RA#2

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                       Children, due to their innocent nature, are the most impressionable they will ever be. Anything they hear that is even remotely plausible to them will be held to the highest regard or sincerity and must be correct in every sense.  This is demonstrated in the novel Persepolis by Marjane Sterapi, in which the author is trying to convey what it was like to be coming of age during the Islamic Revolution. With this novel’s target audience being those who lack insight into the daily proceedings of the Islamic Revolution for the average citizen, especially one who is still a child. This child, Marjane, is highly impressionable with her moral compass easily persuaded by those around her.  Sterapi does an excellent job showing the manipulability of children, yet still showing that message in a way that pertains to the novel. In this scene the protagonist, Marjane, along with two other of her schoolmates were sitting around one day after school.  One of the school boys says that their classmate, Ramin, father was part of the Savak and “killed a million people”. Marjane believed this boy telling her this without a shred of doubt and suggested they achieve justice by attacking Ramin for his father’s supposed killings. Luckily Marjane’s mother intervened in time. Sterapi really conveyed the gullibility of children in the Islamic Revolution and their rashness to deal with matters the way they hear issues being dealt with in Iran at the time. Not only was this message of gullibility and impressionability shown for children in Iran, it is a message that is applicable to children everywhere.  The illustrations show the children running after Ramin with nails between their fingers very serious with what they are about to do. The look on Marjane's face is easily described as determined. The tone of this passage was serious, these children were not kidding about harming their schoolmate Ramin, and had every intent of following through with their idea of creating justice by his suffering. It is a very powerful message given. The country of Iran had become such a violent place to live in that this violence was becoming to seem casual, not longer shocking, and even worse: a completely acceptable way to deal with issues. Not only was this violence acceptable to the country it was being integrated into the children’s morals shaping them to better fit the war-like society that had fallen over Iran. This passage in Persepolis from pages 44-45 is purposefully placed in there by Sterapi to show the reader how the Islamic Revolution affected the children of Iran. It is a powerful message with great purpose cleverly weaved into the novel by the excellent writing and illustrating style of the author.