term paper

Monica Steinbrecher
Paul Gleason
EN 303
30 November 2008
Satrapi, TLC, Rushdie, and Begolo
Persepolis is such an engaging, informative text that it quickly became my favorite novel of the semester. I was really drawn to Marjane and after a few short pages began to relate to her and her surroundings. My apprehension of reading a graphic novel was quickly overturned when I realized how easy it was to lose myself in the text. Even though the illustrations are simple, they add so much more to the story than just words. Keeping that in mind, I thought watching the movie would be just as exciting, if not more. The pictures would be animated and it would come with sound. Much to my disappointment, the movie left out some important parts of the storyline from the novel and the animations were choppy, staying true to its comic form. I was not impressed with the movie and found I really preferred the novel.
The ten page selection I chose is not a consecutive chunk, but rather two separate selections very close to each other chronologically. One selection is from the chapter “The vegetable” when Marjane attempts suicide but then really rejuvenates herself into a complete transformation. The other, larger, selection is from the chapter “the Makeup” when she escapes an arrest by getting a man arrested instead.
“The Vegetable” selection really stuck out to me for two reasons. One, I could personally relate to Marjane’s depression and two, many young women can probably relate to her transformation. Aside from the suicide attempt, the depression I dealt with years ago almost identically mirrors Marjane’s. Like Marjane, I moped around the house, watched television, laid in bed all day and lost any and all motivation and desire to do anything. Like Mrs. Satrapi, my mom did everything in her power to get me to hang out with my friends and seek professional help. One difference between my episode and Marjane’s is the influence our mother’s had on our actions. Mrs. Satrapi convinced her daughter to see a therapist after a very short amount of time, and she obliged. She sought out a therapist and was prescribed an anti depressant. However, the pills were abused and she used them to try to commit suicide. Needless to say, the help Marjane was seeking did her no good. My mother, on the other hand, couldn’t manage to convince me to talk to a therapist for three years. I refused to be put on medication, though I qualified for it, according to the doctor.
I really appreciated seeing Marjane fully recover from her depression, especially that it was healthy. I definitely related to this section and think many women as a whole can as well. Many women, especially adolescents, find their body unattractive in some way or another. Marjane was unhappy with most aspects of her appearance, but rather than complain and feel sorry for herself, she did something about it. By changing herself on the outside, she felt better about herself on the inside. She made positive changes in her appearance in a healthy and rational way, which is a good influence for women readers. Marjane didn’t have plastic surgery, go on a crazy diet, develop an eating disorder, or take any other permanent action. Hair removal, new clothes, new hair and a healthy exercise program are all temporary, controlled, and rational changes to feel better about your appearance.
“The Makeup” chapter really stuck out to me, not because I could personally relate to it, but because I was so surprised by it. This was such a change in character for Marjane and I think I was just as disappointed and appalled at her as her grandmother was. This chapter definitely made me realize how much “every man for himself” really prevailed during this difficult time for all Iranians.
I understand that Marjane falsely accused a man in order to defend herself and I can see how she thought it was funny. It’s hard to really care about the outcome of someone else when you have no idea who they are. This chapter also gave more insight to how much more everyone was becoming oppressed. Not only were women not allowed to wear makeup in public, but unmarried couples were also prohibited from being seen together. I understand what it’s like to be rebellious so I can see why she wore the makeup in public and wanted to see her boyfriend. Even though I completely understand where she is coming from in her original actions and then trying to cover it up, I think it was entirely her choice and fault. She chose to wear that makeup in public, even after having a previous run-in with the police for fashion and appearance violations. She knew perfectly well the consequences for wearing makeup, but decided to wear it anyway. Even though I really like Marjane and really hoped she would be okay, I was disappointed she didn’t take responsibility of her actions. She deserved to be the one punished, not the man on the steps.
I was so surprised by Marjane’s actions in this chapter because she had completely gone against all of her beliefs. Ordinarily, she was so honest. In fact, she was brutally honest and never gave offending someone a second thought. She was bold, an activist and proud of her family members who had given up their lives defending innocents. That day, she was a shame to her family and had completely given into the Revolution, rather than protesting against it. Ordinarily, she was a strong, independent woman who never compromised her beliefs. That day, she was weak, sacrificed her strongest values and played the “poor woman who needs protection” (287).
My favorite part of these two selections is that they are about difficult moments in Marjane’s life and show her at her lowest. It took a great amount of courage to include the hard times and especially times that she may not be proud of herself. Everyone has difficult times in their lives to deal with and maybe even some times they are ashamed of. These two selections make Marjane seem real and not just a character, as well as relatable to other readers.
