Category: Coffeehouse #2

Tevin Hamilton

English 2400-Section D049

Prof. Sean Scanlan

Oct 6, 2022

Coffeehouse#2

Indoctrination

The chapter “Down with the King” portrays how children might perceive the current king of the country and allows the readers to gain insight into the fact that in school kids are being taught that they should love the king and that he is someone who has been chosen by good. This brings a much more introspective view in the chapter much earlier in the story where the soldier came in and took control of the school, the chapter down with the king allows you to see that the reason for controlling the school wasn’t to introduce and enforce superficial things like the headdress and the clothing the people but instead allow so that they can influence the young impressionable mind of the kid and put indoctrinate the children in believing what the king wants them to believe. The line that best illustrates the undertone of why the king took control of the school is when a young Marjane says to her father, “I love the king, He was chosen by God,” after saying this line Marjane tells her that what her teacher has been teaching, this was while her parents were discussing the protest against the king rule talking about the progress that has been made.  It was only after Marjane’s father explains to her that the king wasn’t chosen by God and how the current king came to do that Marjane starts to move away from this idea. It was in this chapter you were shown the true repercussions of something that happen in the first few chapters because while Marjane’s parent and the parent are out protesting against the king’s rule their children are being taught to love the king and almost in a sense worship him as he is some who God chose to rule.

Thomas Needham

October 7, 2022

ENG 2300

Persepolis Analysis

Persepolis shows us that Marjane was learning something new everytime we turn to a new chapter. It showed what was forced up on her and her family.  We were able to see how a revolution begins. The chapters I really enjoyed was chapter 5 and 6. Marjane’s conversation with her Grandmother, in particular about knowing that her grandfather spent time in prison. I thought it was clever that the conversation with her grandmother kind of meshed with her waiting for her father to come home for dinner and him being late kind of brought up a worry amongst the family considering what was going on around them at the time. When we go in to chapter 6, Marjane also focuses on social classes. Marjane starts to notice the differences of how her life is in the home and outside the house with the rest of the world. Marjane also tells how she wrote letters  for Merra for six months. How close Merra is to the family, more as a daughter than a maid. How Merra is more like a sister to Marjane than someone who is not in Marjanes “Social Class.” We already know that Marjanes grandfather was a prince who was brutalized and jailed by The Shah of I ran and how her grandmother insist that his son is worse.

This opens the door  more about the revolution occurring in Iran and how both women and men are forced to dress,behave and conduct themselves under the communist rule. Chapter 6 explains how Marjane and her family treat people around them more like family than people who might be treated   poorly during this revolution would be treated by persons of authority. As we move on in the book we see how the dictatorial forces change everything around Marjane. Chapter 6 to me deals with a relationship with Merra and Marjanes family which is shown when  the neighbor meets with Marjanes father about Merra. Marjanes father  acted more like Merras father and also during the letter writing marjane finds out about Merra including how she truly values Marjanes family when Marjane assumes Merra has a sister but than is told that Merras sister is Marjane. I believe chapter 6 shows us how relationships are defined during the height of a revolution which wants to treat people according to the social order. The other chapters focus on relationships but I believe this chapter, “The Letter” gives an emotion anchor to Merra and her feelings about Marjane and her family by the letters she writes. I like this chapter because it seems  to give a little more depth to the story. If I were to use  lehman terminology it feels that  the Iranian rule are more bullies than anything else. The reasoning for why this revolution is obviously political but in the end it just feels to me that  this is  more about someone confronting a bully, fighting back, saying “Enough is enough!” It just seems   more like  a political ideology to it rather than   something more personal. Maybe that is what Marjane is trying to do when writing about the revolution. There seems to be a clear definition within Marjanes family and  dictaters. Everybody in Marjanes family including relatives who have died seem to me, to be protagonists of what is right while the people in authority are often portrayed, with good reason as brutal antagonists. It appears to me that Marjanes family are protectors.

My favorite chapter so far has been The Wine. This chapter reminded of the book 1984 by George Orwell, a dystopian novel in which most of the world lives under a totalitarian regime that heavily controls the language, history and behavior of its citizens. This novel focuses on a man in this society who faces internal conflicts with the laws and surveillance he lives under, and expresses his rebellious nature through engaging in a highly prohibited sexual relationship with a woman. What made me think of 1984 was how Marjane’s family and friends we forced to hide the fact that they drank alcohol and attended parties, even going so far as to hang curtains at home as to prevent neighbors witnessing illegal behavior. Both of these stories involved the characters being heavily policed, not just by legal authorities but also by regular citizens who held opposing beliefs. For example in this chapter of Persepolis Marjane’s mother tells her a story about how her friends father was arrested by soldiers because there was a rumor that he was going to host a party. Marjane’s family lived with the fear that they were always being watched, which was why they went to such drastic measures to protect their privacy.

