Importance of Family through Crises - Essay Example

?IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY THROUGH CRISES The novel revolves around the life and story of Marjane in the Iranian community. Born in Tehran the year 1969, Marjane narrates her early childhood story on the challenges she went through as a little girl trying to cope with the Iranian beliefs and cultural practices. In her story, she describes how the Iranian community strictly lives and abides by the Iranian Islamic law that guides the relationship among the population. The seizure of power by the religious leaders in Iran saw a lot of changes in the Iranian community. Her Graphic novel Persepolis brings out a clear picture of the revolutions that took place in Iran when she was young and how it had negative impact to the population. During the revolution the populations experienced inhuman treatment and torture from the shah regime. As a result, majority of the people lost their lives in their own mother land due to ruthless treatment and persecution that was the order of the day. The narrator of the novel is much interested in history of Iran and what might have led to the persistent wars and struggles. In this case she much concentrates on the revolutions and the main agents of the revolutions. At her tender age, she does not understand the reason why the Iranian women put on veil and the reason why her country does not permit the adoption of western cultures and ideas. This comes at a time whereby the government demands each and every female head should put on a veil as a sign of respect to the Islamic culture (Satrapi, 2007) The story depicts the character trait of people who surround her. For instance, her mother is portrayed as a good advocate for the rights of women and the guardian of the revolution. Through the crises she join strong forces to ban the forcefully imposition of women to put on veil. As an activist she clearly understands her rights and in this case she does not allow to be intimidated by the Islamic laws. Marjane father is portrayed as a caring father. He stands out as a strong contender of the freedom of individuals supporting his family all through. He respects the decisions made by her daughter and promotes her liberty. As the story continues we learn that even though Marjane father comes out to be liberal, she points out that he did not have much influence to her life. In this case she owns much to her uncle and her grandmother. Marjane grandmother is also a caring woman as depicted throughout in the novel. The novel depicts several crises that revolve around Iranian community. Throughout the crises Marjane family is able to stand up and defend their rights. Her close relation with her parents created in her the ability to air out her voice in tough circumstances. Her ideas and concepts about religion are shaped up by her parents who even give her the freedom to freely participate in social activities with her friends. She attends a school where there is separation of sexes in the essence that girls and boys are not allowed to mingle freely as this is against the Islamic faith. Her parents turn out to be great supporters of liberty and education this is evidently seen when they send their daughter to go and study abroad even after she is expelled from her home school. They place much emphasizes on the importance of education throughout Marijane life, his further supports her idea of marriage even though he knew it was not going to work. In this case they give her liberty to make her own decision so as to learn from her own experience. The family in this concept comes out as a source of comfort and support throughout the life of the narrator. This support is very essential in the sense that it gives an individual the ability to know how to address and deal with conflict. The family has molded her in such a way that she can stand up and defend her rights. In the novel it is depicted that her values clash with the values of the society. For instance, she has a own rules, wears chains to school and even smoke all these are against Iranian religion and culture. Her teacher comes out as a strong supporter of the culture and religion and in this case she does not allow her to act in unacceptable behavior that is against the school culture. As a result, she faces expulsion from her home school for failure to conform to the rules and regulations. Her rebellious character negatively impacted on her education in Iran. His family great support to education of the girl child has seen her advance to the highest levels of education her transfer to Austria to complete her education despite the western culture and styles shows how much her family lays importance to education. In her community her relatives’ friends and neighbors undergoes continuous persecutions in relation to the tough Islamic laws and cultures. Marijane with her family face major challenges and the environment in which their daughter lives in turns to be unsafe for their daughter. This comes as a result of her constant rebellious attitude towards the government rules and laws. Throughout her lifetime, she faces identity crises but her parents advise her to never forget where she comes from and so maintain her identity. In life, she struggles much to identify herself through culture and personal identity where she still does not know who she is and what she wants to be. When she was young she wanted to be a prophet but her ideas are widely influenced with the western culture whereby she is depicted concentrating on the things that are against the Islamic law and culture. She embraces scientific innovations through her graphics which illustrates much of the western culture. When she returns back home she also faces challenges at her own home area where she finds it difficult to adopt to the lifestyle of the Iranian this turns out to be against her family demands of her to always remember where she come from (Dabashi, 2011). There is a great evident throughout the story that Marijane experience a very tender relationship with her parents who always turn out to be very accommodative. In this case she expects her own country to act the same way the way her parents act as she viewed this as a very important aspect in promoting her growth. The family faces a great tension when it comes to political view. In this regard, they advocate for liberalism and equality of opportunities between the sexes but this greatly differs with the government views on how an Iranian should behave. Their point of argument on liberation and equality teaches the narrator that both sexes are equal. In this case she does not see the reason why women should be given unequal treatment as compared to their male counterparts. Her views of equality are influenced by the family who turn out to be strong advocates of the equal treatment of the girl child and also the guardians of the suppressive laws that hinder the advancement of the girl child. In this case, she could not continue with her education further as a result of suppressive laws in her school community (Seret, 2011). Her grandmother explains to her the methods of managing conflicts and in this way she assisted her with books that would enable her understand the culture of the Iranian people. Her grandmother nurtures her that in her lifetime she should learn how to manage conflict constructively. In this case she advises against handling conflict in unacceptable manner as this can destruct the image of an individual. This creates in her the ability to understand the reason why things happen the way they are. The grandmother assisted her to solve her crises especially after she have issues with her husband. She emphasizes and advises her on the importance of exercising patience whenever things get tough. For instance, her poor relationship with her husband forces her to stay out of her abusive relationship this saw her grandmother emphasizing on the art of patience before making a major decision to leave her relationship. The act of her grandmother influences Marjane throughout her lifetime and in this case she identifies with her as the great influential people in her life who has contributed a lot in the shaping up her character. Her mother character widely differs from the way her parents perceive and view things this clearly show two distinct ideas between her parents and grandparents in solving a crises. Her parents advocate that she should be in a position to defend and champion for her rights whenever she is faced with a conflict. Marjane parents turn out to be supportive who are always there to support her in every actions and decisions she makes (Hamilton, 2009). In conclusion, this novel depicts much of the issues and challenges that face the Iranian community. In this case Marjanes mother turns out as an agent of change whom despite the harsh Islamic laws comes up in support of her daughter and the women of the community. Through her, she molds a daughter to grow into a tough woman who is able to stand for and defend her rights without being intimidated this enabled Marijane to always fight for what was right. Her values are also shaped by her grandmother. This story that revolves around her family is very beneficial to the readers in the sense that it provides an insight on how the family can be very essential element in supporting and promoting an individual growth. References Dabashi, H, 2011, Shi'ism a religion of protest. Cambridge. Cambridge University press. Hamilton, J, 2009, Graphic novels. New York: Kindle Books. Satrapi, M, 2007, The complete Persepolis. New York: Pantheon Books. Seret, R, 2011, World affairs in foreign films: getting the global picture. Jefferson, NC, McFarland & Company. Schroeder, H. L, 2010, A reader's guide to Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis. Berkeley: Enslow Publishers. Read More