Ironies and Contradictions in Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis
In the graphic novel Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi experiences a series of events that leads to her questioning her identity. Marjane grows up in Iran during the Islamic revolution; she soon moves to Austria to be immersed in Western culture. Satrapi uses various forms of irony to show that Iran’s outward appearance does not reflect everyone within its society; similarly, Marjane’s journey indicates that individuals within Iran mirror the false appearance of the nation.
Marjane’s journey is parallel to that of the nation of Iran. In the beginning, Marjane dreams of being a prophet. However, her dream is never realized because of interferences such as moving to Austria, denial from society, and the Islamic revolution. Comparably, Iran intended to be a democratic society after overthrowing the Shah, but the fundamentalist party took control instead. Nature altered the intended life of both Iran and Marjane.
The veil is a symbol of the loss of individuality. It reduces every Iranian woman to the same standards. A splash shows all Iranian children wearing the veil and being forced to follow orders to beat their breasts at funeral marches (95). Their unity is a contrast with the splash on the previous page 42, where Iranians, with a different pattern of shirts, hairstyles, and facial features, celebrate the success of removing the Shah. Their loss of individuality causes Westerners to see them as the same person. Marjane’s life in Austria reveals the ignorance of the Westerners. The mother superior of the nuns says that “It’s true what they say about Iranians. They have no education” (177). The mother superior generalizes all Iranians to the same standard without learning about every individual Iranian. Satrapi reveals the hidden truth beneath the veils by contrasting Iranian women’s public and private lives in two panels (305). In the first panel, the women look identical, conservative, and modest. In contrast, the women dress overtly and have heavy makeup on in the second panel. They also have unique hairstyles that they could not have shown under the veil. Marjane describes that “our behavior in public and our behavior in private were polar opposites… this disparity made us schizophrenic” (305). Every Iranian seems to be in unity, but some are in fact secretly rebellious. Satrapi illustrates that we should not define the identity of something based on a single institution. There is always a side that we do not see.
In the same vein, Marjane tries to put on a cover to hide her identity. When Marjane returns to Iran, she brags about having sex with multiple men in order to appear more mature. Her friends conclude she is a decadent Western woman. They never take a deeper look into the true hardships that Marjane encountered. Marjane never explains to them about her pneumonia or being expelled. She finds her friends ironic and describes that “underneath their outward appearance of being modern women, my friends were real traditionalist” (270). As a result, Marjane never fits into either Iran or Western culture. In panel one, an image of Marjane being half modern and half traditional shows her uncertainty in her own identity (6). The background of the left side represents modern technology, and the background of the right side represents the religious spirits, both being a part of Marjane. Satrapi further contrasts these two cultures by having the white color as the foreground and the black color as the background on the left, while the right side has the white color as the background and the black color as the foreground. Marjane’s disparity within herself mirrors the disparity within Iranian society.
Verbal and situational irony were also seen throughout the novel. Marjane’s family members are communists who protest against social classes. However, Marjane’s father owns a Cadillac and chooses to keep a maid (Mehri). Marjane tells us that she feels ashamed of herself because of “the difference between social classes” (33). Marjane has noticed the irony in her family from a very young age. In addition, in the chapter “The Wine,” a fundamentalist demands to search Marjane’s home to look for alcohol. Marjane’s father later finds out that “their faith has nothing to do with ideology! A few bills were all he needed to forget the whole thing” (110). This shows that the fundamentalist cares more about money than religion, and he uses religion as an excuse to get money. The coloring of the panels supports this irony. During their drive home, the background is dark to carry the seriousness of the situation. Once they reach home and when Ebi reveals that they are not in danger anymore, the background becomes white. The light coloring serves to contrast the truth with the outward appearance of some fundamentalists.
At an individual level, Marjane admits that she puts on a false presentation of herself. Marjane lies to agree with everything Reza says. Marjane says, “I agree with everything you say” (318). When Reza tells her that he likes light eyes, Marjane bought blue contacts for herself. These actions tell readers that Marjane is trying to become the ideal wife for Reza, not herself. On the seventh and eight panels, Satrapi contrasts the appearance of Marjane before and after of her marriage (318). The seventh panel, with a white background, shows Marjane as a beautiful woman dressed nicely, whereas the eighth panel, with a black background, shows Marjane smoking in pajamas. The caption “he married...and he found himself with…” for the two panels points out the difference in Marjane. Marjane not only tricks Reza but also tricks herself with a false identity. She suffers from this false identity as seen when her marriage soon ends unhappily after many fights and arguments.
Eventually, however, Marjane’s fake identity crumbles with Reza. In the close-up images of Marjane and Reza, they decide to get a divorce (338). The conversation ends with Marjane being on the midground by herself, realizing that their love would not work. Her solitude in the last panel signifies her removal of Reza, along with falsehood. This symbolizes Marjane accepting herself. After Marjane makes the decision to get a divorce, the background of the panels of the page turned from black to white, illustrating Marjane’s overcoming of her old self. Her divorce with Reza symbolizes her moving on to a new and better life. Marjane spends time with her family and visits old places before leaving for France. She has the same expression when she decides to leave Iran for France on the next page, meaning that she feels mature when she makes the decision of divorce and departure for herself.
Although Marjane’s journey reflects the nation’s trajectory, Iran never reached the resolution that Marjane does. The difference lies in that Marjane accepts her true self to resolve the internal division. Iran, on the other hand, still suffers as a result of internal division. The intended identity of a person or institution may not always be realized. When conflicts collide, however, it can be resolved with acceptance. A subject’s false appearance crumbles when it reaches actualization. Author Satrapi uses the symbol of the veil, the tension between East VS West, the marriage of Marjane, and the family of Marjane to uncover the false assumptions of each subject in Persepolis. Satrapi encourages readers to look into a deeper echelon when judging individuals or society through the use of ironies and contradictions throughout the graphic novel Persepolis.