TLC’s song “Unpretty” similarly deals with the issue of changing your appearance, but from a different angle. In Marjane’s case, changing her looks was a positive, empowering act. She felt that in order to feel better about herself, she should start with the outside and work her way in. By feeling more confident about her appearance, she learned to accept herself. Her new looks and new love for aerobics gave her motivation to do something positive with her life and became the first steps to getting herself out of depression. In “Unpretty,” the singer changing her appearance is what throws her into depression. The singer is presumably in an emotionally abusive relationship with someone who is constantly weighing her down and constantly picking apart her looks. She has acknowledged how unhappy this significant other is making her and tries to get out of the relationship so she can work on helping herself get healthy again. The message (and chorus) of this song is that no matter how many changes you go through to make yourself pretty, you will never think you’re pretty enough until you’re happy with yourself on the inside. The singer in this song is also terribly hard on herself, blames herself rather than the person who pushed her over the edge and wants to take drastic changes. Marjane, however, was never hard on herself, but knew it was her own responsibility to take the initiative for change.
Both the text and the song show the unfortunate consequences of being unhappy with not only your appearance, but yourself as a whole. Both women make big changes to their looks and lifestyles, but in completely opposite directions. Marjane took steps to become happy again after her depression, but the singer had grown depressed because of changes she previously made. Both women were at one point very unhealthy and needed to get back on track. This was much more quickly obtained by Marjane while the singer still had a lot of work to do. Another similarity between the song and the book is both women changed their hair and wore more and new makeup. However, the singer also looked toward plastic surgery for a nose job, while Marjane looked to exercise in the aerobics class.
When writing about his piece “The Satanic Verses,” Salman Rushdie writes, “How is freedom gained? It is taken: never given…What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist” (394). The Iranians, especially the Iranian women were denied freedom after freedom during the Revolution. It’s difficult to understand the value of freedom until it is taken away. Even though she was only a child, Marjane didn’t realize she had the freedom to dress and style herself as she pleased until that right was taken away. Until women were forced to wear the veil everywhere, young women had no idea what freedom meant because they were never denied it. The Iranian women were never given any freedom during this time, but rather, everything was taken from them. They were prohibited from wearing any makeup, form fitting clothes and revealing any hair. Instead, they were required to be covered head to toe and wear a veil, which had rigid specifications for the wearers.
Marjane was fully aware of her personal lack of freedom and rights, but never really took it seriously. However, the day she decided to go out in public fully made up, it was not her own freedom that was jeopardized. While trying to save herself, she took away that man’s freedom. Even though she was let off easy, she was not given freedom. Had she not made a false accusation, her freedom would have been taken away and she would have been the one to land in jail, not the innocent man.
I agree with Rushdie when he stated that freedom cannot be given, but taken away. Freedom is not a tangible or measurable experience. In order for it to be taken away, it has to be available initially, but no one can physically give someone a freedom. No one can reward you for having a right to something. But someone can physically take something away from you, or punish you for disobeying them.
The article “Veiled Politics” mirrors very similarly the experiences in Perseopolis of wearing the veil. The veil was definitely to cover the woman and hide any sexuality she carries. Hair must be hidden because it is sexually stimulating for men. The article also added that hands weren’t allowed to be revealed, something that wasn’t in Persepolis. The covering of hands might not have been enforced at the time of the stories in the novel. The article also states how unveiled women in public were at high risk of danger because strands of hair would make men think and act irrationally. Marjane was caught numerous times in public wearing her veil the wrong way, with hair showing. The day she got the man arrested, her hair was showing because she was looking to impress her boyfriend. According to “Veiled Politics,” her appearance should have caused the bystander to be irrational and perhaps even make the inappropriate comments to Marjane that she accused him of. Ironically enough, her hair didn’t cause him to be irrational, but only herself to be. Soon after the veil was mandatory, a stamp was issued for the first time of a woman completely veiled, covering her entire body.
The twentieth century was very back and forth for Iranian women. Over the course of many years, the veil was required, prohibited and required again. Not only were women expected to wear it to appear pure, but to keep their husband and family’s honor, as well as to remain void of Western influences. When women were required to wear the veil, a bare head could result in arrest or fines by police. Unfortunately, in unpatrolled areas, radical men decided to take the law into their own hands. Bare-headed women ran the risk of being attacked and beaten in these dangerous areas.
Persepolis was my favorite book this semester. While reading it, I was so drawn to the storyline and Marjane. Some parts of this book really surprised me and stood out even after finishing the novel, other parts taught me a great deal about Iranian culture and the Islamic Revolution and other parts I was able to relate to on a personal level. After completing the novel, I realized how much else I was able to relate the novel to. I was able to bring in a pop song in to Marjane’s struggle and a literary theorist and author to Marjane’s selfishness. Since it was a memoir of a real person during real events, it was very easy to bring in a source relating to the war. Marjane Satrapi’s journey really stood out to me above all the other characters in all the other books I read over the course of this semester.












Works Cited
Begolo, Zephie. “Veiled Politics.” History Today. 58.9 (Sep 2008): 42-44 Academic Search Elite. Cardinal Stritch University Library, Milwaukee, WI 1 December 2008. http://0-web.ebscohost.com.topcat.switchinc.org/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=109&sid=55ad6175-f826-41c4-a867-968ef6296494%40sessionmgr104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=afh&AN=34283093
Rushdie, Salman. “In God we Trust” Imaginary Homelands. London: Penguin Books, 1981-1991. 376-397.
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. Paris: L’Association 2003.
TLC. “Unpretty.” FanMail