With the institution of new governments, there is always the preconceived notion that one politician alone can single-handedly possess too much power. Politicians use their political stance to speak on issues that can alter the fate of a nation. Since politicians have so much power they can transform any situation to convince the people to follow their bidding, regardless if it is done with good intentions or bad ones. Politicians have made this achievable by mastering the use of imposing fear and violence. These ideals leave people questioning their moral and ethical values and beginning to regard them as a cesspool. Finally turning to believe politicians and their ambitions.
Marjane Satrapi explains the spread of ideology in Iran from the perspective of Marji, a ten-year-old girl, who explores what it is like to actually grow up in the country of Iran under the Shah Rule. In the novel Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi expresses strong contrary views through the use of the government to convince the population of Iran that it is indeed corrupt. Satrapi communicates through her text that there are strong contrary views of the Iranian government through the abuse of political power. Furthermore, Iran regulates everything, they control all of the media outlets, which the government creates propaganda that is convincing. With the restriction of freedom of speech for people in Iran, whoever decides to oppose the regime receives punishments.
Bringing about the strict and controlled environments in the segregated classrooms of Iran the education and religious ideals that are taught are biased and are fundamentalist ideals. Shown on page 3 on the second panel, depicting the sadness and the worried faces of the children. All of the children are wearing veils, they also all have either worried eyes or closed eyes, which shows that they have the willingness to be blind to reality. The children are also all dressed in black and essentially the same uniform, showing a forced unity that the government has ordered for the students to wear a full black colored uniform, to characterize Iran is strong, unified nation, as Satrapi depicts.
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The influence of the political government on children through education regulation is on the extreme side, as the children have been brainwashed by the Iranian government. This is displayed on panels 1 through 5 on page 19, more or less the panels illustrated from the point of view of Marji, that the king was chosen by god, which she learns from her teacher and god himself. Marji’s father then tells Marji that it isn’t true, which infuriates her then astonished says “He did so! It is written on the first page of our school book” (Satrapi). Satrapi uses the visual aspect to portray the dark-colored panels which are a symbol that depicts a change. Furthermore, with the monotone facial expressions deliberately to show the dramatic effect of the lack of emotion, because Marji would never want to do anything that would go against god.
Marji’s father also has a consistent monotone facial expression throughout the panels and this can lead to the conclusion of him being immune to these sayings, and that he expected for this to happen, including that it is nothing new to him. These deeds could be done only with through the means of political power and powerfully convincing. There is also a slight confusion in Marji’s thinking, remembering that she is a vulnerable and a gullible child. Marji’s father has a persistent monotone facial expression throughout the panels. The Iranian government has created political and ethical tensions throughout the novel, without the population’s knowledge, because they’re essentially indoctrinated to the conditions present.
Satrapi indicates that there are ethical controversies in the Iranian government, contrary to popular belief among the Iranian population. The Shah regime of Iran relies on fear to control their citizens. They control everything, for instance, they pressure the population into wearing specific clothing, following strict religious observances, and not socializing with people of the opposite gender leisurely, which can arise many ethical issues. In the novel Persepolis, pages 75 and 76 best portray the ethical control the Iranian government has on its citizens the first two panels on page 75 represent the difference between the fundamentalist man or woman against the modern man or woman.
Satrapi quite literally creates a chart to differentiate between the two classifications of the population, “The way people dressed became an ideological sign, there were two kinds of women, there were also two sorts of men” (Satrapi). The way that Satrapi chose her diction to illustrate the contrast between both of the categories of people to show either the extremists that obey the law, compared with the progressives that follow the law but find loopholes, and bend the law. This manipulation can cause many immoral acts among the population, especially in the children as it is laid out on the sixth and seventh panel on page 75.
On the panels, Satrapi embodies how Marji’s mother strictly orders Marji, especially through the swaying motion of the mother’s finger as well as looking down on Marji in disappointment, to order Marji to tell people that she prays during the day, due to the instilled fear that is present. Later on, the seventh panel when there are two boys that appeal to her, regarding how many times a day that she prays, which one of the boys announce that he prays five times a day. Marji is clearly flustered as she responds with “Me? ten or eleven times… sometimes twelve” (Satrapi).
This causes her to be nervous, which is why Marji’s stance is weak plus she is looking downwards and is why she leads on with her response. Although she is doing what she has to survive in the bitter community of Iran. Despite that the seventh panel is critical to the novel, it is crafted as any other ordinary panel. The Iranian people not only have their government to fear, but they’re in constant fear of attacks from other countries as well. Death of soldiers are exploited for political gains, such as on pages 31 and 32, there is a man who is allegedly killed during a demonstration but in reality, died of cancer the widow reports. Regardless, he was idolized afterward and called a martyr, hero by the crowd in the vicinity.
The widow although knew that this was unethical, joins the crowd and starts to demonstrate as well with the others. As Marji’s father tells the adults of the family about the incident, they all react in laughter. As Marji hears it and joins in the laughs although she does not understand how cancer, death and is something to laugh about. The influence of the government on children is so powerful that it fills thoughts such as dying for one’s country is good and that everyone should join the army because they will be respected forever. Marji experiences the death of her next-door neighbor here on page 142.
The building next door to the one Marji lives in is demolished by a bomb with her neighbors inside, as she notices the turquoise bracelet that belongs to her. Death is a way of life in Iran, but it was never easy for Marji to work with it. This is the closest young Marji has ever come to death, and she doesn’t know how to deal with it. This chapter ends with a black panel, showing us that there are no words, or even images, to express the fear, anger, and grief that she is experiencing. The police in Iran are not instituted to protect the people, but instead, they exist to protect the best interests of the government by instilling fear into everyone else. Iranian police brutality is common, Satrapi depicts it on pages 108-110, where after Marji’s family are driving home, the police stop them and inspect the father.
They suspect he has been drinking and use slurs like “westernized trash” (Satrapi), due to the tie he was wearing and his breath. These complications lead to a potential life and death situation with Marji’s father, but the Grandmother seems to know exactly what to do in this kind of situation, and in the end, is resolved. The vast influence that the government negatively had on Iran can be seen through the corrupt impact on education, and lack of moral values that have been rooted in the Iranian population.
Satrapi’s contrary views about the corrupt Iranian government are proven through the political and ethical standpoints throughout the novel. With the Iranian government using politics and ethics against the people, these inbred ideals make it a hard choice to continue to live in Iran. Which is why Marji is sent to Europe for her own better, because she would get educated, furthermore be able to continue the legacy of their family name.