My favorite chapter so far of Marjane Satrapi’s “The Complete Persepolis” is “The Party”. In this chapter the Shah’s reign comes to an end. In an attempt to appease the people the Shah tries to elect a prime minister, however the people continue to demonstrate and tear down his statues. Therefore he steps down and leaves the country and the nation celebrates. It is interesting to watch Marjane’s emotions and reactions to this happening. Her teachers who once praised the Shah tell her class to tear out his pictures. She is confused and does not understand the sudden change of behavior of the adults around her. The effect on the children experiencing the conflict in the country is shown throughout this chapter when Marjane decides to attack a fellow student with nails because his father was a part of the Shah’s secret police. It was Marjane’s idea, but her friends readily agreed to it. They mirror the actions of the adults and demonstrators without second thought. The children’s moral compasses may have been altered or even broken after witnessing so much violence. Marjane’s mother tells her that she must forgive, which she doesn’t really understand either. Marjane, and children in Iran now struggle with right and wrong. As well as concepts such as justice, forgiveness, and empathy because of what they’ve experienced.

So far along in Persepolis, the Moscow chapter has been my favorite. I enjoyed having a new character introduced, Uncle Anoosh, which Marjane worships. I enjoyed being able to hear his story and see Marjane so fascinated with him. In true child nature, Marjane wants to have more of whatever her fellow peers have. Seeing her be proud to have a family member that has been through, seemingly, more suffering than Laly’s father. I remember acting this way as a child so this definitely made me laugh as I was reading it. I thought it was especially funny when Uncle Anoosh would say something about him being in prison for nine years and Marjane would think to herself “Wow, more than Laly’s father!” while still saying something polite to Uncle Anoosh. This gives us a great deal of insight into Marjane’s priorities and, while she may be very proud to have Uncle Anoosh as a family member, she clearly has ulterior motives for wanting to know his story. This was a great chapter to come to learn more about Marjane’s family and get to know Uncle Anoosh.

My favorite chapter of Persepolis so far would be chapter 9 entitled “The Sheep. We’ve seen how close Marji’s and Uncle Anoosh have gotten. In this chapter we lose him, he is executed. He always says “everything will be alright”, something that Marji will also say later on. He never held back from talking with her instead of talking to her. Marji already knows that his trip wasn’t really a trip, it’s just what someone says to cover up what they can’t say. I loved the illustrations, especially the expression Marji makes when she finds out her uncle went on a “trip”. I also appreciated the conversations between Marji’s parents about going to the United States, it’s short but important. The life that they could have, would come with a lot of struggle and pain. What specifically led me to choose this chapter was how Marji yells at God himself, it’s very contrasting from her other conversations with God. She floats in space surrounded by darkness, and yells “shut up”. It’s an incredible way to illustrate how a child perceives the world, how unfair life is, how people die and how things end. After this chapter, there’s a shift I would say, from childhood to adolescence.

My favorite chapter in the graphic memoir, “Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi, is The Bicycle because it shows how Marjane really has to experience living in Iran.  After learning about the world leaders, Marjane and her classmates pretended a rebellion to make fun of the idea. This gives away the most important quote of the entire story: “The revolution is like a bicycle. When the wheels don’t turn, it falls.” That urges Marjane to study more about world politics to better understand the world and how they differ from Iran. I learned about Marjane and her family’s urge to protest against their heinous government. One of the government’s bad actions is that it burned down the cinema with 400 civilians trapped inside. The people know that it is the government’s doing by having the police surround the cinema and attack the people outside the cinema who simply wants to help the trapped ones. This urges Marjane to want to join her parent’s insurgence to take down the government.  This specific part of the story not only tells me about Marjane’s destiny but also her origin in how she may alter the diabolical country she stays in. Her inspiration from world leaders like Che Guevara, the co-leader who revolted Cuba, caused her to view the world’s politics as tangible and amendable as long as someone powerful is in control of the situation they are in.