In Marjane Satrapi‘s Persepolis, Marjane, the main character is set out on a journey as a child to reach her destination to become a prophet, Her prophet nature can be seen by her relationship with her God, being a rebel against the revolution, and her desire to show Iran in a true light. She becomes the messenger of truth and shares her voice. Regardless of her country being at war with Iraq and losing her relationship with God, she is still sent to get her message delivered by becoming her own person. She is very rebellious and stays true to her beliefs. She is then sent to Vienna, where she continues to tell her story. Though Marjane does not become a prophet in a spiritual figure, she does become a prophet by spreading her knowledge and showing the Western side of the world what Iran is really like Marjane accomplishes becoming a prophet by writing her book “Persepolis” because the book itself is getting her story across to people all over the world.
From a very young age, Marjane is certain she wants to be a prophet, She wants to be a messenger of God and wants to help everyone that she can. Marjane states, “ I wanted to be a prophet because our maid did not eat with us because my father had a Cadillac. And above all, because my grandmother’s knees always ached”. She wants everyone to be equal and wants her maid to eat with her and her family instead of being segregated, She wants everyone to have wealth, just like her dad, since he has a Cadillac. Above all, she does not want anyone to be suffering and wants to take the pain away, just like when her grandmother’s knees ache. The Oxford Dictionary describes the word Prophet as “A person regarded as an inspired teacher or proclaimer of the will of God.” Saying she wants to be a prophet seems unheard of, but she is still passionate about it.
She would lie and say she wants to be a doctor as a cover-up for her internal interest, Her relationship with her God is her scapegoat. It was her own internal way of connecting with someone on a more personal level, She could tell stuff to God that is not easy to say to her parents or her friends. She would constantly talk to God and connect with him while telling him her life incidents Rahul Harold states “God and Marx internally, speaking to each as a disembodied head each night, as externally she watches the world and values of her progressive parents crumble” (Harold). As her story continues her relationship with God is gone, by losing this relationship it shows that Marjane is more independent and learning to rely on herself as a person. Though she does not continue to pursue being a prophet in a spiritual manner she builds herself to be a prophet of truth, the messenger of truth Marjane is independent and knows that she has to stand up against the regime in power.
She is very strong willed and does not let anyone tell her otherwise Marjane even says to herself, “I had learned that you should always shout louder than your aggressor”. She describes her aggressor as being the revolution and she is learning to scream louder by being more powerful than the regime itself. She is against all the rules that have come into place since the revolution. Marjane wants to live as she did before the war started. Though she has always had a rebellious side to her since she was a kid, it emerges more as she grows up. She goes to a protest without telling her parents, refuses to wear the veil properly, and wears American style clothing, She stands up for herself even in the smallest incidents.
Her principal had asked for a bracelet, since Marjane did not agree with this she took an extreme risk punched her in the face. lran is not a country of strict rules where women are oppressed and are forced to wear the black veil. However, after the revolution occurred things did turn out that way. This is the reason why Marjane wrote this book, to show how Iran used to be, How women can wear what they want and covering their hair is unnecessary. Typhaine Leservot says “This claim is in part due to Satrapi’s many interviews in which she explains her desire to help western readers see Iranians as simply humans rather than vilified exotic others” (Leservot) While writing this book Marjane shows many ways she acts just like a western person would She wears western clothes such as Nike shoes, listens to western music like Michael Jackson, and she even partiesr Marjane says, “ in spite of all the dangers, the parties went on” .
Even with the war going on Marjane and her family still abide by the Western culture. Today in most western countries the media shows the negative stereotypes towards Islam and the Middle East. This is the basic of Marjane writing this book, to help get rid of negativity that surrounds Iran and to share knowledge about iran and it‘s cultures In the end Marjane becomes what she sets out to be. From the beginning, she wants to be a prophet and builds a relationship with God, which then morphs into being her own person. She follows her own voice and is a rebel against the regime. Marjane knows the regime is affecting her country in a negative manner and she refuses for the revolution to win making her a true prophet, After facing a rough childhood and living through a war Marjane writes this book to show that iran is not the stereotypical country that is being portrayed in the media. As a prophet, she wants her country to be seen in a true light from everyone around the world, making her the interpreter of the will of the people and her country.
