The Wine by Marion

The significance of the title of my chapter is that wine was at the time an illegal substance to posses. It was a big deal to have wine or alcohol in your home and an even bigger offense to consume it. Wine was a forbidden substance so it was a big deal that Marjane’s parents and friends had parties where they drank it, and an Uncle who illegally made it. If Marjane’s parents had been caught in possession of alcohol they would have been either beaten or executed. It was difficult for these adults to give up drinking wine, a habit I'm sure they enjoy and had spent their adult life doing. I think another significance of the title "The Wine" is in the fact that because it was illegal to posses wine/ alcohol Marjane's parents were breaking a rule and going against the revolutionaries and their patrol. This alludes to the fact that Marjane's parents were rebelling against the revolutionaries and they did not live by their standards and rules.

In my chosen chapter titled “The Wine” the beginning pages explain how the town Marjane lived in with her family (Tehran) became a target for bombers. Whenever there was a bomb threat sirens would go and all off the occupants of her housing building had to run down to the dark basement. There they would stay with their neighbors until they felt it was safe. After the moment of panic over the possibility of being bombed passed, the possibility that someone else they knew may have fallen victim to the Iraqi bombs would launch them into a new moment of panic. Everyone would call everyone they could think of to make sure no one was killed, but even after the initial panic faded away life was different. Marjane’s mother had to put black curtains up so the neighbors wouldn’t turn them in for their "parties on Thursdays and card games on Mondays". The curtains were important to shield Marjane and her family's illegal actions from their across the street neighbors who had become very “devoted to the new regime”. If their neighbors alerted the revolution patrol they might come to the house like they did to Marjane’s friend Tinoosh’s dad's house and find their illegal objects and substances. When the revolutionary patrolmen searched Tinoosh's house “they found records and video-cassettes … a deck of cards, a chess set. In other words, everything that’s banned.” It is at this point in the chapter that we learn that Marjane’s parents and some of their friends throw parties with music and drinking that is strictly forbidden (illegal). The major part of the chapter starts when Marjane and her family are at her Uncle’s house celebrating the birth of her cousin, as Marjane narrates, “We had everything, well, everything that was forbidden. Even Alcohol, gallons of it.” During this party for Marjane’s newborn cousin sirens begin to go off. Everyone is frightened and after that Marjane and her family head home. On the way home a revolutionary patroler stops their car and asks her dad to step out of the vehicle. The patrolman is suspicious that they have been drinking so they follow Marjane and her family home. When they get home Marjane and her Grandmother try to sneak off into the house in order to flush all the alcohol down the toilet but, the revolutionary catches them and questions them , they tell a lie that Marjane’s Grandmother has to go take her Diabetes medication so he lets them go. The chapter concludes with a section that explains that the revolutionary patrol was able to be bribed with money and after that left the family alone.

There were only a few unfamiliar terms and names in my chapter. One of the new terms was”Zarb”. It explains in that section that the Zarb is a type of drum that Marjane’s father plays well. There were also a few minor characters that were introduced such as Marjane’s friend Tinoosh, and Tinoosh’s father, and her Uncle who is able to make wine in his basement. Two other minor characters only mentioned in this chapter are Marjane’s Aunt and Marjane’s Aunt’s new born baby.

There are many humorous parts and illustrations that are humorous in my chapter and the book Persepolis. Many of these passages in Persepolis lend themselves towards a dark humor that can be interpreted to be quite sad; one of these passages in my chapter is on page 107 at the party celebrating her Aunt’s new baby. During this passage sirens begin to go off and Marjane’s Aunt panics, drops her baby into Marjane’s surprised arms, and takes off running to the basement. The funny part about this passage is the quote that goes with an illustration of Marjane frowning and holding the baby. This illustration is narrated with the words, “Since that day I’ve had doubts about the so-called “maternal instinct.”” This passage is funny because of Marjane’s blunt thoughts but also sad because the newborn’s mother was so quick to abandon him/her. Another funny passage comes on the page before page 107 is the box that depicts Mrs. Nasrine, Marjane’s Uncle’s cleaning lady, crushing grapes in the bathtub. While she is doing this she is saying “God Forgive Me! God Forgive Me!” It is the illustration that makes this box hilarious. Marjane Satrapi does a good job of displaying ridiculous events through simple illustration.

