“No scream in the world could have relieved my suffering and my anger” ( Satrapi, 142) The second part (of what my group divided the book) of The Complete Persepolis is very heavy. Two major events in her life are described.
The major event that the author, Marjane describes at the beginning of the second part of the book is about the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88). She describes how her next door neighbor's house was hit and destroyed by Iraqi scud-missiles, killing everyone inside. To portray this, Marjane uses a completely blacked out frame that forced me to stop reading and deeply process what has just happened. The text reads, “No scream in the world could have relieved my suffering and my anger” (142). Just as no scream could reveal her suffering, no image was powerful enough to do so either. The comic format of the book, to an extent, separates me from the tragic elements. I often find myself having to stop reading, put the book down on my lap, flip to the about-the-author blurb and remind myself that what I'm reading actually happened. When the reality of it sinks in I get melancholy, and I continue reading.
The other main event in Marjane's life that she explains is her move to Europe and her transition into the Western culture. I have to admit, that I was saddened when I read Marjane's account on leaving her family behind in war-torn Iran. Marjane says that ''Saying goodbye is a little like dying.” (Satrapi, 153). Personally, I can't relate with that statement. I always assume that when I say bye to someone I will see them again. However, in Marjane's situation, she can't be certain.
Marjane's describes the differences she faces when she moves to Austria. As soon as Marjane arrived she was faced with a language barrier. I enjoyed reading her experiences in Austria; a lot of the text was actually in German, and was simple enough for me to understand it. I got a kick out of being able to read a book that had two languages. It was not only the language that made her feel uncomfortable, but it was the entire culture. The anarchic, punk culture she encounters in Austria is revealed so well in the imagery that when my brother did his daily barge-into-Luke's-room routine he looked at the pages of the book and suddenly asked me ''what the f*ck are you reading?! That book looks so weird...''
Here are the pages of The Complete Persepolis that he saw.
Page 187
Page 188
Looking at these pages I can see why my brother was so surprised/weirded out by them. This is a really weird part of the book. Does anyone else think this part of the book is weird? Leave a comment!
I still have a third of the book left to read and I am hoping that it's level of weirdness goes down, so that the next time my brother barges in my room he wont ask me what ''the f*ck'' I was reading.
I still have a third of the book left to read and I am hoping that it's level of weirdness goes down, so that the next time my brother barges in my room he wont ask me what ''the f*ck'' I was reading.
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