Persepolis

The story begins in 1980 in Tehran, Iran, when Satrapi is 10 years old, one year after the revolution. Satrapi and her all-female classmates are now required to wear the veil to school, and many either do not like to wear it or do not understand why they now must. Earlier in 1980, coed bilingual schools like Satrapi’s were closed because they were seen as “symbols of capitalism” (4); Satrapi now attends an all-girls school.

Rulings like these spark protests in the streets. Satrapi’s mother is photographed among demonstrators, leading her to dye her hair and disguise herself in public.

Satrapi is unsure what to think about the veil. As a six-year-old, Satrapi believed she was a prophet: “I wanted to be a prophet because our maid did not eat with us. Because my father had a Cadillac. And, above all, because my grandmother’s knees always ached” (6). She created her own holy book, taken from Zarathustra and Persian holidays, and talked to God—illustrated as an old man who cradles Satrapi in his arms—every night before bed.

In the year of the revolution, Satrapi gives up her decision to become the next prophet. She illustrates herself and her friends in Che Guevara-esque clothing with guns as they pretend to be famous socialist leaders and play “demonstrations” outside.

Satrapi’s father tells her about how Iran was subjected to “2,500 years of tyranny and submission” by its emperors (11), Arab invasions, Mongol invasions, and British imperialism. Her family bought her books about revolutionaries, Palestine, and other subjects—including a comic book called “Dialectic Materialism,” which illustrated both Marx and Descartes. Satrapi still has conversations with God, noticing the way she pictures him looks the same as Marx does in her comic book.

One night, Satrapi eavesdrops on her parents talking about how the Rex Cinema burned down during a crowded showing of a movie, killing 400 civilians. The doors were locked, and police kept outsiders from rescuing the people inside. The shah blames religious extremists, while other Iranians blame the shah for the tragedy. When Satrapi’s parents mention demonstrations the next day, Satrapi barges in to say she wants to demonstrate too. They refuse and put her back in bed, where she cries, mentioning that God does not visit her that night.

Every day, Satrapi’s parents are part of the demonstrations, which steadily grow more violent. In the text, these events are paired with illustrations of both soldiers and demonstrators, drawn as identical in repeating patterns. Satrapi tells her parents she chooses to side with the king because he was chosen by God, which she learned in school. Her father tells her that this is not true and then tells her the “truth” of how the shah came to power, coupled with drawings of past events.

Reza Shah wished to create a “republic” by aligning himself with the British, who were interested in Iranian oil. The country needed a religious symbol in Reza Shah. Satrapi’s father tells her, “God has nothing whatsoever to do with this story” (21). In other words, the shah was not chosen by divine right. Her father reveals that Satrapi’s great-grandfather was the emperor whom the current shah’s father, Reza Shah, overthrew.

Satrapi is captivated by the idea that her grandfather was a prince, as evidenced by the adjacent swirly, whimsical drawing style. However, her father tells her it was not so simple. The shah appointed Satrapi’s grandfather to be prime minister, but her grandfather subsequently became interested in communism. As a result, her grandfather was frequently sent to prison and sometimes tortured in a jail cell full of water. Satrapi’s mother says she lived in fear of her father being sent to prison during her childhood. Satrapi is so rattled by these stories she decides to take a long bath to understand what her grandfather endured.

Satrapi is surprised one day when she comes home from school to find her grandmother visiting. She asks her grandmother about her grandfather’s time in prison, which her grandmother says was particularly tough. The shah’s father took everything away from them, forcing the family into poverty, and Satrapi’s grandmother took up sewing to make ends meet.

She tells Satrapi that “since the dawn of time, dynasties have succeeded each other but the kings always kept their promises. The shah kept none” (27). The shah invoked ancient Persians like Cyrus the Great and planned to restore the “splendor” of Persia. Satrapi wishes her grandmother would tell her more about her grandfather, but she avoids Satrapi’s questions.

Meanwhile, Satrapi’s mother is concerned about her husband, who went out to photograph demonstrations but has not yet returned home. Satrapi worries her father is dead. When he returns home, he tells them he witnessed something amazing: a dead man’s body being carried out of a hospital by a demonstrating crowd. They said it was the body of a revolutionary martyr, but the dead man’s wife cried out that he died of cancer. The widow began demonstrating alongside the others. The adults laugh, but Satrapi does not understand why this is funny, so she vows to keep reading until she understands what is happening around her.