The most significant picture in my chapter, “The Wine”, is the picture on the top of page 106. This picture shows a group of people dancing (Marjane’s father, and Grandmother) included, a waiter passing around drinks, and it is implied that there is some type of music being played. This is a significant picture because it shows a group of people doing all of the things strictly illegalized by the revolutionary patrol and movement. These illegal things are all shown here is the main thing this chapter revolves around, which is why I feel this picture is so significant. Also depicted in this illustration is Marjane’s father wearing a western tie which, as we learn a few pages later, the revolutionary patrol looks down upon all things “western” or associated with the “western world”. By being able to pick out all of these things that are either against the law or looked down upon we can assume that the people in the picture are not for the revolutionary movement, and are even a little rebellious against it. I believe that the narration of this picture explains the whole reason for this chapter and all these illegal things Marjane’s family is doing. As the narration states, “In spite of all the dangers, the parties went on, “Without them it wouldn’t be psychologically bearable.” Some said.” This quote explains how important it was for these people to hold on to their former life and their previous lifestyle in order for them to make it from day to day.

The Sheep

Laura Shelby Dameron

Title: "The Sheep"
The title of this chapter has a double meaning. The first meaning is the more obvious one. One of Marji's parent's friends and his family escape over the border hidden in a flock of sheep. The second meaning is more subtle. In the beginning of the chapter, the father says that the people of Iran were illiterate and ignorant, like sheep.

Summary:
While her uncle, Anoosh, is staying with the family, Marji hears a lot of political talk. Soon after he begins to stay with them, she learns that the boy she likes and his family are moving to the United States. Mohsen, a family friend, is found drowned. The sister of another family friend, Siamak, is killed because officals couldn't find him. Suddenly Anoosh disappears. Later Marji discovers he is in prison and is allowed to see him for ten minutes. He tells her that she is the daughter he never had and gives her the "uncle to the bread swan" that he had previously made for her. Soon after he is executed and Marji is heart broken. God comes to see her that night, and she tells Him to go away and never come back. He never does. Then the city is bombed.

New Terms:
There were no new terms in this chapter.

Humorous Passage:
A humorous part of the chapter is when Marji's parents tell her that Anoosh went on a trip, and she realizes that he really isn't. This is ironic because earlier in the book she teases another child because her parents told her the same thing.

Important Picture:
The last picture in the chapter is the most important because it tells the reader that Marji thinks life can't get worse, but then her town is bombed. This is significant because this is the first incidence of large scale violence.

"The Bicycle"

They Bicycle is a chapter in which we learn more about the power struggles in Iran. Marji is very well educated and reads books about all different subjects such as religion and history. She knows the history's of different countries including her own. From her father she learns that Iranians were submissive to their own emperors, Arab invaders from the west, Mongolian invaders, and modern imperialists whom she considers the British and the Americans. Marji may know all the facts but she doesn't know where she stands or what she believes in so in the chapter she is still discovering herself. The chapter gets its name when Marji and her friends are demonstrating against the Shah in her yard and she states "The revolution is like a bicycle. When the wheels don't turn it falls." Then right after her comment there is a picture where there is a bicycle that has fallen and people are trying to climb back on. She overhears her parents talking about the 400 victims of the fire. They were locked in a movie theatre then set on fire by the Shah's regime who later said the massacre was done by a religious group. Marji then begs her parents to let her go demonstrate with them tomorrow but of course they say no. That night Marji calls for God, but he does not come. This is the last time we see God as an actual character. I choose this chapter because the reader learns a lot about the country's history that helps explain later events in the book.

Chapter 1- The Veil

Chapter 1- The Veil

The title of the first chapter in Persepolis is “The Veil”. The title is important to the chapter because Marji shows how the veil affected her life. In 1980 (when she was 10 years old), Iranian girls and woman were obligated to wear the veil. Marji and her classmates didn’t like the veil because they didn’t understand why they had to wear it every day.

In this chapter, Marji first explains the effects of the Islamic regime and Cultural Revolution in Iran. As a result of this revolution, bilingual schools were closed because they were seen as symbols of capitalism and decadence. Furthermore, girls and boys were separated and girls were forced to wear the veil. Subsequently, Marji goes back to portray the 1979 demonstrations of the Islamic revolution. This was when Marji was still going to a coed French school.

A humorous part of the chapter is when Marji dreams of being a prophet when she grows up. It is very funny and entertaining to see how Marji views God as her best friend and companion. I can relate to Marji’s experience because when I was younger I wanted to be Jesus. My dream was to deliver the world from death and evil and bring only peace and love to the world.

Unfamiliar terms and people:

• Zarathustrian: It is also known as Zoroastrianism. This Persian religion was founded by Zarathustra (Persian) or Zoroaster. This is a strictly monotheistic religion. One of its fundamental principles is that people must choose to fight alongside with the forces of good led by the God Ahura Mazda or the forces of evil led by the God Ahriman.
• Norouz: This is the traditional Iranian (Persian) New Year Holiday.
• God: In this book, God is represented as a white figure with a long beard.

