Persepolis Blogs
What is the historical context for the story Persepolis (pronounced pro-sepo-lees)? Discuss the entire history of Iran as told in Persepolis.Iran began as a part of the civilization of Mesopotamia near the fertile crescent almost 5000 years ago in the year 3200 B.C. The earliest people to settle in Iran were hunter-gatherers who traveled the region, eating as they went. The earliest civilization to form in Iran was formed by the Medes from the year 728 B.C to the year 550 B.C, when Cyrus the Great took over and unified the empire. His Persian Empire lasted until the 600’s, when Alexander the Great invaded it. The empire was still there, but it was not very powerful.
Then, in 1921, Reza Khan overthrew the government and began to modernize the country. He added railroads, education, modern healthcare, and industrialized Iran. However, during World War II, Reza Khan’s ties to Germany were too strong and alarmed the allied nations. When the U.S.S.R. invaded in 1941, Reza Khan was forced to cede to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, whom the allies favored. After the war, Mohammad Mossedegh was elected Prime Minister. Mossedegh Nationalized Iran’s Oil Companies, which infuriated the United States, as they were profiting immensely from the oil companies in Iran. So, the CIA organized a coup to clandestinely overthrow Mossedegh. The coup was successful. After Mossedegh was overthrown, he was cast into exile; meanwhile, the Shah began to rule the country more strictly. Political opponents were thrown in prison; anyone found to be against the regime faced strict punishments. One man, Ayatollah Khomeini, was particularly outspoken against the Shah. Khomeini was an Islamic fundamentalist, and wanted the Shah out of the country, stating that his regime was a decadent example of western countries and that he was corrupting the mids of the Iranian people with western ideas. He was exiled from Iran and had to move to France, where he continued in his opposition of the Shah.
However, in January of 1978, the proletariat and bourgeois alike were finally fed up with the Shah’s regime; they began to protest on the streets of Tehran and many other cities in the country. As a result, many were executed, put in prison, or exiled. However, the revolution soon gained ground, and by January of the next year, the Shah was forced to leave the country. By February 11, the Shah’s regime had completely collapsed, and Ayatollah Khomeini once again returned to Iran. On April 1st, Iran was officially declared an Islamic Republic, with Khomeini as their leader, basically making the government a veritable theocracy, with Islamic Law as part of the national law of the country. Although the many people who protested were Muslim, many others were communist or Marxist.
On November 4 of 1979, a group of students orchestrated the takeover of the United States Embassy in Tehran. Although Khomeini did not officially order this takeover, he nonetheless supported it. Everyone in the embassy were taken hostage; some were held for over 400 days. The United States saw this as a direct attack, and severed its ties with Iran completely.
Tensions began to increase, however, when the U.S. appointed dictator of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, decided to launch an attack on the oil-rich province of Khuzestan, in western Iran. The invasion started a mass exodus of people from Khuzestan, as more than half of the region was taken over by Hussein’s troops. The whole western border of Iran was subject to attack from Hussein. In the beginning, Iraq was winning the war, but as the war went on, Iranian forces pushed back the Iraqis. The war was fueled by Hussein’s fear of Iran, because of how extreme their religious government was. Hussein was worried that Iran would attack Iraq, because Iraq was a largely secular nation. Also, Iran was attempting to take control of shipping lanes in the Persian Gulf. The war ended in 1988, when the two countries signed a peace treaty. Because of the vast number of untrained soldiers sent into battle, Iranian casualties are estimated at nearly 1,000,000. The Iranian government took droves of young soldiers from reservoirs of people that could be found in poorer areas of Iran. They convinced thousands of young soldiers to go to war, saying that they would die martyrs and that they would "inject blood into the veins of society."
What are the experiences Marji endures in the text and how do those experiences shape her perceptions of her family, her country, and herself?
Marji endures the hardships of the Iranian Revolution. She undergoes the hardships of war, economic despair caused by trade embargoes with Iran, and the chaos of the Iranian revolution.Her parents are very liberal, and they frequently protest the Shah during the revolution. In the beginning, Marji sees the situation through childlike eyes. She declares herself a communist, and yet she does not know the life of the working class. In the story, she describes how she admires her uncle for being a “hero.” Before she meets her uncle, she is jealous of her friends because their fathers are in prison and so they are “heroes.” Her perception changes more and more as she grows. At first, she does not know why she has to wear a veil to cover her face. However, as she grows, she realizes that many of the things that she simply accepted as a child must be fought against; at the end of the story, she realizes that she must leave Iran to get a better education. Many of the events around her make her realize the evils of the world.
What do you think happens to Marji when she heads to Vienna? Write the remaining story of her life up unto the time she writes this text in 2002.
I think that after Marji leaves for Vienna, she would have paid close attention to the current events of Iran. After Khomeini passed away in 1989, Marji would have visited Iran frequently to see her parents, because of the much less strict government ruled by Mohammad Khatami. Marji would have probably moved to France after finishing schooling in Vienna, because she is of French descent. There, she would probably live until she writes her memoir in 2002.
Labels: Persepolis