Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi - Essay Example

Marjane Satrapi created the work Persepolis while she was living in exile in Paris in 2000. Although it tackled non-humorous s of revolution and war and its effects in the society, Satrapi used humor in her comics to reach out to people of her childhood story. It is not a mere biography or a memoir of Satrapi, it tells the story of how people can be affected by the harsh realities and extreme conditions of revolution and war. It provides a new perspective in understanding war and revolution through its use of humor and graphics as it creates a picture of hope despite the ruthless environment that serves as the background of the story. Since Satrapi tells the story through a child’s innocent eyes, the use of humor is quite effective since a child tends to find hope and happiness because of their love for simplicity and life. This shows that Satrapi used humor in order to signify the views of a child regarding the changes within her surroundings, especially that it is full of hatred and anger. The comics also depicts simplicity, looking at the drawings that are used in creating images of the horrific transformation of the environment during the war. Reducing the images in simple black and white graphics work effectively with its satire and humor as it creates a relief over the harrowing experience of the people during those times. The almost funny images indicates how true a child conveys feelings of horror and sadness during the war and it allows the readers to feel that there is something else behind the images than the horrors of the war. The images and the humor reaches out to the readers as it targets the psychological impact of the experiences of the people, though some readers may not have experienced this kind of situation. The humor brings the people’s attention to the images and the underlying meanings of the images. This connects with the people as it creates simple yet strong images of what was happening during those times. Aside from reaching her audience, Satrapi uses humor in order for her to face her own experiences looking at it at a different perspective other than extreme horror and fear. This can be described as a gallows humor, wherein a person in extreme situations finds laughter as a coping mechanism, equipping themselves the energy to confront these harsh realities. For Satrapi, laughing about the situation is “the only way to bear the unbearable” (Satrapi, p.266). The use of humor as such indicates to other people that the person is sensitive in recognizing the horrors of their situation attempting to face it (Moran, p.148). It also serves as a deliberate effort to appear and act as normal as possible in a difficult situation (Moran, p.148). Humor and laughter are used by people to keep their sanity in insane and difficult situations. This allows them to face danger and hardships in a normal manner though fearing what may happen next. The use of humor and laughter is significant in Persepolis as it emphasizes the need of the readers to understand the harrowing experiences of the revolution and the need of the characters to keep fighting for their existence and a normal life in the midst of injustice and dictatorship. Satrapi shows in her work that people tend to face difficult situations better when they see humor in it. It is more acceptable for the readers to accept the horrors of the war as it contrasts greatly with the humor that Satrapi shows in her work. Satrapi uses the image of a playful child in conveying humor and ironic expressions aimed at the political changes. The child’s non-conformity expresses Satrapi’s point of view regarding the dictates of the state and the hardships she and her fellow citizens experienced during the revolution. This signified that even a child’s actions can have underlying meanings that comes from the effects of the revolution and the stress from the environment. The children’s games in the comics symbolizes the people’s misunderstanding or their incapability to understand the authority’s commands. The children didn’t like to wear the veil that the government imposed the women of Iran to wear since they don’t understand the reason behind it. As Satrapi wrote, “we didn’t really like to wear the veil, especially since we didn’t understand why we had to” (Satrapi, p.3). Thus, they played with it signifying rebellion from authority, an event something that everyone can understand more than why the revolution started in the first place by telling the story of the affected people. Persepolis used children to allow the readers to understand better what was happening during the Iranian revolution. The simple images, along with the humor, satire and irony within it allowed the readers to feel and to experience the life during the height of the revolution. The humor acts as a device to verbalize and visualize experience while accepting its reality and facing the fight for survival. The humor in Persepolis taps the contrasting fear and sensitivity to the realities of the revolution. It creates an image of being real and factual. And that it can happen to anyone and anywhere in the world. Satrapi manages to distinguish both horror and fascination with the experiences of the people during the revolution. The contrast of laughter versus fear, of humor versus horror and of the difficulties and complications of the life in Iran versus the simplicity of a child’s mind. With these images and methods, she was able to create a memoir that does not only define her experiences but also of the other people who have experienced the same situation, whether in Iran or in other parts of the world. Persepolis does not aim to analyze the revolution. Satrapi wrote Persepolis in order for people to understand what has transpired during the revolution. She also reached out to her readers to understand that the revolution does not only affect the people directly involved with the revolution but it also greatly affects the children’s lives. The innocence that they carry, although marred still remains simple and down to earth. Satrapi wanted to convey a message to everyone, and that is the difficulty of facing an extremely complicated life of a revolution in a child’s perspective. Although they live simpler, and hopes for something not as grandeous as those involved in the revolution itself, they are scarred by the experience of war and hate in their surrounding, slowly feeling it and directing it towards their simpler ways of rebellion, like in the case of the veil. In Persepolis, Satrapi, the child, finds in her youthful rebellion the attempt to escape oppression and tragedy that can consume her innocence and simple way of thinking. The combination of Satrapi’s words and images allowed the story to be more realistic and simple that even highschool readers can understand it. With this method, Satrapi was able to reach out to adults and children alike, making them understand the effects of war on the community and the people living in it. It does not only focus on the larger effects of revolution such as bombings and policies, but on simpler, even childlike, situations that people can relate to and that people can feel and experience in their everyday life. With this, the text is effective in combining language and pictures in contrasting situations and thoughts that characterizes the state of the society during the revolution. Persepolis successfully brings out the image of a child’s nature, something that everyone has within him, in the midst of the dangers of his surroundings. It also signifies how humor is used by people, whether in the situation or those reading the event, in facing something as tragic, complicated and horrific as the revolution and the war. Works Cited Moran, C. "Humor as a Moderator of Compassion Fatigue." ed. Figley, C. Treating Compassion Fatigue. NY: Brunner-Routledge, 2002. pp.139-154. Satrapi, M. Persepolis. NY: Pantheon, 2003. Satrapi, M. The Complete Persepolis. New York: Random House, Inc. 2004. Read More