"Adolescence Stripped Away"

So this essay was from my Writing 121 class. I've been having a difficult time revising it because I don't think that I clearly answered a question in my essay. My idea was confusing, but I pretty much gave a little update info about current events in Iran every other paragraph. I was trying to not only write the essay chronologically, but also by having a thesis for each paragraph. My thesis for the paper was "What stood out to me was how Marjane's childhood was affected mostly by her family, her religion, and her culture." Any help in organization would really help. Also anything else you see and can comment on would help alot too. Thanks!

Persepolis is a fantastic book about Marjane Satrapi's childhood. In the beginning of Persepolis, she said that she wanted to portray that Iran was is more than fundamentalism and terrorism. I had no previous knowledge of Iran and it's past endeavors, but it made me see it for what it is. There is a saying that goes something like,"through the eyes of a child you will see the world as it ought to be." Throughout the story it made me see how much the citizens of Iran cared for freedom and peace. Marjane had a rough go of it as a child, and her life was impacted in a number of ways. What stood out to me was how Marjane's childhood was affected mostly by her family, her religion, and her culture.

The revolution that took place in 1979 was known as the Islamic Revolution, as well as the 1979 Revolution. The revolution actually started a few years earlier when people were doing religious-based strikes and demonstrations against the Shah. It was a short revolution of only a few years, but it may have seemed like forever in the eyes of Iranians. The revolution ended in early 1979 when people of Iran overthrew the Shah. The country then became an Islamic Republic.

Marjane Satrapi was born in 1969, which means she was at the age of ten when the Islamic Revolution took place. She mostly wrote about her struggles after the Islamic Revolution. She had a large amount of sources contributing to how she saw the world. Her grandfather, grandfather, mother, father and uncle all had a huge impact on what she thought about current issues. With the support of the British, Reza Shah took over power of Iran. After he took power, Marjane's grandfather became a communist; which led to him being imprisoned and tortured. Her mother protested about changes in Iranian culture and was plastered onto newspapers all across Europe. Her parents were known as Marxists, which is practically the basis form of communism. Her grandmother I believe was insightful, but had a number of frivolous quips. Her uncle, Anoosh, returned from the USSR since his divorce; he spent some time telling Marjane his story when shortly after he was arrested and executed on false charges of being a russian spy. Marjane's family all impacted her in different ways which all led to her becoming a stronger individual.

The Iran-Iraq War was not long after the Islamic Revolution; approximately a year and a half. It lasted around eight years and did not end until the United Nations stepped in to call a cease fire. The Iranian government was weak, leaders had cleared and banished the US Embassy, and just been through a civil war. Iraq had a few reasons to invade Iran, some of those are: oil fields, Sunni and Shi'ite disputes, and power. Iraq was on the offensive for a few years when Iran really started to fight back. It was one of the most iconic wars of the 20th century and will not be forgotten.

Marjane had many references to her religion throughout the book. Her most often used line was,"I want to be a prophet."(pg.6) She wanted to be a prophet because her grandmother's knees always ached, her father drove a Cadillac, and because her maid did not eat with them. In some areas of the book she refers to herself as "the last prophet." The Iran-Iraq war started right after Marjane's Uncle, Anoosh, was executed. The execution led to Marjane abandoning her God friend and leaving her all alone. I believe Satrapi made great use of using an imaginary friend as her god figure. The imaginary friend makes religion relatable for non-religious and other religious cultures. For example, she may have been referring to Allah, but for western culture, most could look at it as the christian god. I also believe her belief in religion correlated with her belief in her country. When she was involved deeply in her country, she was also delving deep into religion. She was just a small child in that time and religion was not only a huge part of her life, but a huge part of Iran.

Culture resides in the hearts of it's people. During the time Marjane lived in Iran, the culture was changing everyday. Iran went from a monarchy to a republic, then to a war with another country. The changes in Iran alone were more in ten years than in thousands of years in other countries. Reza Shah's goals were towards modernizing Iran. After overthrowing the Shah, the religious leaders were in power and named Iran as an Islamic Republic. That's not even considering the difference when bombs were being dropped on them by Iraq. Marjane had to deal many consequences of those various years. She once got in trouble for not wearing her veil. Her school was shut down for being bi-lingual. And many more occurrences. The life of an Iranian citizen was nothing routine during those times.

Throughout reading Persepolis, I have come to see how easy my childhood was. Although Marjane was far more knowledgeable than myself at her age; I would never ask to be put in her shoes. The obstacles she faced throughout her life are an inspiration to me.

.... I feel you write this in present tense because it is the story she tells;
In the beginning of Persepolis, she says that she wants to portray that Iran as more than fundamentalism and terrorism
The revolution actually started a few years earlier when people were doingengaged in religious-based strikes and demonstrations against the Shah.


Her writing is mostly about her struggles as a result of Islamic Revolution.