I think this picture is significant because it shows the depths of Marji’s faith. I chose it because it also expresses the principles and ideals she thinks are the most important in life.

• Marji wants to be “justice” in the world because she believes it is unfair that her maid who raised her doesn’t eat with her family and she is ashamed to ride in her dad’s luxurious car while other people are poor and have to walk many miles. Marji wishes to have fairness and equality in the world.
• She wants to be “love” because in a world with love, her good, kind grandma wouldn’t suffer because her knees always ached her.
• She also desires to be the wrath of God. She thinks God is not happy with the Islamic regime because it has brought lots of death and pain. She knows that God’s anger and fury can destroy evil things.

Sources:

• Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
• Prentice Hall World Cultures Textbook

By Andy Reynolds

the key

The Key

The explanation – It is called the key because poor boys who were picked to fight in the war were given plastic keys painted gold and were told that it was there key to paradise where there was plenty of food, women, and houses made out of gold and diamonds. The boys who they told this to were poor so in some people's minds were less valuable. The boys were "brainwashed" into thinking that dying in the war was honorable and that if they did, what awaited them in the after life was paradise.


Chapter summary – In the chapter “They Key” it starts off with Marji reading the newspaper and seeing the list of all the martyrs. Marji points this out to her mom who waves it aside. It is impossible not to know that hundreds of people are dying because all along the streets there are nuptial chamber. At school, Marji and her class mates must beat themselves with their right hand over their heart in honor of the dead because it is one of their country’s rituals. Many people beat themselves brutally because it is considered a “macho” thing. Marji and her friends begin to make fun of the beatings and other things like when they had to knit hats for the soldiers and when they had to decorate their classroom for the Anniversary of the Revolution. The teacher gets very angry and suspends Marji and her class for a whole week. Everyone’s parents are very mad at the teacher. When Marji and her mother get home, they find their maid, Mrs. Nasrine, very upset. She explains to them that her son has been given a key and is told by his school that if he dies, then the key will get him into paradise where there are woman and money, plenty of food and houses. Marji’s mom offers to talk to Mrs. Nazrine’s son, who believes that the key really is the key to paradise. Right after that, Marji is invited to a party at her friend Peyman’s house. When Marji’s mom does have the talk with him later on, he is completely spaced out and yells that he will marry Marji when her mom is trying to talk to him about his future. That night, Shahab, one of Marji’s cousins, comes to the house. He started his military service right before the war started. Marji’s mother asks about the boys being brought in to fight and Shahab tells them how he sees bus loads full of children coming to fight in the war. They are trained with savage songs and of course, the key to paradise. He says that thousands of kids explode in minefields with the keys to paradise around there necks. While Sahab was talking to Marji’s mom, Marji was at her first party that she had a lot of fun at.

Additional information –
Mrs. Nazrine – Marji’s family maid

Mrs. Nazrine’s son – the boy given the key to paradise.

Peyman – Marji’s friend who is having a party

Shahab – Marji’s cousin who is fighting in the military.

“According to Shiite tradition, when an unmarried man dies, a nuptial chamber is built for him. Thatway, the dead man can symbolically attain carnal knowledge.” - Marji page 94.


The Funny part - I think there are two funny parts. The first funny part in the book is when Marji’s mom, her maid, and her maid’s son were having a serious talk about the key and the son doesn’t understand why it’s bad and yells that he wants to marry Marji and his mom hits him. The other part that I think is funny is when Marji's parents, along with many others, are called in when the girls are acting up and are told that their daughters are being suspended. In his rage, Marji's dad yells to the teacher "If hair is as stimulating as you say, then you need to shave your mustache!" Marji's father Page 98.


The picture – The picture that I think is most significant is the last picture where it shows many young boys getting blown up with the keys that promise them paradise around their neck. To me this picture shows how the young boys were killed in mass numbers but didn't mind dying because the schools had told them that they would enter paradise. the caption for that picture said "The key to paradise was for poor people. Thousands of young kids, promised a better life, exploded on the minefield withtheir keys around their necks."

by Anna Bridgforth

The Trip by Ashby Bonds

--My chapter's title was The Trip. After the Fundamentalists had taken over the U.S. Embassy and the Iranian schools were closed, Marji's parents realized they might not get to have another vacation for years, so they decided to visit Italy and Spain for three weeks. The trip let them escape for a while, while the war at home was just beginning.

