Name
Professor
Course
February 22, 2014
Adults
and Societal Events Downgrade Childhood Innocence
The
development of children depends on a social matrix that is mainly formed by the
interactions they have with their peers. Cultural interactions, adults and
daily life encounters form major part of the cognition of children. Marjane
Satrapi, in her comic novel Persepolis, uses panels with black and white images
to demonstrate the innocence of children and how it is affected experiences and
people. In this novel, children are portrayed as innocent and susceptible
people whose perception and character development are easily influenced by the
events and people around them. As the Islamic revolution of 1979 surges on,
Marjane undergoes a series of experiences that redefine her character and
innocence. This period is associated with cases of extreme activities that
directly influence her wellbeing. Needless to say, childhood innocence as
portrayed in Persepolis, rather than relying on the quality of childhood experiences,
is constructed by adults and activities that form part of an interactive
environment. This implies that childhood innocence is directly influenced by
the experiences and interaction that a child has with people who form part of
her world. Marjane undergoes a lot of stress when she takes part in
revolutionary activities like demonstrating, having to put on veil and
experiencing consequences of social classes division. For instance, she
eventually becomes rebellious. These experiences problematize her innocence
thereby disregarding its existence. The novel Persepolis explains how Marjane’s
innocence is stripped off by an environment full of revolutionary activities
and human cruelty.
Various
activities that Marjane Satrapi encounters during her childhood life in Iran at
the time of the Islamic revolution significantly affect her innocence. The
activities she engage in and the words she say, as demonstrated by the images,
motion lines and words, disregard her innocence as a child. Marjane demonstrates
clear awareness of social injustices, abnormalities and inequalities that come
along accepted class divisions in her society. This is portrayed by a panel on
the novel (33). According to Ali Ashraf’s, a Kurdish author, whose book she had
earlier read, a boy named Reza became a porter
at the age of ten, Leila wove carpets at the age of five and Hassan
cleaned car windows at a meager age of three. These explained to her the
difference between social classes, the same reason why she felt ashamed sitting
in her father’s car. While in her father’s car, Marjane’s face is shown as
being sad using black and white shaded. The entire panel has also been shaded
with black and white colors only to represent the inequalities of difference in
social classes and hardships that come alongside it. She relates this to the
revolution which was taking place at the time. Innocence prevents children from
such knowledge. Therefore when Marjane recognizes the division, it signifies
that her general innocence was no more.
In
the novel, children’s attitude and character are developed from the experiences
they undergo especially at their younger age. In her book, the various people
and experiences that Marjane encounters dilutes her innocence. According to a
panel in the book, the young woman, together with her classmates, develop
rebellious character at school (98). This is seen in the context that they
revoke various school rules and engage in activities that are not accepted in
school but do not feel sorry for their actions. For instance, collectively,
they use rolls of tissue to decorate their classroom for the annual anniversary
of revolution. When asked about their actions by their teacher, they do not
feel remorseful. Instead, they become sarcastic through their words. This is a
character trait that they have developed due to the harsh environment and of unnecessary
perceptions from people they interact with. Firstly, the children were
previously attending secular schools which had limited restrictions. For
instance, the schools did not require them to put on veils. For this reason,
they had previously gotten used to limitless life at school and therefore
tended to oppose the regulations imposed on them by the new system. Their
rebelliousness can also be explained by the fact that they lived during the
great Islamic revolution. This is a period that was characterized by various
cases of rebellious demonstrations and activities by the general public. During
this time, people were required to oppose every law laid by the then king Reza
Shah in an attempt to force him out of power. These activities and encounters
corrupt Marjane’s innocence since they do not encourage its continuity.
The
Iran’s Islamic revolution of 1979 had significant impact on people. It
influenced people’s perception of things, changed their attitude and
contributed to the development of character traits that influenced their
lifestyle. Cultural practices, events and social interactions of a young woman
in the upheaval environment transform her personality, give her a sense of
attitude and change her perception towards certain happenings. These factors
have significant adverse effect on the innocence of a child. Due to the sudden
change of regulations at school like the new requirement of girls to wear veils
without proper explanation, she becomes rebellious and does not acknowledge the
new requirement. She sticks to her previous non-restricted behavior, an act
which is considered rebellious by her teacher. This negatively impacts her
innocence. The regulations and expectations that negatively affect her
innocence are laid by adults, therefore it can be concluded that adults also
contribute to the development of a child’s innocence. Her perception and
attitude towards social classes is influenced by the people around her and the revolutionary
and cultural experiences. She turns against it and disregards practices like
maids being forbidden to eat with other family members at the table. This
problematizes the general belief of childhood innocence and disregards its
existence. Marjane Satrapi uses several panels in her comic novel, Persepolis,
to show the innocence of children and how societal occurrences downgrade it.
The division in social classes and development of a rebellious character due to
the regulations and norms laid down by people around her greatly contribute
also contribute to this.
Works Cited
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. New York,
NY: Pantheon Books, 2003. 33, 98. Print.
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