Diaz 1

Steven Diaz

Prof. Kane

English 113A TTh

8 November 2018

E2.1

Marjane Satrapi’s book Persepolis 2 has convinced me to revise my own preconceived

notion of Iran and Iranians because America’s viewpoint of Iran is explained differently than the

people’s perspective who live in Iran. Marjane explains how Iran is a more than a country of

“fundamentalism, fanaticism, and terrorism” and how a nation should not be judged for the

actions of few extremists. Iran may not be the wealthiest or strongest country, but they do have a

city full of love and hope from their citizens and environment. My perspective of Iran has

changed, seeing how they dress and how you should not be with a significant other until

marriage and how one simple thing can lead to madness, led me to seeing another point of view.

Although some may say that Iranians “...have no education” or have no “manners,”

according to Persepolis 2 on page 23, they are just as normalized as the rest of us in the world.

Many people can argue that the Iranian government is what makes the Iran one of the worst

countries, but what you don’t see is the hardworking families who believe that one day Iran will

be a nation of peace. Many citizens in Iran have died from the unusual cruelty from their own

government and military forces, but that will not stop the country of Iran on becoming a stable

country in the near future. With the right government placed and less extremists, Iran will one

day be a stable country. Iran is just like us, they deal with government issues about uncertain

laws or people.
 Diaz 2

Marjane takes pride when she tells people that she is from the city of Tehran, Iran.

Although she was forcibly removed from her country and traveled to Vienna due to heavy

conflicts within Iranian government, Marjane still remained true to herself. Iran’s rules,

regulations, and beliefs are far beyond any other country because they do not have the same

amount of freedom as the rest of us. On page 2 of Persepolis 2 Marjane claimed that Lucia was a

“traitor” for simply putting on lipstick and asking if Marjane would like some, this proves the

freedom that is different between Iran and Vienna. Marjane went through a big switch when she

left Tehran, she no longer wore her tunic, no longer lived with her parents, she can go out to

party and drink and smoke with her friends, she had no one that relied on her and that made a

huge impact to her life. She felt as if she had all the freedom in the world.

Citizens in Iran when Marjane returned home, were at disbelief of what the country had

come down too. Marjane’s father stated, “...Iraq began bombing Tehran everyday, as if it were

necessary to destroy as much as possible before it was over” on page 100, explaining how Iraq

took full control of the country of Iran. Disaster led for most part of Iran when this had happened

and the Iranian government didn’t respond to this situation. “Between 500,00 and 1,000,000”

were killed in the tragic war and many more were disabled, according to page 103. Seeing

numbers like these would slay the minds of Iranians, but not Marjane’s father, who said

positively, “But all that is behind us. We must go forward now. We must rebuild everything.”

Marjane’s father is a perfect example of true Iranian citizen who believes that Iran can get better

even after its tragic loss or mistakes. It is difficult for somebody who just lost so many to be wise

and look at what’s ahead when it looks like there is no path to go through.
 Diaz 3

The country of Iran is very different from countries like the United States of America or

Vienna because the country is not stable or powerful. Citizens in Iran have to suffer because their

country is not good enough and their rulers cannot rise them to the top. Not all Iranians are

terrorists or monsters, they are very controlled with their beliefs they praise. Iranian citizens are

just as normalized as the rest of the people in this world. Although they have regulations where

they cannot do a thing until a point in time, some of them do so anyways. Iran may be in some

trouble most of the time but they are no different from us.