. In this case, because of its interesting story and impressive plots, I highly recommend it. 

http://youtu.be/W_zUTQEnJPo

Thesis

I really like this book, because of easy to read, warm and impressive scenes, and the true telling of Iranian history.