Persepolis
The book, Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi illustrates her childhood story while living in Iran. She witnessed a lot of struggles Iran had to face. The main struggle that stood out to me is people getting treated unfairly because of their social class. It should not matter what you wear or look like to be important to society, but in Iran social class is a form of identity. They are not able to be whom they wish to be; are forced to be in a certain social class for the rest of their lives.
The chapter “Persepolis”, describes how Iranian people are identified by their social class. Before people pretended to be well off in order to be accepted in society. Marjane’s grandmother had always been in the upper social class. But one day Marjane‘s grandfather was sent to prison and his father took everything they owed. “Oh, yes. So poor that we had only bread to eat. I was so ashamed that I pretended to cook so that the neighbors wouldn’t notice anything.” said her grandma. This stood out to me because it seemed like she was really embarrassed to be poor. If people really liked you they would like you for who you are, and not what you have! I could connect this issue with some of my high school experiences. I remember hearing people in the hall ways saying, “You don‘t have an iPhone?!?! You’re wack!!, what, you cant afford it?”, so what if they don’t have a new phone!, or the “things in style” as people say. I would never make someone feel like they are less than anyone else because of the material things they may not have. I had friends of all types of social classes. If everybody would get separated by your social class in the United States what this world would like? How many friends do you think you’d still see?
The chapter “The Letter“, describes some examples of social class separation. “The reason for my shame and for The Revolution is the same: the difference between social classes”, said Marjane in page 33 panel 7. Satrapi shows shame of all the material things she had while watching the lower class struggle. She was little and didn’t understand why being in different social classes was such a big deal in Iran. For her to say that it was the reason for The Revolution makes me think that social classes didn’t just have impact in people but throughout the country. Marjane’s maid lied that they were sisters to begin a romance with the neighbor. As soon as people started hearing about it Marjane’s father put a stop to. “Because in this country you must stay within your own social class.” said her father. This panel describes how different social classes couldn’t date. Social classes were meant to stick together so that the lower class is never able to get ahead of society. I do not think it should matter what social class you are in to be in love. If you truly want to be with someone you would do it no matter what other people say or think. Doesn’t seem as easy as here in the United States; in Iran it was not as easy because from reading this book it sounds like it was a big deal to mix within social classes. This chapter impacted me in many ways because I think to myself if I would be for or against mixing social classes if I was living in Iran at the time Satrapi experienced this. I’d honestly think that I would be for it if I was rich and against it if I were poor. Who would complain if you had everything? Not me!! But if I were poor it would be a different story only because in Iran the lower class were treated unfairly and made them feel like they weren’t important.
The chapter “The Key”, page 102 impacted me in many different ways. The top picture shows the lower class 14 year old boys getting bombed at war only because they were brainwashed and convinced that the after life was like paradise. In the picture they all look pitch black with a big plastic key hanging around their necks. You can’t even see their faces. The boys were told that if they were lucky enough to die in war they would go to heaven with a golden key. It was easy to convince the lower class by telling them they will have food, women, a house, gold and plenty other things they would die to hang. As for the upper class they have everything they can possibly get so they were not as easy to persuade. So now compare the bottom picture in the same page to the top one; shows the upper class having a blast. They are at a party not worrying about absolutely anything. You can actually see their face with big smiles, dancing around. I thought these two pictures were very impacting to me because while some poor 14 year old boys are getting killed the upper class are probably worrying about what they are wearing to a dinner or a party. It convinces me that the lower class means nothing to society in Iran. People should not be so stuck up. Whether people are rich or poor everyone should be treated equal.
We as Americans complain about the smallest things while others are dying at age 14 only because they aren’t in the upper social class. Persepolis shows the defects about social class and the struggles Iran had to deal with throughout The Revolution. It makes me appreciate the freedom we have to dress and date whom ever we please. I’m sure people still get looked down upon because of how they look but it probably does not compared to what Satrapi witnessed throughout her childhood; separation within their social class. What social class do you think you’d fall into?
