Persepolis by Marjane SatrapiPersepolis, by Marjane Satrapi is an autobiographical story of a girl's youth during the Iranian revolution of 1969. Like a graphic novel, Satrapi accompanies her text with images, drawn in simplistic fashion in comic format. This is very effective in showing his perception of Iran during the revolution period. The black and white drawings depict scenes of intense violence, emotion and imagination. “Satrapi's super-naive style is powerful; persuasively communicates confusion and horror through the eyes of a precocious preadolescent” (Press, www.villiagevoice.com/books/0319.press.43844.10.html, 2) The seemingly childish images that Satrapi used in drawing Persepolis serve as a tool effective in conveying his powerful emotions and opinions regarding the state of life he endured during the Iranian Revolution. Marji, as Satrapi calls herself, is the daughter of two Marxist intellectuals living in Tehran. She is blessed with many freedoms that other children her age lack. In the opening pages of Persepolis he believes he is the last prophet. One frame depicts her image of herself as this prophet, where the sun manes her head and people bow before her stature, proclaiming her heavenly light. This dreamy sense of self slowly diminishes as the book progresses through the stages of war and tragedy. After the overthrow of Marji's great-grandfather's monarchy by Shah Reza, Iran became the scene of a series of unjustifiable prejudices against women and non-supporters of the teachings of the Shah's regime. All Iranian women were forced to wear a veil, called a chador, to cover their hair, which was thought to be a tool of seduction...... middle of paper....... The powerful emotion that comes shown in Satrapi's depiction of her childhood self could hardly be rivaled even in some of the best non-fictional texts. The comic style allows her to show the reader exactly what she experienced, without him having to imagine it. This is truly a medium that could give many artists a more affective means of self-expression, and could easily be leveraged to do so. Works consulted1. Eberstadt, Frenanda. “God looked like Marx.” May 11, 2003. http://query.ntimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E03EFD61F3DF932A25756C0A9659C8B63 (9/24/06)2. Press, Joy. “Veil of Tears”. May 2, 2003. http://www.villagevoice.com/books/0319.press.43844.10.html (24/9/06)3. Theokas, Christopher. “Persepolis” paints Iran from a child's point of view. USA TODAY. http://www.usatoday.com/lite/books/review/2003-08-06-persepolisx.htm (9/24/06)