The Final Stop of the Great Historic Tour of Iran: Connections to Persepolis
Sheikh Lotfallah Esfahan. 11 Feb. 2007. Photograph. Wikimedia Commons. Web. 13 Feb. 2013.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sheikh_Lotfallah_Esfahan.JPG>.
Persepolis. 2000. Photograph. Collection. Bfgb. By Marjane
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Marjane Satrapi attempted to provide the readers of her graphic novel Persepolis with a different view on Iranian society and confront the stereotypes the Western world commonly holds against Iran. In order to achieve this purpose, Marjane Satrap incorporated many historical events and facts in her novel to provide the reader with context to understand how the modern Iranian nation was established. Among several connections, the one connection between Persepolis and Zoroastrianism is religious doctrines that Marjane Satrapi has integrated into her own edition of a holy book similar to Koran. Although Zoroastrianism was the ancient religion established around 500 BCE and was abolished from the state religion status during the Sassanid empire, Zoroastrianism has retained its existence through traditional fire ceremony and passed on its teachings through generations. Among the inherited religious rules, it includes three basic rules Satrapi has incorporated, which are the followings: “Behave well, speak well, act well.” (Satrapi) Incorporating with Zoroastrian rules, Satrapi implied her internal struggle on religious standards that segregate the role of male and female and questioned the meaning of religion’s existence from immature perspective. In addition, Islam was a critical force in history that influenced Iranian invasions, prosperity and cultural interactions during the Arab invasions in Iran, the Sassanid Empire and the Safavid Empire. We also see that the importance of religion is evident in Persepolis. Persepolis also emphasizes the importance of Islam, as did the Safavid Empire, in forming the Iranian society. Because the Safavid dynasty firmly established Shi’a Islam as its official religion, the Iranian government is based on a religious theocracy and allows the religious heads to hold more authority than other political leaders. Modern Iran is similar to the historic Islamic dynasties in that Islam was used as a way to govern the people and unite them. Another aspect we can connect the history of Iran and the book Persepolis is the Islamic Revolution. The setting of Persepolis is during the Revolution and how much war influenced people’s lives during that era. With so many other countries’ intervention and interference during this period, Iran’s main purpose was to remain neutral and be able to lead and control their own country by themselves. This theme is very similar to Marjane’s goal of life: which is to follow her uniqueness and individuality although her environment makes it difficult to actually achieve. Overall, Persepolis’ major themes, such as individuality, religious restrictions, and women’s rights all are connected to the constant struggles Iran had in its course of history, especially the foreign interventions and the numerous cultural diffusions it had through its prosperous empires.
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