The Scoop on Persepolis

Graphic novels provide a new source of literature and art that opens up many new doors for literary as well as artistic analysis. Although the author must use simpler and more direct text in order to fit the boundaries of each frame, students will find themselves less concerned with the actual words of the text and more interested in the message and themes of the novel.

The point of any piece of literature is the author's intent and message. It is important not to mistake the message for the messenger. Most parents do not view the graphic novel as "good literature" because they construe the illustrations as too juvenile or too entertaining. To these parents and critics, I recommend reading Persepolis, V for Vendetta, or any other graphic novel (not a comic book) to test their theories. Although the colorful frames of the graphic novel do add to the enjoyment of reading a novel, skeptics will find that the message in this kind of literature is no less powerful or profound than a typical novel. Moreover, who said that reading and analyzing literature should not be entertaining? We should encourage kids who want to expand their minds through reading, especially for those students who found reading tedious and dry beforehand.

With the added graphic quality, these novels teach students to pay attention to the words as well as the colors, forms, and expressions of the figures in order to fully grasp the meaning of the novel. For example, go to the 12 AP English folder in our FirstClass accounts, find the Persepolis folder, and click on the document titled "No Words." Can you tell what's going on in this scene? How do you know? What clues are you using to understand the author's wordless meaning here? How do you feel as you "read" these frames?

Therefore, the content and form of the images in a graphic novel are simply another method to understand and decipher the message of the novel. Just like any other piece of literature, a comic author and illustrator both strive to find quality and meaning in their joint story. They want to say something to us beyond just laughs.

Slate Magazine:

Her drawing deliberately avoids three-dimensionality and perspective; there are no gray areas in Persepolis 2, literally, and very few metaphorically. (Wolk)

I agree except that I see more nuances than Wolk does. Unlike V for Vendetta, this novel does not focus on a political agenda but on the place of the individual in such politically intense societies. Persepolis and Persepolis 2 seek to evoke a personal and emotional response unique to each reader in order to better relate to the experiences of young Marjane.

She takes it as a given that Iran's public culture is repressive, and that anything goes in Europe and America, but she doesn't spend much time considering how they got that way, or how the Iranian divide between "official representation" and "the real life of the people" came to be. Too often, Persepolis 2 is more interesting for the circumstances of its teller than for its actual telling. Its flatness serves Satrapi's intentions as a visual artist, but there's not much depth to its narrative, either. (Wolk)

I believe that the focus is not on the origin of Iran's political repression or on the double standards of the narrator's public and private lives. The story focuses on the Iranian government's repression on her and her family and how she finds her own identity through the struggle.

Women Living with War:

The version of girlhood that Satrapi develops in Persepolis involves slippages and overlaps between domestic order and political disorder, between private life and public policy, and between household work and national identity that manifest in a variety of complex ways. (Smith)

This novel takes a much more personal approach to political revolutions and movements. The violence of the Iranian government overflows into Satrapi's family life with all her relatives who participated in rallies, fulfilled government positions, or suffered due to the religious fundamentalism driving the political aims of the Iranian rulers. This confusion and disorder in her life leads Satrapi to question her own place in this world and her own identity.

I recommend Persepolis and Persepolis 2 for a class dealing with beliefs and identities. Marjane Satrapi's writing style does not have the strong literary merit of some other graphic novels because she uses very direct, blunt language in order to reflect the smart, witty mind of her protagonist. Although this graphic novel admittedly contains some curse words and drug use that is not appropriate for young elementary students, the underlying personal message would fit well in a Middle School or freshmen class environment. However, because her style is simple and plain, this book would fit best in a current events or world history course to understand the different perspectives that surround world issues or an opinions and beliefs class in which students can discuss how Satrapi defines her identity and forms her own code. Though I do not believe this novel deserves to be taught in an upper-level English class, the educational value of this novel in these themes greatly surpasses any qualms about the simplicity and graphic elements in this novel. Moreover, as shown in the "No Words" exercise above, Satrapi could not have written this novel without her simplified illustrations. Not only do the figures and expressions supplement the text in each frame, but the abstract, minimalized quality of her sketches expands the range for personal interpretation. Readers can still clearly distinguish characters by their appearance, but we can also identify our own images in one or more of the caricatures.

This novel should be available in the Upper and Middle School library, and English and History classes should encourage and expose their students to the presence and merit of all graphic novels, in general. I did not realize the excitement and potential of graphic novels until my senior year, and I hope that more parents, teachers, and students will recognize the value of this flourishing source of literature. If included in class curricula, students will enjoy school readings more with a greater variety in the types of literature read in our classes and available at school. At the very least, our library should supply the Middle and Upper School students with a "Graphic Novels" section so that they can easily access these novels, while younger children cannot mistakenly choose these colorful books containing mature content.