RA Assignment

In the book "Persepolis" by Maryjane Satrapi, she writes a story in third person from the eyes of a young girl  in Iran during the Iranian revolution in 1979. The text is composed like a comic book with many pictures and minimal dialogue. The message is mostly conveyed in the pictures, and the dialogue pieces the helps the reader follow the story. The text is intended to show the reader what really happened in Iran during the revolution. This message is supported by telling it through the eyes of an innocent young child. The young girl is like any other child, in that, she is naive and curious, and very much a product of her environment.

In the story it shows the culture of Iran. It gives an inside view of how a family functions in their country. Some of the ways social classes impact the people of Iran, and how people in Iran dealt with the revolution as a family. The history of the revolution is covered in more detail than anything else, and I believe that is truly the intent of the author, to show the reader what happened. By showing what happened in Iran during the revolution through the eyes of a young girl, people get the perspective that feels unbiased.

The style of Satrapi's writing is academic, as well as informal. At times it does take on the tone a comic book by their being an undertone of humor, but it is primarily a serious text covering a serious piece of history.

Imposing Kindness

James Cone    

Instructor Stacy Knapp

English 1A

March 10, 2013

           

Throughout the history of man, pride has been the downfall of many great nations and societies. Allowing help from another person is not easy, and in fact, it goes against our primary instinct of self-preservation. “Like truculent adolescents, we do not want to be told how to do things, or have them done for us; we want to make our own, even fatal, mistakes” (15). It is hardwired in us to fight harder and to explore more avenues for a solution that is our own. Robin Fox expresses this idea in his article, “The Kindness of Strangers” as an example of why America’s efforts to cultivate democracy in Iraq was near impossible.

America is a country that strives on equality. It has gone through trials and tribulations, to then rise from the ashes into the democratic country that it is today. A beautiful progression that did not happen overnight. What happens when a country like the U.S. imposes its government on a country like Iraq? Iraq is a country that is suffering from the same growing pains that America did prior to its colonization.  Fox talks about the relationship between America and Iraq, and how sometimes well intentioned acts of kindness are not always well received. Sometimes the imposing of ones’ assistance or advice can be invasive.

Why is it Iraq is not willing to receive with open arms America’s great tidings of freedom and reform? First, in Iraq a random of act of kindness is a foreign concept. It is probably puzzling to them why people would want to go to serious lengths to help them. For example, the commonest of weddings in Iraq are often between cousins, even parallel paternal cousins. This is because close family is the only people that the Iraqi’s can truly trust (18). The idea of marrying a complete stranger is preposterous to them, and the idea of an entire nation wanting to help must be insane. 

Fox emphasizes that a country cannot be pulled from the grasps of a corrupt government even with the insistent help of another nation. He writes, “The goals set, beyond the toppling of Saddam, were impossible, and the real mystery is why our leaders ever thought they could be achieved. The administration may, by increased force and bribery…patch up some kind of ‘order’ for a while. But it cannot recreate the whole civil infrastructure and the sea change of values that underpin a functioning liberal democracy” (21). His claim is based on the fact, that even after relinquishing Saddam Huisan from his dictatorship, the violence in Iraq between the people and the government continues. 

 America’s efforts to implement democracy in Iraq is like lecturing to a person who has a drinking problem, but he/she is at the place in their life where they want to continue to drink. You cannot instill the desire to change in the person, it must come from within themselves.Fox concludes that Iraq is not ready for democracy. That we in America look to unity as a solution for a struggling nation, a concept that is not shared by the country of Iraq. They have not endured the turbulent phases that must come before a society can truly achieve democracy. America is trying to bypass this and make Iraq succumb to the same government as the United States.

           

Works Cited

1.    Fox, Robin. "The Kindness of Strangers." Society 44.6 (2007): 164-70. Print.

            

Reader Response #1

James Cone

Stacy Knapp

English 1A

March 02, 2013

I have started to read ‘Persepolis’ by Maryjane Satrapi. This novel is written from the point of view of a small girl who, from what I have gathered thus far, is coming to terms with the society she lives in. She introduces the novel by giving an overview of Irans history, and explains that she is writing this personal narrative to shine light on the stigma of Iran due to fundamentalism, fanaticism, and terrorism (Introduction, Persepolis). Her personal narrative begins at the age 10, in the midst of the Iranian revolution.

 I have appreciated this novel so far. I must admit that my only real interpretation of Iran is what I see on T.V.  It has been enlightening to read about Iran from someones personal experience as an Iranian citizen. It makes me realize that most information I receive is like the game telephone. Someone whispers one thing into the ear of another person, and they do the same. By the fifth or sixth person, the message has been distorted drastically.

It is shocking to compare and contrast the culture of Iran in this time period to America. Maryjanes parents are activist in the revolution. They go out and protest against the tyranny and dictatorship of their nation. On page 10 Maryjane and her friends mimic the demonstrations her parents attend in the streets of Iran. They dress up and shout, “Down with the king!, Down with the king!”(10). As Maryjane sits with her friends after they finish their make believe demonstration, she says, “The revolution is like a bicycle, when the wheels don’t turn, it falls”(10). Her family and the society she lives in encourages  her to rebel and instills thoughts of reform. In America, it’s the opposite. Conformity is our societies number one priority in my opinion. We go through our everyday lives abiding by societies rules and trust that we are not being misled. Rebellion is frowned upon mostly. It isn’t viewed the same way as in Iran. In America, rebellion is the act of going against what is right, in Iran at this time, it was going against what was wrong.

Only fourty pages into this novel and I have found much that I can relate with about this girl, even though her childhood was very different than my own. Like any small child, she is naïve, and she is puzzled by the world around her. She struggles to wrap her head around what the revolution is all about. I relate to this girl. I can remember watching grownups when I was younger, and trying fervently to comprehend what it is they were talking about. I think this is how Satrapi helps the reader realize that even though the culture of Iran is very different, that people are just people, no matter what the circumstances are.