In Persepolis, a story of a childhood in Iran, Western ideology and culture are prevalent in a country where it is prohibited. Throughout the graphic novel, the author incorporates many examples of Western culture and ideology which represent particular ideas, themes, and attitudes that are resented by the Islamic regime. Satrapi integrates most of the Western references through the protagonist, Marji, who overlooks the standards set by the Islamic regime in the West. In the graphic novel, Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi includes many references to Western culture and the Westernized attitudes of Marjis parents to highlight the consequences they cause for her. Satrapi focuses on the consequences of Western culture through her approach of incorporating them through Marji. The protagonist admires Western culture and enjoys wearing pop culture clothing. However, her preference for pop culture leads to consequences that conflict with her. When Marjis parents return from their trip to Turkey, they bring her clothes and posters from the West. After she puts up her new posters, Marji decides to go out to buy some music tapes wearing her new Nike shoes and denim jacket with a Michael Jackson button. On her trip, she gets confronted by Guardians of the Revolution who question her about what she is wearing. After Marjis excuses fail to fool the Guardians, they decide to [take her] down to the committee’ which was the HQ of the Guardians of the Revolution (See Fig.1). In this pane
l, the Western clothing that Marji is wearing leads to a consequence for her. In Iran, the Islamic regime restricts people from wearing clothes of Western culture. To the eyes of the Islamic regime, they are seen as a symbol of decadence and immortality. The influence of Western culture on Marji results in her adoration for pop culture clothing which almost leads to her being detained by the Guardians of Revolution. Another incidence where Satrapi highlights the consequences of Western influence on Marji is at her school. She declared that after the death of Neda Baba-Levy, [her] life took a new turn and that she [was] a rebel, nothing scared [her] anymore (See Fig.2). Marji asserts this by wearing things from Western culture to school such as jeans, her Nike shoes, and jewelry. Eventually, this leads to a conflict between Marji and her principal one day since her principal had told [her] a hundred times that it is strictly forbidden to wear jewelry and jeans at school (See Fig.2). During the day after the panel takes place, Marji gets into another argument with her principal over the jewelry she wore to school. The argument escalates to the point where Marji ends up hitting the principal, which ends up getting her expelled from the school. Here, Satrapi yet again concentrates on how Western culture causes consequences for Marji. The Western clothing she wears causes her to be rebellious against her principal which ultimately leads to her consequence of being expelled.