Reader Response #2

Gamban 4

Amanda Gamban

English 1A

Professor Knapps

17 March 2013

Reader Response #2: Persepolis and Marjane’s Rebellion

            In the second half of the graphic novel Persepolis written by Marjane Satrapi illustrates how her own childhood was more affected by the revolutions Iran has imposed on the their people. Through the period of her life from ages 12-14 she experiences severe changes about not only her society but also her family and herself. She faces the Islamic Revolution (and it’s new regime), the Iraq War, and all of the side affects and turmoil’s that came along with them. Through Marjane perspective we see how she takes in all of the violence, rebellion, and newfound Islamic Laws. Marjane and her family still try to live their lives through all of the corruption their government has put on them. At this point Marjane education, way of living, family, and beliefs are on the line. She had no choice but to either conform to new these new ways or rebel.

The first drastic change that came after the Shah left was the new Islamic regime, which enforced strict laws based on the Islamic Religion. Laws such as changing the way people dress, education reform, and expel anything that had a western influence on society. This new movement had tremendously affected Marjane and her family due to their modern ways of living. They weren’t allowed to have parties, drink alcohol, dress western, and were forced to wear the veil again. She explained, “…[it was] to protect women from all the potential rapists, they decreed that wearing the veil was obligatory” (74). Marjane mother was a victim of men harassing her because she chose not to wear the veil one day. Some women believed it was for the best, while others thought it to be an invasion to their personal rights. Marjane wore the covering on her head at school, but started to rebel by showing strands of her hair. This was the beginning of her showing her beliefs about how she felt about the new government.

            Marjane beliefs started to grow and so did the beginning of the Iraq and Iran war. The war had first brought Marjane a strong feeling of devotion to protect and defend her country. She thought that it was necessary for Iran to win because of the history of the Arabs invading the Persians. As the war started to unravel she saw things that no child should ever have to see, such as bombings of her own town, loss of family and friends, and the sadistic persuasion Iran had to convince young boys to join the army. Her beliefs toward the war evolved into a realization that this war was wrong in so many ways. In the book she states, “[Iran] eventually admitted that the survival of the regime depended on the war. And when I think we could have avoided it…it makes me sick” (116). After her understanding of how many people didn’t have to die, she shows her resentment by smoking a cigarette. This simple act of smoking did not only represent her feelings toward the war, but a rebellion of her mother and the end of her youth.

            When Marjane was at the age of fourteen she had experienced so much pain and bitterness for her country, her beliefs became her morals and rebelled at any chance she could. Toward the end of the novel she strongly states, “After the death of Neda BaBa [a close family friend], my life took a new turn in 1984. I was fourteen and a rebel. Nothing scared me anymore”. (143) She embodied her morals and expressed her true feelings which got herself expelled at one school, but didn’t stop her of bringing them to the next school she attended. For someone who had been through so much, you could only imagine how she would carry herself around a system that is against everything she stands for. As Marjane showed her true thoughts and opinions she put herself in danger, which leads to her parents decision of her parents sending her to Vienna Austria. So then she could finish her French education and grow to become an independent woman.

            Throughout this novel we see Marjane mature into a resilient young woman. We see her develop her opinions to beliefs and her beliefs into strong morals that she will live by the rest of her life. Her childhood was the furthest thing from normal, but with a strong family and mindset she grew up to standup for herself and understand the whole truth of what was occurring in her country. He rebellious ways helped her grow up to become Marjane Satrapi instead of growing up in the eyes of how the government thinks she should have.

Full Narrative: Ayatollah Khomeini

Gamban 3

Amanda Gamban

English 1A

Professor Knapps

10 March 2013

Censorship of the Arts Narrative: Two Primary Goals of Ayatollah Khomeini 

            Ayatollah Khomeini was born in 1900 and through out his life he was a major influential religious leader and emphasized the importance of a true Islamic Country. Later on in his life he became the Islamic religious leader for Life in Iran. How Khomeini got there was by years of turmoil and repression the government had for him at the time. The Shah was the Domain Ruler of Iran from “1941-1979”(bbchistory.com) and his goals were to develop the country in to a more western and modern society by exporting Iran’s Oil, which only benefited the rich and elite. Ayatollah Khomeini strongly didn’t believe in the new pro-western movement and his beliefs against the Shah had him exiled from Iran from “1964-1979” (bbchistory.com). Even when Khomeini was out of Iran his followers were growing and becoming stronger by throwing protests and resilient movements. The Shah grew to be more and more hated as the people resisted, which led the Shah into exile and for only Khomeini to return. When Khomeini returned to Iran he started the Islamic Cultural Revolution and then took his place as “ highest-ranking official in the Islamic Republic [who was as God’s representative on earth]…”(Callamard).
            Khomeini strongly believed that this new Revolution was going to restore Iran to it's true self. So through Khomeini “divine and unconditionally authority to rue over the nation” (Callamard) he started with his two fundamental goals that would reform the country back to a pure Islamic Religious Republic he surely believed in. His two goals were derived from an Islamic conservative point of view.  According to Ruahollh Khomeini, “The first was the destruction of the alien and dependent (mostly western) value system that the Pahlavi regime and its ‘Western masters’ had forced on the Iranian people”(Siavoshi). His second goal was to restore the country in to an authentic Islamic culture, “…that would recapture the dignity of Iran as a Muslim country” (Siavoshi). Through his eyes these goals were for the best for the country of Iran (from a conservative standpoint), but his new plan would only make things harder for the Iranian people.

