The Universal Struggle

I love "Persepolis". I love how easy and accessible it is in the sense that it's Satrapi's life journey and because of how it's written, regardless of the language you speak--you can understand it.

In relation to that I looked at McCloud's article. "In pictures, however, meaning is fluid and variable according to their appearance. They differ from "real-life" appearance to varying degrees" (McCloud, 28). Satrapi's book is a graphic novel, so it's full of pictures. The meaning of the pictures is all related to what is occurring in the book. The pictures in the novel are rather simplistic, there is no color and the details are limited. They do differ from "real-life" appearance but even though it has an abstract level to it, people can still recognize them as human faces.

On page three in Satrapi's "Persepolis" you have this image. By looking at the image you can clearly tell that the image consists of 5 humans. If McCloud were to see this image I imagine that he would suggest that it's a cartoon. "When we abstract an image through cartooning, we're not so much eliminating details as we are focusing on specific details" (McCloud 30). In the image below, one notices how unhappy the girls look and how they're all wearing veils. The universality between all the girls in the picture shows how there is a lack for the individual. All of the girls literally look like the same person with varying hairstyles. The book later on develops into Marjane's quest of finding her individual self. But, because of what the book is about, it's appropriate to show this in the beginning because it shows the mold, the culture that she grew up in so it help's the reader identify the reasoning behind her quest.
  "The ability of cartoons to focus our attention on an idea is, I think, an important part of their special power, both in comics and in drawing generally" (McCloud 31). I believe that McCloud's quote here help's express how I feel about the book. Satrapi's life is not an easy one, it's full of heartache, political and cultural turmoil, etc. It's incredible how she's able to communicate the sadness and injustice that she would encounter through the cartoons. This image is taken from the film but is found on pages 132 and 133 of the first book. Satrapi in this scene/section is wearing innapropriate things such as a Michael Jackson pin, a jean jacket, and tight pants. Satrapi was a teenager at this time and was just trying to express herself. Her expression was immediately shut down. The two women threatened her to the point where she was in tears. Even though this is a cartoon, the image conveys what it needs to for the reader to feel empathy for the protagonist. The way in which the guardians are drawn make them seem evil and someone we shouldn't trust compared to how innocent Satrapi looks. The reader has no choice really but to take Satrapi's side. The universality of the image of the guardians makes it easier to "describe more people" as McCloud would say on page 31 of his piece. The universality makes it easier to apply the same feelings and sentiment to similarly drawn figures in the book. On page 98 in Satrapi's book, the teacher looks the exact same way as the guardians do, and has the same mannerisms and thoughts. It's just another example of the universality of it all.
 The universal aspect of the book helps create the theme of her vs. them. "Them" being the oppressing culture she's surrounded by. By doing that, I believe that it shows her purpose and the obstacles that she has to go through in order to become the person she would like to be. It makes her seem stronger in a way because of it. It's a universal struggle because I'm sure other people can relate to the situation she's going through in the sense that shes been limited in her society and wanted to grow. People from all walks of life can relate someway or another. The fact that it's all in a cartoon makes it even easier for people to apply or even see it in their everyday life which makes this book more approachable.

Works Cited

• McCloud, Scott. “The Vocabulary of Comics.” In Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York:Harper Collins, 1994. 24-45.
• Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood. New York: Pantheon, 2003.
• Film still taken from cinemaisdope.com