IndexIntroductionPersepolis: Analysis of Literary DevicesStream of ConsciousnessFirst Person NarrativeFlashbackConclusionIntroductionPersepolis is a graphic and autobiographical novel written by Marjane Satrapi with the aim of criticizing the Iranian regime and teaching the public about social and cultural issues of Iran. Marji's life story is told through visual language. Satrapi chose to write a graphic novel with simple drawings because she wanted it to be accessible to anyone and because comics are easily readable and communicate with everyone. Marjane Satrapi uses literary devices to encourage the reader to feel sympathy for Marji, such literary devices are stream of consciousness, first-person narrative, and flashback. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Persepolis: Analysis of Literary Devices Stream of Consciousness Satrapi uses stream of consciousness to teach her audience about the social and cultural issues of Iran. Marji, 10, describes how she and other girls have had to wear headscarves to school since 1980, a year after the Islamic revolution. We can see that both Marji (in the first panel) and her classmates are unhappy in the school photo (in the second panel). In the last panel, Marji's speech bubble (the one at the top of each panel) says "We really don't like wearing headscarves, mostly because we don't understand why we had to," and we can see the girls throwing the headscarves around and using them to jump the rope and for role-playing instead of wearing it, and that was a way for them to express their dislike of the mandatory veil. Satrapi addresses this issue through her stream of consciousness because the veil is a symbol of oppression towards women, as it is forced on them by the government instead of having the ability to choose to wear it. Marji explains through her internal monologue that everyone at school had to hit each other on the first day back from summer vacation, and we can see the teacher demonstrating this and instructing the children to do so as well. Even though the children were initially confused (as seen by the question marks above their heads in the third panel), eventually they all were too, as seen in the fourth panel. It is one of Iran's religious rituals and can get brutal, and sometimes people use chains or even knives on themselves, as can be seen in the last two panels. Young children are taught to harm themselves, and this is a symbol of religious oppression as it is done against their will. Marji is distressed when she steps out into the streets of Iran after returning from Austria. The cause of her anguish is the fact that the street names have been changed to the names of martyrs, and the change has overwhelmed her: in the third panel she is seen spiraling and being surrounded by street names written in the Arabic alphabet, and The background is dark, which shows that it is a painful memory for her. In the fourth panel, Marji is drawn as a small silhouette compared to the ground below her, which is covered with the skulls of martyrs. The illustration shows how Marji felt when she saw those street names: "I felt like I was walking in a cemetery." In the next panel, she is surrounded by the skeletons of martyrs as if carrying them on her back, meaning that she felt guilty for fleeing the war while others died for their country. Martyrs are revered simply because they sacrificed their lives for Iran, which demonstrates the importance of Islam and self-sacrifice in Iranian life. First-person narration First-person narration.