© 2020 Shmoop University Inc | All Rights Reserved | Privacy | Legal. At school, mourning the war dead becomes part of the daily routine; to do so, they listen to a song and pound their chests. From the start of the memoir, Marjane expresses how her family contends with the difficulty of having to navigate a fraught landscape where one wants to fight for one’s rights, but one also has to be careful if one also wants to live with whatever freedoms the government does allow. (including. Again, the religious and nationalist devotion on display in the novel is painted as childish; more childish than the children forced to do them. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. It's propaganda used by the government to recruit child soldiers. We're introduced to young Marji, age ten. This marks the beginning of years of political and religious turmoil in Iran. (In fact, the Iran-Iraq war was characterized in part by Iran’s tactic of just throwing their young soldiers into the front lines where they would die by the hundreds of thousands). Answered by Aslan 4 years ago 5/14/2016 11:22 AM This gives a reason for martyrs to volunteer in the first place. Her grandmother speaks of how poor she was back then. Plot Summary Detailed Summary & Analysis The Veil The Bicycle The Water Cell Persepolis The Letter The Party The Heroes Moscow The Sheep The Trip The F-14s The Jewels The Key The Wine The Cigarette The Passport Kim Wilde The Shabbat The Dowry LitCharts Teacher Editions. In the morning newspapers, Marjane sees the pictures and names of “today’s martyrs.” Marjane is a bit surprised at her mother’s seeming indifference at the pictures; when Marjane mentions the photos, her mother changes the subject by asks Marjane to help her style her hair. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. They're not happy with the state of education in Iran either. 13, The Key at school they have to mourn the dead by beating their breasts every day, the children dont take it seriously, they teachers punish them and call their parents in, but the parents yell at the teacher, talk about the key they gave their maid mrs. While Marjane and the rest of the girls are supposed to support the war through prayer and practical but faraway support, the teachers attempt to persuade Mrs. Nasrine’s son about the greatness of martyrdom and therefore to join the war effort and willingly die for his country. The regime purports to decree the laws of Islam, but the talk of executions, the demonstrations, and the possible threat to Marjane’s mother’s life, show how religion becomes a force for oppression and danger. So she disengages. "My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." At times she pretended to cook food she did not have just to keep up appearances for … The Veil Persepolis opens right after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which results in the downfall of the American-backed dictator known as the Shah of Iran and leads to the rise of the religious hardliners who establish the oppressive Islamic Republic. But now that realization has become ironic: a new regime is in place, and the poor are being even more ruthlessly exploited. Meanwhile, Marji really gets into punk rock. Marjane, who was still curious about her grandpa, asked grandma questions about her life without him. It is an abbreviated history of Iran from its first occupation by Indo-European nomads, to the establishment of the Persian Empire, to the 1979 Islamic revolution. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. -Graham S. “Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. They don't want to wear it. The opening chapter of Persepolis describes the implementation of the veil policy in Iran. That the girls of the school make fun of the rituals and tasks they are made to perform highlights how ridiculous this religious zealousness is, how it is an exaggeration of what anyone actually feels. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. Though her family sees being religious while not wearing a veil as being compatible, the government believes the opposite. Struggling with distance learning? Marjane’s ambivalences are reflections of the kind of soul-searching that many in Iran must be also experiencing: how to understand one’s own beliefs and behaviors when the government imposes on one so-called correct behavior. Marjane slowly begins to explain the differences in both Iran at large and her personal world pre- and post-1979 Revolution. At the same time, Marjane continues to complacently enjoy her own class privileges as she breaks the rules of the anti-West government without consequences. Marjane’s mother’s response, that she would rather lower her head and just survive, suggests her sense of helplessness—both in the sense that all of this has happened before, and in the sense that after having demonstrated to overthrow the Shah she sees that the results of action were not what she wanted. Marji and her friends start to rebel against the school by making fun of the Wartime has completely inundated every aspect of society, from the newspapers to Marjane’s school-time experiences. Teachers and parents! My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class.”, LitCharts uses cookies to personalize our services. The poor get exploited and are given the keys that persuade them that dying for Iran will bring them everlasting afterlife glory, whereas the older boys are not given such lessons. -Graham S. The type of teachings that the upper class people and the lower classes go through in school are not commensurate to each other. Home Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood Q & A "The Key" Chapter 13 Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood "The Key" Chapter 13. Mrs. Nasrine sees how the regime is using religious promises to manipulate the boys toward their own deaths, and so the Islamic fundamentalists drive Mrs. Nasrine away from her long held religious beliefs. It is an abbreviated history of Iran from its first occupation by Indo-European nomads, to the establishment of the Persian Empire, to the 1979 Islamic revolution. Instant downloads of all 1364 LitChart PDFs Even the language of “it will simply be forbidden” directly mirrors the mentality and language of the regime. Teachers and parents! By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our. Our, LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in. And yet what these girls see as ridiculous, the adults of their school are actually making them do! Persepolis begins with a short introduction. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. Struggling with distance learning? She and her friends become quite the pranksters, even garlanding the room with toilet paper, which gets them suspended for a week. As Mrs. Nasrine described, her son is not mature enough to understand the real consequences of the war—just as Marjane herself was once too young. The boys and girls are separated. (including. Instant downloads of all 1364 LitChart PDFs Ch. Guess you have to get your mind off of war somehow. “I lived in poverty.” She's not wearing acid-washed jeans and rocking out to Michael Jackson, though: she's in school, wearing a veil, just like all the other girls. Grandma, at first, tried to avoid the question, but she finally gave in. "My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. The description of the grieving as “macho” connects both the war and the nationalist and religious fervor it inspires to men (and note also that these men are forcing the girls in the school to mourn in this way). Persepolis: This chapter starts off with Marjane coming home from school, figuring out that her grandma was home in their guest room. Afterwards, “we found ourselves veiled and separated from our friends,”. Persepolis: This chapter starts off with Marjane coming home from school, figuring out that her grandma was home in their guest room.