Persepolis + White

Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, I found to be such an enjoyable read. It in so many ways reminded me of myself as a child struggling with the idea of God and politics. Marjane does such an excellent job of using this autobiography to relate to her audience. I am going to use White's idea in finding the appeal to an autobiography to shape this blog. In many instances we find ourselves questioning beliefs that we have either been brought up with or taught within society in younger ages. For Marjane I believe she used this to make the audience feel a greater sense of involvement throughout the text, for they can relate strongly to that feeling of loss and/or confusion of such strong beliefs. On page 71 you see Marjane floating in an epitome of nothingness, with stars and spaceships floating around her in space to help symbolize that effect, and I know personally for me I felt a strong sense of loss myself, for I know I have felt that myself at one time.

Do you believe, that in using God/religion as a source in making this autobiography more appealing to the audience, that it ties in well with White's idea of autobiographical appeal? i tossed this idea around in my head in our class discussion of Persepolis and felt this was a great way to ease my feelings on the subject.

My personal interpretation of White's autobiographical appeal is that in using certain tools, such as religion, it draws the audience into that time so much more for they can relate to what it is that person or society as a whole is feeling. On page 115 there is an image of a man lying on his back, shrieking in pain with black holes seen along his arms with the caption "The one that struck me the most by its gory imagery was: 'To die a martyr is to inject blood into the veins of society.'" This appeals to me, as I am sure it does to many others, because it reveals that sense of religion being betrayed by paraphernalia that young children were and are still subjected to. It is not simply the words that strike, yet they do that quite well, but the image that makes me squirm in my seat. I believe White would agree with me when I say that this portrayal of religion in that particular setting makes this autobiography appealing to a wide range audience.

Another example of the use of appeal in this comic is rebellion. Allow me to use the example of page 106 to reveal my thoughts on this idea. I know I was giggling as I saw them all dancing and partying, with the cleaning lady feeling guilty for crushing grapes for wine in the bathroom. It's such a far fetched idea to me that enjoying eachother's company through music, laughter, dancing, and friends would be illegal. This made me want to rebel with the characters in the graphic novel as well.

Using tools such as religion and rebellion in Marjane's Persepolis created a strong sense of appeal that I feel White would agree with as well. I hope you all enjoyed my interpretation of White and Satrapi's autobiographical appeal and thanks for reading yet again. I will leave you with a image I feel symbolizes my thoughts on this subject well.