Persepolis: Rebelling Against It All

In Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel, Persepolis, several themes are presented to the reader from both the pictures and the next. I love the illustrations and how well they work with the short text and found myself very surprised with how entertaining this book ended up being. In the book, many stories and struggles are presented, such as the Islamic revolution, issues with school, the war between Iran and Iraq, and Satrapi’s struggle with growing up and bumping heads with her parents. In my opinion, the strongest and most evident theme that arises from all of these situations in the novel is that of rebellion. Rebellion is constantly seen, in many different shapes and forms, all throughout this book.

One example of this comes from the very beginning of the novel (page 3) when Satrapi discusses how as a result of the Islamic Revolution, in 1980, the females became obligated to wear veils in school. The illustration at the bottom of the page paints a perfect picture of rebellion where you can see the children using their veils as reins and jump ropes, and basically making a mockery of the entire situation. This rebellion against the rules and the veil repeats several times throughout the novel when it mentions and illustrates the women wearing veils with some of their hair showing, which is not how it is supposed to be worn.

Another example of rebellion comes later in the novel (page 128) when Satrapi’s parents are trying to bring her something special back into Iran from their trip to Turkey. Before their trip, Satrapi asked for some posters and her parents made sure that they could meet her desires by doing whatever they had to. The series of 4 pictures shows Satrapi’s mother tearing out the lining of her husband’s coat, placing the posters inside, and then sewing the lining back in. It then shows Satrapi’s father standing there with wide, pointy shoulders because of the poster, which is one of the most hilarious illustrations in the book. Going through customs, her parents are faced with the accusation that they are smugglers, to which they eventually talk themselves out of and board the plane. They did whatever they had to do to make their daughter happy and excited in the hard times that she was going through. Satrapi’s parents rebelled against the rules and lied to the man and customs and it was actually a very touching moment in the novel to me.

These two aforementioned examples were only a very small portion of the many instances where rebellion was illustrated throughout Persepolis. I noticed in this story that a lot of what was going on in this novel could have, and probably did, happen in the United States in the 1980s and moving forward. The youth in this book embrace pop culture and style and try to attain approval and social status from their peers, which reminds me very much of how I have grown up. Other relatable examples are Satrapi arguing with her parents, the characters having extreme patriotism for their country during the war, and instances where Satrapi got in trouble at school. All of these remind me of personal experiences in my own life and I think that gave me an odd new acceptance for the people or Iran. I have found that although the details of their issues may differ from ours, overall, they are normal people—a lot like Americans, in fact.

The Moviegoer: What Happens to Binx?

At the end of Walker Percy’s novel, The Moviegoer, Binx decides to end his “search” and claims that, “as for my search, I have not the inclination to say much on the subject” which leaves the reader wondering what exactly made him stop his search for something more. Did he feel as if he had failed and would never find the answer to his search, or did something happen that made him feel as if his search was no longer necessary because he found what he was looking for? I believe that by the end of The Moviegoer, Binx has actually had some form of religious shift and has found God. I also believe that in the context of The Moviegoer, Binx has experienced two of the three stages of existence that Kierkegaard describes in his explanation of Christian Existentialism.

At the beginning, and throughout the bulk of the novel, Binx finds himself doing everything is his power to escape “everydayness” although he actually falls into it quite often, such as seeing the same people regularly and going to work daily. Before the novel begins, I feel like Binx is a man who is just typically normal and lives the everyday life like most others around him. When the book begins, he is becoming bored with that lifestyle and starts looking for something more, which leads me to believe that he is experiencing the first stage of Christian Existentialism, which is the aesthetic. He spends his days stuck in the mode of everydayness and often feels empty and can no longer stand it. This angst that Binx is experiencing shows that he is living in the aesthetic stage and has become overwhelmed and begins his search to move on from this phase of his life.

The second stage of existence is the ethical stage, which I do not believe Binx necessarily experiences in the way that Kierkegaard describes it. Binx is a man of his own rules and although he does not necessarily do horrible things or commit crimes, some of his actions show that he is not necessarily living up to a high moral standard. Binx is a selfish person and often has sexual encounters with women he could seemingly care less about. Trying to be good does not seem like something Binx really cares or thinks about.

The third stage of Kierkegaard’s list is the religious stage. Although the ending of the book is kind of ambiguous as to what actually happens with Binx, I believe that he experiences the religious stage and begins to have faith in God. The one person in Binx’s life that he often talked about religion with is Lonnie, who despite his confinement to a wheelchair is a very religious and faithful person. He helps Binx tremendously in his “search” and when Lonnie passes away, I think it becomes evident that Binx has actually accepted the existence of God. After Lonnie dies, the children ask Binx if Lonnie will be in a wheelchair or like them when he gets into Heaven. Binx responds to them by saying, “he’ll be like you”. Throughout the book, Binx is straightforward and honest with the reader, so by admitting that Lonnie will not be in a wheelchair in Heaven, shows that Binx is accepting that there is such thing as Heaven and God.

Looking at Kierkegaard’s stages of Existentialism after reading The Moviegoer helped me to make some stronger connections with parts of the novel that I had originally not found any meaning in. Binx is a character that I feel almost everyone could relate to in some form or fashion and I truly believe that his “search” came to an end because he found something much bigger than him or his problems-- God.