Persepolis Panel: 2/2/15
“I didn’t want to look up. I looked at my trembling legs. I couldn’t go forward, like in a nightmare” (Satrapi 140).
I feel like this particular panel on page 140 was important in the development of the story. It really showed how Marji has been trying to take her mind off of the bombings by the Iraqis by going shopping and admiring materialistic items. However, when she heard that a missile exploded in the neighborhood where she lived, she quickly sprinted out of the store, leaving behind the jeans that she had already paid for behind. She realized that having her parents right next to her is the most she could ever ask for, especially during this time when everything she holds dear to her is on the edge of being destroyed. There was a 50/50 chance that her house could’ve been the one bombed and she never would have been able to see her parents again. Her parents also reciprocated that same fear for Marji. What if Marji was killed in the next bombing? This followed by other events led to Marji’s parents making the difficult decision to send Marji to Austria. They realized that it was better to send their daughter far away then to be close by and constantly having the fear of being the next one killed.