Discussion
Questions for Persepolis II: Chapters "The Soup" to "The Veil"
We'll have a quiz on ONE of these questions. Remember, too, that we only have 1 week left, so missing classes and quizzes at the very end is a sure way to lower your grade. :(
1. What
are Satrapi’s preconceptions of the ‘West,’ the land of freedom, democracy, and
Marxism? How do her experiences in Austria
2.
Likewise, how does the West conceive of or understand Iran/The Middle
East? What does it mean to be “Iranian”
in Austria
3. What
is her greatest crisis of identity as she ‘comes of age’ in Austria America
4. Why
does Satrapi ultimately decide to return home, knowing the repression and
possible fate that awaits her there?
Clearly, this is the most important decision of her adult life, so how
does she explain why she makes it?
Srijita Ghosh
ReplyDelete3. The greatest identity crisis Satrapi faces as she comes of age in Austria is that she is not proud to call herself Iranian because of the racial prejudices she is faced with, but at the same time she cannot fully transform into an European or French. She feels stuck inbetween and is confused as to what she should identify herself as. Due to the racial discriminations against Iranians (or any other third world country people) she even tries to hide her race by introducing herself as French. But as expected this strategy miserably fails ; she ends up having herself mocked by her friends. She tries her best to adapt to European teenage culture by attending parties, smoking, drinking, changing her hairstyle, wardrobe etc. but at the end of the day still finds herself out of place.
This is relatable to every teenagers life and very much to me personally. Asian culture is way different from American culture and studying in an university in America has brough forward a lot of things which come as "cultural shocks" to me, but in order to fit in I am gradually adapting myself to this culture. But at the same time I continue to maintain my own identity since I am proud of it and would not like to let go of it.
4. Heartbroken, homeless and humiliated, Satrapi ultimately decides to go back to Iran though she knows about the repression and unjustified strictness there. She does so because she realises that she has lost a sense of identity and in order to gain it back she must go back to her homeland; away from the people who refuse to accept her as one of their own. Another reason is also that she has an epiphany that she still reserves pride for her nation and her origin. Remembering the words of her grandmother and all the hardships she faced in this foreign land, she decides to go back home to straighten things up and find out a better meaning of life.