The Veil - Marjane Satrapi - Essay Example

Satrapi began her tale with the recollection of her early childhood when society was freer and her school was a place for both girls and boys, anyone can be different and it would be fine and that policies are not strictly religious but secular. Then, shortly, the idyllic scenes of playfulness and peaceful co-existence abruptly gave way to the stern faces and policies of the new authorities. Suddenly, the author found herself wearing a veil and separated from her friends. The sudden shift and difference of the tone Satrapi wanted to convey were achieved through the clever use of the two colors.

The ideal times were drawn in brighter shades, characterized by white background while the days of repression were painted in dark hues and black background. The color limitation created a more powerful effect in conveying messages because it removed the clutter in each frame and emphasize the intended expressions and issue being depicted. In addition to this, the style by which characters were drawn, with their elongated arms and legs and the exaggerated curves and expressions that characterized the children, effectively communicated a lasting and potent representation of Marji and what she stood for in the story.

The cartoonish depiction ingratiated Marji in the readers’ consciousness and would persist even after the story was finished and the book was put down. Satrapi also made it a point to emphasize contrasts. For instance, the good old days were portrayed by scenes of scattered and the multitude of characters displaying their individual personalities. Then, after she was forced to wear a veil, scenes are either dominated by a stern bearded man or soldier with the absence of animated people or sharply separated into two opposing groups, arguing against each other.

It was obvious that in the author’s mind, the fundamentalist society that Iran force people to retreat inwards – within themselves, stunt creativity, enforce an unreasonable and cold-hearted regime of discipline, wherein humanity is being eroded towards a kind of existence not unlike the starkness one finds in the absence of colors. Satrapi conjured for us – in her visuals – a world that has less life and mirth, wherein those who dared to defy it found their lives tangled with tragedy.

Themes Certainly, a primary theme in The Veil is the demotion of women in the Iranian society back in the 1980s. The veil or its use in the eyes of the young Marji underscored the sheer insanity of being forced to cover oneself and segregated just because of her gender. More importantly, however, is that in Satrapi's depictions, the veil appears to have achieved very little effect on the individuality and characters of women. The veiled children never lost their facial expressions, personalities and physiques.

It was, obviously, Satrapi's way of saying that the veil is useless and that in the context of its symbolism for the local authorities - which is to subjugate - the women's spirits were never entirely quashed. As with the visuals in The Veil, women - in succeeding sections of Persepolis – wore their veils but that this piece of clothing never really reduced the characters into anonymity or people that have less human status. The veil also served to represent the divisions that have immediately took root in Iran in the 1980s.

Besides the literal segregation of men and women, Satrapi used the veil to