Christopher Avalos
Professor Knapp
English 1A
17 March 2013
The second half of Persepolis,
the war between Iran and Iraq is raging and many changes are happening to
Marjane. She experiences many tragic events such as deaths of friends and
family, bombings in her hometown of Tehran, and expulsion from her French
school. Marjane is growing up in her teens at this point and feels the natural
drive of rebellion that all teenagers experience. She makes new friends and
begins to engage in rebellious activities she normally wouldn’t do, like
smoking a cigarette.
There are many
deaths of people close to Marjane in the second half of Persepolis. Marji finds out that she has a Russian spy in her
family, her uncle Anoosh. She quickly becomes fascinated with his tales of the
revolution. She becomes close to him through his stories and really admires his
heroism. Anoosh becomes very fond of her as well and it is shown when he asks
her to be his only visitor before he is executed. Marji’s uncle Taher suffered
a heart attack and the family was seeking permission to leave the country for
medical assistance but they did not know how hard it would be to get a
passport. One of Marji’s fathers’ acquaintances, Khosro, had agreed to forge a
fake passport for Taher. However, before he was able to make the passport,
Khosro’s house was ransacked and he fled the country. Taher would die a few
days later. Ironically, his authentic passport arrived the day of his burial.
A year after her uncle Tehran’s death, the borders of
Iran had reopened and her parents were eager to get passports. Marji soon
begins to ask for things that she’d like her parents to bring her from Turkey.
I know this feeling, when my father makes trips, I always have a huge list of
items I would like him to bring for me, and it’s not just when he goes to
another country! Some the items were illegal however, and Marjane’s parents had
to smuggle posters, along with other various items, across customs control.
United States’ citizens that live in the country rarely,
if ever, are in the face of war. This country’s wars have been fought abroad,
but most other countries don’t get that same luxury. Tehran could be the victim
of attack at any given time during the revolution. If my hometown were to be
the victim of multiple bombings, it would tear me apart; when everything and
everyone you love is put at constant risk for death or injury, it just destroys
your morale. Not only was her hometown being attacked but in one instance, her
neighborhood was bombed! She had to face the reality that her neighbors and
good friend were no longer alive.
With everything going on, Marji’s parents face the fact
that it is only for her own good that she leaves Iran. They decide to send her
to Austria to go to school. Marji has grown up a lot since the beginning of the
story, and she has learned many things from her experiences during the
revolution. I feel that Marji has been well prepared to take this journey
although she might not know it yet.
