Persepolis

1. What is the historical context for the story Persepolis? Discuss the entire history of Iran as told in Persepolis.
Everything is going really good for Marji. She is spending time with her friends and having fun until the Reza Shah comes to power. He takes away freedom the Iranians. Now, boys and girls are separated at school, and rules became more strict. People begin to protest against the new ruler, and a lot of people get killed. They were protesting for freedom, but the Shah was unhappy with their protests, so he killed many of them. Finally, the Shah got kicked out of power and the people were happy, but then religious people come into power and the new government is a theocracy. They force women to wear a veil. They said women's hair gave them away and causes them to get molested and harassed. Their hair gave away their beauty and if they were to cover up their hair they would cover up their beauty. The religious leaders said women would have less harassment if they wore the veil. The women were unhappy and protested by wearing a rebellious veil that only came to their shoulders and showed some of their hair. Then later on Marji and her family went to Europe because her parents suspected there would be a war. When they returned to Iran a war between Iran and Iraq had begun.

2. What are the experiences Marji endures in the text and how do those experiences shape her perceptions of her family, her country, and herself?
Marji is a person who likes to be free. She likes to explore and be herself, but now she is unable to do that because of the new theocracy. She can't express herself because they say women have to keep to themselves. She is frustrated and stubborn, so she does not give up her expressive side easily. She does not have a great relationship with her family. She keeps a lot to herself and shares her dreams with God about being a prophet. She does not talk to her family because she does not trust them because they are very busy and are protesting against the government. To want to be a prophet is not really allowed when you are a girl, so she think they will make fun of her dreams and get mad at her, so she tells them she wants to be a doctor instead of a prophet. Marji wants to leave Iran and go to the United States because her friend lives there, and she would have more freedom. She can't because the government closed the borders and airports. Marji stays in Iran with her grandma while her parents go to Turkey. When they come back, they decide to take her to Vienna to be with one of her mother's best friends, so she will stay safe and not get hurt during the war.

3. What do you think happens to Marji when she heads to Vienna? Write the remaining story of her life up unto the time she writes this text in 2002.
I think she is going to get lost in the airport, and when she finds Zozo (her mother's friend), she will go with her and try to call her mom to tell her she made it safely. I also think that when she gets there a lot of people are going to make fun of her because she would talk in an accent, and also because of her veil and the war. She will fight back when people make fun of her and it will get her into a lot of trouble. I also think that she is going to go though a lot of problems while her parents stay in Iran for the next few months. Marji will go to school in Vienna, but she will be made fun of because she wears a veil over her hair. She is going to start to get very worried about her parents especially since they do not come back to Vienna for a few years. They are hurt when they finally return, but she will help take care of them. The war would be over, and Marji will be very happy again. Then, they will move to the United States, and she will find her friend and experience the freedom she had always wanted.