--In the beginning of my chapter, the Iranian schools were shut-down and the U.S. Embassy was taken over by Fundamentalists; Marji was extreamly upset because she realized her dreams of becoming a well-educated, successful, Iranian woman were probably not going to happen if the universities stayed closed. One night, while in the car with her father, Marji's mom came running toward them crying hysterically. She told them how two Fundamentalist men insulted and threatened her because she was not wearing her veil and was not a Fundamentalist. Even after being threatened, Marji's parent continued to go to demonstrations; one time they even took Marji. When Marji was there things got violent. One woman was stabbed, and Marji and her parents fled the scene; rest assured, that was the family's last demonstration. Marji's parents later decided to take a relaxing trip to Italy and Spain, but when they got back, the war had just begun.

--Here are some new terms/people that were in my chapter:

1) Marie Curie: a famous, female physicist and chemist, born in 1867 and died in 1934

2) Fundamentalist men and women: the woman wore a veil that covered their whole body, the men had a beard and wore there shirts sticking out, they did not believe in the revolution

3) Modern/Progressive woman and men: modern woman let a few strands of hair show under their veils and would not wear the long dresses that covered their body, progressive men shaved and tucked in their shirts, they both believed in the revolution.

4) Saddam: enemy leader who kept attacking Iran at the time.

(Wikipedia.com)

--My chapter has a few funny moments! When Marji is in her room after she found out the universities were going to be closed, she says, "And so another dream went up in smoke. Misery! At the age Marie Curie first went to France to study, I'll probably have ten children..." (Satrapi 73) The moment was serious, but you can find some humor in the fact that Marji is so melodramatic! Also, when Marji's mom tells her to lie about how many times a day she prays, Marji is puzzled at first, but soon learns to lie. One of her friends remarked, "I pray five times a day." Marji responded by saying, "Me? Ten or eleven times...sometimes twelve." (Satrapi 75) When you think about how many times Marji really prays a day, you know it is no where near twelve, and that's if she prays at all!!

-- The picture I chose was of Marji and her parents on their vacation. (On page 77) They were riding a "magic carpet" through Italy and Spain. I chose the picture because it showed a truly, happy moment in my chapter. It reminded me, even though the war may have started they can still have a happy life and be a family.

The Sheep

The Significance of the Title:

The significance of my chapter, "The Sheep," symbolizes the sheep that graze in fields until their shepherd leads them. In this chapter, it seems like all of the characters are the sheep and this war or the revolution is the shepherd. In which, in this certain situation, for example, Marji's friends were led to the United States because the revolution led them, like a shepherd. But also where as Marji's Uncle Anoosh was executed for what he did and his beliefs which led him to his death, similar to a shepherd leading a sheep to a new place. In this case, the revolution was the shepherd. Also, in literal terms, through the middle of the chapter, Marji's friends escaped across the border by disguising themselves with a flock of sheep.

Summary:

In this chapter, you will find conversations of politics mixed with the emotions of lost loved ones. The discussions were about the political elections of who voted for the Islamic Republic and who did not. The statement Marji made was about what percentage of the people voted for the Islamic Republic, which made her father and her uncle realize that this election meant nothing but a bogus percentage of people who voted for the Islamic Republic. From the loss of loved ones, such as Mohsen and his sister, did Marji's parents realize another sequence of horrible events which affected their friends by their murder. Also, of the loss of Marji's Uncle Anoosh, does she realize her feelings for him and how much she really loved him until he was gone, or in this case taken from her, but he will remain in her heart forever. But also Marji's friend God, once God appears to talk, Marji remains angry, and takes her feelings out on God and that was the last time she saw him. By this loss, Marji is only left with the dear memories she has of her dear friends. Through this departure she finds more feelings through a friendship to realize that there were more feelings that just a friendship. Feelings that now can never be looked at, that can never be revised between the two of them, in which Marji will never know of what could have been more than just a friendship.

Events/People:

The characters that are involved with this chapter are Marji's parents, Marji, Uncle Anoosh, Marji's friends, Mohsen, Mohsen's sister, Deliverers of Divine Justice, and God.

The events that occurred in this chapter were the execution of Uncle Anoosh, the departure of Marji's friends for the United States, the loss of friends, and Marji's fight with God.

Humorous Parts:

Looking at the picture on page 70 on the bottom left corner, you can see in the image that Marji is upset and is angrily yelling, or shouting at God. It seems ironic how here she is talking to God, and she is telling him to shut up, and get out. I know that they may be close friends but I can't think of any of my friends that would say such things to God while having a conversation with him. This picture just represents irony by Marji's actions, and the characters involved in the picture.

Picture:

The picture on page 71 where Marji is floating in space is significant because it represents her emotions of how she is handling everything that is going on in her life right now, and all that is to come. This photo by her blank eyes and face with her arms raised out to her sides signifies that she's alone, or even depressed, you may say. In my opinion, it seems that the picture is rather important in finding or thinking about who Marji is and how she handles the "speed bumps," you may call it in her life.