Experiments in Visual Writing

The bottom panel in page 153 depicts a scene where Marjane is looking through the window at their parents in great distress. This panel stuck out to me the most because it was the scene where it shows the true depiction of her parents’ distress. This was especially emphasized as the previous few panels showed Marjane’s parents as normal, almost whimsical, to cheer up and assure their daughter whose about to leave Iran. It must have been especially as Marjane always looked up to their powerful person and always looks up to, and her view on her parents crumbles to see their parents absolutely devastated. It was also the climax of the reading, which shows the changing point of the plot, i.e. from Iran to Austria.

I believe the most important panel is the final panel of “The Dowry”. The scene shows the despair and sadness of Marjane’s mother and father as Marjane looks at them through an airport window. This scene is extremely important because it signifies a very pivotal in the story. The reader of the visual novel as this point realizes a start of a daunting and new future of Marjane. The panel evokes a lot of pathos with dark shadows cast over Marjane’s father’s eyes as well as her mother’s limp figure. What particularly struck me the most about the illustration is the figure of Marjane pressed up with her hands against the window. The window acts as if to represent a barrier that traps Marjane from being with her parents and her home, Iran.

In my opinion, the most important panel from today’s reading is the second one on page 151. While looking at her own reflection in the mirror, Marji is saying to herself, “I will always be true to myself.” She is already aware that she has to go to Austria, and what she says is the last piece of advice that her grandmother gave to her, as well as her father afterwards, before she left off. She has done what she believes was right such as calling out her religion teacher on teaching them lies. The fact that the “be true to yourself” was repeated may have been done purposefully. The moment she tells herself that encapsulates the moment since her life is about to have a drastic change so they must all make sure she must never forget who she is.

In my opinion, the most important panel from last night’s reading is the last one on page 143. In it, Marji is shown as having just punched the principal. In response, the principal screams “Satrapi, you’re expelled!” Because of this incident, Marji’s life takes a sudden turn. She can no longer stay in her school, and nowhere nearby seems willing to take her. In fact, her actions cause her to leave the country, away from her family, friends, and people. A great change in her way of life and thinking is bound to occur in Austria.

I think the most influential panel in this section of Persepolis is on page 148 in the middle row on the left. The panel is a picture of Marjane with her parents right after they tell her they want to send her to Austria. In this panel, her father says, “We love you so much that we want you to go.” This text sums up the experience for a young adult female like Marjane during this time in Iran. Her parents, with love in their hearts and hope in their voices, break the news to Marjane that she would live a better life abroad without them than if she were to stay in the pain-stricken land of Iran. They believed deeply in her French education and felt it was important to send her to a safer refuge in Europe where she could continue that education without fear of being bombed or losing her liberties. Austria could provide chances for Marjane that her parents could not. This realization brings with it a major turning point in the girl’s life as she journeys to Austria to start life anew—without war, without Iran, without her parents.

The most important panel from the past reading assignment is definitely panel #2 on page 151. This panel reads ‘I will always be true to myself’ and is said by Marji. Up until this point in the book, Marji has constantly questioned the system. She doesn’t understand why certain things are happening around her and so. She asks her parents what is happening, calls her teachers out in class about how their teachings are wrong, and goes against many of the unwritten rules of society in order to prove her point. Marji is being sent away to Austria while her entire identity and heart is in Iran. She knows that she must start over but also knows that in times like these, it is incredibly easy to lose a sense of who you are. Marji knows that she must be true to herself and this panel exemplifies this in a very straightforward way. The image in this panel is very basic.  It is simply  a photo of Marji looking at herself in the mirror. She isn’t smiling but instead giving a stern look, showing that she is serious about maintaining her identity even though she is leaving her home. As we continue reading, her identity will be changing but hopefully we are able to a sense of who she used to be (in Iran) peek through.

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I think that the panel on page 172 is the most important from the reading. It is the first time that Marjane truly feels accepted since she left Iran for Austria. Lucia invites Marjane to spend the break with her and her family. They are all intrigued by Marjane, however, it is a different intrigue from Marjane’s school friends. Her friends at school are only interested by the fact that Marjane has experienced war and death. At the same time, Marjane loved Lucia’s family because they were something she had never experienced before. They have many conversations, yet, the war in Iran is never brought up. At the end of the panel, Marjane considers herself a part of Lucia’s family. I believe this is the first time in the novel that Marjane is truly away from the fighting and issues going on in Iran.