Marjane Satrapi’s sequel Persepolis Essay

Marjane Satrapi’s sequel Persepolis and Persepolis 2 have become very famous due to their peculiar way of representing burning issues of contemporary society. In both books the author depicts the problems that she faced personally in her childhood and adolescence in a very impressive way. In Persepolis 2, which has the subtitle The Story of a Return, she describes her life in Austria, where she experienced all the vices of a dissipated life, and then her return home.

When she came back to Tehran, she saw the appalling difference between Eastern and Western worlds. Even more striking for her was to see the difference between the so-called “official representation” of the Islamic nation and the way people lived in reality.

The conflict of these two contradictory views is represented on the page under review. In the middle of the page there is a little square, in which we see a group of people in black against the white background. This is how others tend to see Islamic people. However, the major part of the picture is done in black color with white silhouettes, representing all the things that Islamic people in fact are interested in. The size of the square shows how little people know about the Islamic nation in comparison to what they really are. The use of colors is of particular interest on this page, as with the help of colors the author shows that the hidden side of eastern people’s life is in the shadow and it is a far larger part than apparent side, which is depicted in white.

To make a conclusion, we see that Marjane Satrapi managed to convey both the clash of two cultures and the conflict in the Islamic culture itself. By the example of one page we saw that using very simple means, such as black and white colors and different size of panels, the author emphasizes her ideas and conveys very significant messages, which help the readers better understand Islamic people.