The Complete Persepolis - Graphic Novel as a Sign of Protest - Essay Example

“The Complete Persepolis Graphic Novel as a Sign of Protest Introduction The method of delivering the story is as crucial as the story itself. Marjane Satrapis “The Complete Persepolis” utilizes minimal texts in frames of drawing that provide the readers a different perspective in interpreting her story. In graphic novels such as this, a reader must read the text within the frame, and gather the meaning along with the graphic visuals provided in that same frame. This makes the drawings as important as the text in understanding the authors message. According to Rocio Davis: ...the potential of the graphic narrative as a highly dynamic text, as opposed to the more static single-image narrative painting or plain text, determines the dialectic between text and image, providing creators with a wider range of artistic and imaginative possibilities. (267) Satrapis style in narrating her autobiography is in black and white, and often with only a few frames per page, making the readers see her story through the eyes of a child. On a personal viewpoint, this is a brilliant strategy since this allows the readers to see her story stripped to its barest truth and devoid of any sugar-coating. This is one of the major benefits of the graphic novel, aside from it being downright entertaining, it provides an understanding that is entirely different from reading history coming from academic textbooks. Satrapi seems to know that most of her target audience comes from the non-historian population, and Satrapis method in relaying the Iranian Revolution is successful in giving it a non-academic and more personal feel. The method itself is a protest in many forms. First, the black and white drawings represent her protest regarding the details of the Iranian Revolution by recounting the facts as they are: black if she sees it as bad, and white if she sees it as good. Second, icons are considered unlawful in Islam, making the medium of the novel a representative of her protest to some traditions she refuses to accept. Third, for most Westerners, Iran is stereotyped to be a world so obscure and different, and even sometimes scary, making the light narrative consisting of “normal-looking Muslim Iranians” coming from an Iranian female child as something not only entirely new and unexpected, but also a provider of fresher perspective regarding the nation. It can be said that Satrapis novel tries to break down the seemingly monumental gap between the East and the West. While the internal story plot consists of several protests regarding the Iranian Revolution, the novels somewhat simplified medium of narration presents several other protests to the well-established notions of the more “outspoken” world. Davis states: “...its ostensible simplification is actually a complex strategy for the representation of events and perspectives that may be difficult to communicate only through words” (268). Protest by Black and White According to Andrew Arnold, the minimalist “solid, high-contrast black shapes [which take on] a wood-cut look” (quoted in Davis 271) portrays Satrapis viewpoint as she tries to deal with the complexities of the Iranian Revolution in her young and simple mind. Obviously, Satrapi associates the color white to “good” while she associates the color black to “bad.” For example, Satrapi uses white to draw the day she was born (6), to draw the beam of her light as a prophet (6), and to draw God (8-9). On the other hand, Satrapi uses the color black to draw the veil (3 & 5), or even the beard (4-5). From the beginning of the narrative, one would see that Satrapi views the veil as one of the major forms of repression, and the beard as a common sign of oppression (with the guardians of the revolution being full-bearded). The black and white also depicts the contrast of “innocence and indescribable pain” (Davis 271), like when Satrapi recounts the time when their street was bombed, the background is black at the point when she is thinking her family is dead, and then the frame suddenly becomes white as soon as she sees her mother (140). The frame again turns completely black when she realizes Neda is dead from that same bombing, wherein the black frame is accompanied by the text: “No scream in the world could have relieved my suffering and my anger” (Satrapi and Satrapi 142). These observations present how the author uses black and white to give the readers a very straightforward view of the good and the bad that are devoid of any justification or alibi. Protest by Icons Satrapi portrays Islam as against any icons. In the book, the Guardians of the Revolution arrest her for wearing “punk” shoes, denim jacket, and a Michael Jackson button (Satrapi and Satrapi 133). Additionally, Satrapi recounts how her childhood friends “looked like the heroines of American TV series” (105), and “that Oshin was in fact a geisha and...her profession didnt suit Islamic morals” (114). She also questions if “religion [is] defending...physical integrity or is it just opposed to fashion?” (Satrapi and Satrapi 143), and how the idea of a theme park of mythological heroes is denied because “half [of the] characters are women without veils, seated on the backs of all sorts of real or mythic animals” (Satrapi and Satrapi 177). Furthermore, she recounts how the Iranian government arrests illustrators because of drawings of what the Islamic creed views as unacceptable (Satrapi and Satrapi 180). Therefore, showing all these things in humorous graphic narratives depict her protest, light mockery, and repulsion to view such symbols as icons of either obedience or disobedience. In fact, even as Satrapi portrays the Iranian Revolution as a dark era in Irans history, and despite the reality that she does not see