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4.5

I wanted to be Justice, Love and the Wrath of God all in one.

An incredibly funny, insightful and moving story told through the form of a graphic novel. This book serves as a memoir of the author, Marjane Satrapi. It is about a brave, young woman in 1980's Iran.

This book highlights the struggles that the Iranian people have had to go through. The changes in their culture, the forming of an Islamic Revolution and its aftermath; Persepolis is the story of Satrapi's childhood. It documents the rise in the Islamic Revolution and those that dissented from these views, the punishments they received. Through Marji's mind and eyes we see the rise of the Islamic Revolution and how this effects both the public and private life of her family. We get to see her rebel in her own ways- fighting for freedom and modernisation, her day-dreaming, her everyday life and struggles, through family turbulence's and her own identity through religion and it's governed customs. Through this book we are taught the histories of both her parents and Grandmothers views of previous era's and how this has changed or impacted from the current one. Marjane Satrapi also paints a vivid picture of what it is like to be a woman in Iran during this time of political and cultural shift.

And so to protect the women from all the potential rapists, they decreed that wearing the veil was obligatory.

At the committee, they didn't have to inform my parents. They could detain me for hours, or for days. I could be whipped.

Marjane Satrapi describes very intimate and frightening accounts of those who do not fit in with the ideals or those who go against it. This often ends up in horror and terror with tragic ends. She also describes how through this political transition, mindsets are influenced and swayed to meet with those in power. For example, universities are closed and schools are taught that the Islamic Revolution is the right way.

To die a martyr is to inject blood into the names of society.

Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return documents Satrapi's attendance to schools in Vienna, the rebelling, boys, modernisation and homelessness. It also focuses on her return to Iran. Here the aftermath of the Islamic Revolution is still occurring; with streets re-named after martyr's, exceptionally strict rules placed on women's clothing, the rules governing who she walks with down the street.

I felt as though I were walking through a cemetery.

This book offered a real sense of what it is like as a woman, and what is like for a family in the intense period of time of the Islamic Revolution. I must admit that I had very little knowledge of the history of Iran and it was exciting to develop this, despite the often haunting consequences this revolution had. The book invokes sympathy and empathy for Iranian people and those that suffer. The simplistic drawings in black and white made this story relatable and you could achieve a real perception and awareness of this political and global change. The drawings added to the complexity of the story, however, they were also often very funny too!

This was my first time reading a graphic novel and I was a bit weary of attempting this- but this is just such an amazing book I'll happily approach more in the future.