Thursday, November 14, 2013

How is Social Classes Present in Persepolis?


                One theme that is constantly brought up in Persepolis is the difference and significance of social classes in Iran. Marjane first notices how deep social class differences are on page 37, where she sees how her maid cannot be with the one she loves because the love of her life is higher on the ladder of social class. She also notices on page 37 how her father, who is politically active, still holds onto the differences in social class. I think this is because he does not believe in them, but everyone else does, so he just accepts the reality of the situation and goes along with it. Another instance that we notice social classes is on page 6, when we find out that Marjane’s family has a maid, and the maid is not allowed to eat with them on the dinner table. We also notice on page 6 that Marjane’s father has a Cadillac, which in itself makes her apart from most of society. It shows how far up her family is on the social class ladder. As well we see that there are people that are higher up the social class ladder than Marjane’s family. For example there is Mali, whose million dollar house was destroyed. They are so high the ladder that Marjane’s father finds them too snobbish and materialistic according to page 90. They hold onto their things too tightly and brag about everything they have (had). As well we see the differences with Mali’s children on page 92. They want everything they see, even if its food. They are depicted as brats that want everything and are accustomed to get just that, everything. As we can see in Persepolis, there are many instances that show the differences in social classes in Iran.

 

1 comment:

  1. Title: "social classes" is plural.
    Dig deeper- what is the book saying about social class? What does the tension reveal?

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