Iran as a suitable place for a girl like her to live in, she still insists her identity as an Iranian girl with Iranian family (Satrapi and Satrapi 43). This obviously shows that refusing to accept something as a part of a whole does not mean rejecting the whole. Protest Against Stereotypes According to Kenneth Burke: ...for decades...America [produced] a cultural war against Arabs and Islam: appalling racist caricatures of Arabs and Muslims suggest that they are all either terrorists or sheikhs, and that the region is a large arid slum, fit only for profit or war. (quoted in Elahi 312) Furthermore, Satrapi, in an interview in “Bitch” magazine, states that: “...the 70 million people [of Iran] are human beings...with life, love, hopes” (quoted in Elahi 312). Here, the author effectively portrays how she is just like any other young girl in the West who dreams of great things, of being someone, and of loving and being loved. At first, she is fascinated by the Shahs ruling and the tales of imprisonment and torture. Satrapi depicts the history shes seen through drawings of childhood games of torture (45 & 53), of playing with the veil (3), of being a descendant of the last Emperor of Iran (22), and of having an uncle who is a hero (54). Furthermore, Satrapi recounts experiences of being discriminated (23), of having encounters with sex (32), of physically growing up (35), of visiting childhood friends (108), of talking about virginity (117), of trying to look more sophisticated (120-1), and of falling in love (122-5). All these make USA Todays Christopher Theokas words so true: “Illuminating the similarities between the Western and Islamic worlds is what Satrapi does best” (quoted in Naghibi & OMalley 235). Here, Satrapi goes against the usual caricature of Muslims as veiled or bearded people with nothing on their minds but declaring war against the West. In fact, reading the graphic novel provides a fresh outlook on how these people in this part of the world live, how the children grow up, and how they think. While it is true that there will always be traditionalists, one must remember Satrapis encounter with the nuns in Vienna where it is made clear that “In every religion, you find the same extremists” (24). The Wisdom Behind the Protests The Western medias portrayal of Muslims in the Middle East does not help break down the gap between the East and the West. In Satrapis novel, she tries to present how misunderstanding of, and intolerance to, different cultures and beliefs merely serve to widen the gap between these two populations. Her autobiography serves as a medium for her to show that she also experiences injustice by merely trying to be independent, or by trying to act, or be, “westernized”. However, despite her encounters with the Guardians of the Revolution and other traditionalist Iranians who condemn her for her actions, and despite her complaints regarding the repressive regime she is living under, she never declares these ideologies as wrong. Without giving full details, Satrapi is able to make readers understand that these differences in beliefs are results of different upbringings, and that the question “why others are different?” is supposed to be asked to ones self as well in comparison to these “others.” This is what the author wants to convey: to have a middle ground regarding the differences in every society, and to develop an understanding that belief should not be forced down anyones throat. Just like the author providing a fair explanation of the veil despite her refusal to accept it as necessary, the West could learn a lot from breaking free from these “society-formed” stereotypes and begin to see the similarities between their lives in the West and Satrapis in Iran. Conclusion While it may be hard at first to go beyond the storys plot and focus on the authors method in relaying her tale, upon deeper evaluation, Satrapis graphic novel is a form of protest in and out. The plot is about a young girl coming to terms with her identity and beliefs as against the Iranian societys identity and beliefs. At the same time, the graphic narrative style is also a form of a protest in itself, with its black and white simplistic style of depicting what she believes are good or bad in the humorous and frank way of a young child and a young adult, with its blatant use of symbols in drawings that is totally against the Islamic code of using icons, and with its going against the norm of depicting Muslims, particularly Muslim women, as repressed individuals who are veiled and unable to speak their own thoughts. The historical value of the story cannot be discounted merely due to the fact that it is presented in graphic narrative. In fact, it provided a new way of looking at history not only as something that can be learned “distantly” from academic textbooks, but also as a funny memoir consisting of the feelings and thoughts of a young individual who has even more rights in retelling her historical experiences and opinions from a first-hand standpoint, compared to historians who were “never really there.” Satrapis novel talks about history, and her way of retelling it, coming from a Muslim woman who deviated from the norms not only of the East, but also of the West, is another history. Works Cited Davis, Rocio G. “A GRAPHIC SELF Comics as autobiography in Marjane Satrapis Persepolis.” Prose Studies 27.3 (2005): 264-279. PDF File. Elahi, Babak. “Frames and Mirrors in Marjane Satrapis Persepolis.” Symploke 15.1-2 (2007): 312-325. PDF File. Naghibi, Nima and Andrew OMalley. “Estranging the Familiar: East and West in Satrapis Persepolis.” ESC: English Studies in Canada 31.2-3 (2005): 223-248. PDF File. Satrapi, Marjane, and Marjane Satrapi. The Complete Persepolis. New York: Pantheon Books, 2007. Print. (Satrapi and Satrapi) Read More