Persepolis: Words + Images

Persepolis was an easy, quick read that strayed away from the style of our ordinary texts.  I am quite familiar with the memoir genre but I do not read too many comics.  This story was the first I have read that combined the genres of memoir and comic together.  Marjane Satrapi gives a unique perspective on the events of the Islamic Revolution by immersing us into her childhood and adolescence.  At first, I was skeptical as to how effective the story would be through the combination of completely different genres.

Referring to some of the points on the class discussion board, I am going to talk more specifically about Satrapi's use of provocative use of drawn symbols in Persepolis.  Typically in a comic, the dialogue and narrative are humorous and light-hearted in nature.  While there is laughter within the story, the bulk of material is extremely sad and serious.  One example I would like to point out is a scene that shows a man dead in a bathtub (Satrapi 65).  The imagery is not entirely daunting outside of its context, but when it is revealed that someone murdered him then it takes on a new meaning.  A comical frame, such as this, actually happened in real-life and its disheartening once that connection is made.  My mind is not trained to make the connection between comics and tragic events.  Another example of her provocative use of drawn symbols is of a man dead and chopped into pieces (Satrapi 52).  In a way, this image desensitizes the reader to the actual scene.  In reality, the man would be covered in blood and the scene would be very gory.  From my perspective, Satrapi's use of these serious symbols actually weakens her agency as an author/creator.  The lack of vivid imagery detracts from the seriousness of the events that happened.

The other subject that I want to discuss from the discussion board is the author's role of narration in the memoir.  Throughout the story, there are short narrative phrases that precede or conclude a scene.  These phrases are successful because they add a new perspective outside of the dialogue between characters.  It is Satrapi's way of adding her two-cent on top of the dialogue and she gives more background information pertaining to the scenes.  Also, the narration helps to detract from the comical genre.  The narrative perspective includes aspects of a typical novel genre and this results in a bridge between two genres.

Overall, Satrapi has created a piece that is unique in its cross-breeding of genres.  Although her use of comic imagery detracts from the mood of the events, the memoir is well spoken and effective in its purpose with the inclusion of narrative overtones.

Work Cited
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood. New York: Pantheon, 2003.