Khomeini's goals tremendously affected the people of Iran’s freedom of expression. Censorship of the arts, music, theater, literature, film, dance and other forms of expression began to take place in his new regime. He believed that anything that had influence from the West is an offense against the Muslim religion. “Ayatollah Khomeini wrote that expressions of Westernization, such as theatre and dancing, ‘rape the youth of our country and stifle in them the spirit of virtue and bravery”(Callamard). His beliefs to reform this country were so severe and extreme that there had to be certain councils to maintain his vision. The first council that was appointed was the Supreme Cultural Revolutionary Council (SCRA), which was in charge of regulating a “watchful eye” on art forms such as music, cinema, and literature (Callamard). The second council was the Ministry of Culture and Information Guidance (MCIG), which were “an elaborate system of councils that regulate and monitor every sphere of artistic expression”(Callamard). These councils have only have decreased the amount of freedom a person should have. The Iranian society are censored to the bone.

People of Iran are challenged with the fact that they lose the fundamental right of freedom of expression. How is an artist supposed to breathe under the conditions that the government has put on them? The answer to that is they can’t, without breaking any laws or the council scratching out every artistic idea. Ayatollah Khomeini goals have caused a major reversal of Iran’s society. From being allies with the West and reforming the country to a pro-western society with freedom of expression on the horizon to a pure Islamic Country. Where the religion dictates how people are supposed to live their lives. In the words of Stuart Jeffries from Landscapes of the mind, “Artistic revolution often takes place in those countries weighed down by restrictions…”. With Iran being contained by such a strong and dominant religious laws, problems can only build up. Only time will tell if a new revolution will take place with the people of Iran revenging their rights for freedom of expression.

PowerPoint

Works Cited

BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2013.

Jeffries, Stuart. "Landscapes of the Mind." The Guardian. N.p., 16 Apr. 2005. Web. 10 Mar. 2013.

H Naficy, ‘Islamicising Film Culture in Iran: A Post-Khatami Update’, in R Tapper (ed.), The New Iranian Cinema: Politics Representation and Identity( London: IB Tauris, 2002), 27.

Siavoshi, Sussan. "Cultural Policies and the Islamic Republic: Cinema and Book Publications." Int.J Middle East Stud. 29 (1997): n. pag. Web.

Callamard, Dr. Agnes .”Unvieled: Art and Censorship in Iran”. Article19.org,. Article 19 MENA Programme, 25 Sept. 2006. Web. 10 Mar. 2013

Reader Response #1

Gamban 3

Amanda Gamban

English 1A

Professor Knapps

3 March 2013

Reader Response #1: Persepolis

            Persepolis is the memoir of Marjane Satrapi; a grapic novel through the eyes of herself as a young girl living during the Islamic Revolution. Throughout the begging she shows us how she viewed the uprising of her people and the strong sadistic control of the government. As she is telling us about her country she is also showing us who she is at the time of all this chaos. She learns about the history, conflicts, and punishments that came from the revolution. Marji is so fascinated she wants so learn as much as she can, but what she doesn’t know is that she is discovering her self along with the process.

             The first encounter that she had with the new ways of her country was the change made within her school. Girls were now separated from the boys and had to wear veils. With this new reform in her school she is confused about why this is happening, she states, “I really didn’t know what to think about the veil, deep down I was very religious but as a family we were very modern and avant-garde.”(p.6) Marji being so young doesn’t know how she feels because of the conflicting areas that she is involved in. Any child would be confused of such a strong change of environment. Such as when you move and experience the first day of school without knowing what is going to happen. When most children would become afraid she only becomes more curios of what happened and what was to come.

            Marji being such a curios and imaginative girl she wants to learn as much as she possible can, in order to have a better understanding of the people of Iran. To consume so much knowledge she begins by reading books and asking her family about their experiences and stories. Marji was so “enlightened” but as she say’s confusingly in the book, “ I realized I didn’t understand anything..”. (p.32) Being so young or new to a setting it’s tougher to apply yourself properly to the situation. For me it’s learning a new language. You can learn all of the forms, phrases, and vocabulary but as soon as speaking the language it’s harder to say everything properly. By taking in so much information she didn’t know how so apply it in a real situation so she read as many books as she could possibly obtain the proper information she needed.

            When the dots started to connect she realizes that there is a type of social structure with in her culture and her family has been apart of it since she was born.  She was uncertain about the choice that her parents have made because of the closeness she has with the maid. Her disgrace that she had for the revolution was the same for the difference with in Iran’s social classes. (satrapi) Marji was torn between what she thought was right when her own parents didn’t agree with Marji’s view of social standards. Even though we don’t have that problem where we live, people do get caught up between different lifestyles and in some cases prove that they are better than others. Incases where the differences between social classes are so large that people don’t want to associate with the lower classes, which is a sad problem that people face all around the world whether the law enforces it or not.

             Growing up during this time of political repression and turmoil for the Iranian people is a hard childhood for such a young girl, but through Marji’s standpoint it was fascinating to learn and be apart of the of the change. Wherever people live they learn to adapt to their surroundings to live and survive for the better of the people. Reading about the hardships that people go through makes you appreciate what you have, but what interreges me even more is the different perspectives that you see. Marji gives us that experience of seeing her perspective. As she learning and experiencing the revolution and war, so are we.

(692 words)