Persepolis

-Written as a memoir, is Persepolis more powerful than if Satrapi had fictionalized the story? Why or why not? Compare this book to other memoirs you have read. What are the benefits and drawbacks of memoirs?

First of all I try not to make a habit out of reading about other people's problems. I mean I rarely even listen to the problems of the people around me. Really I don't know if the book is more powerful if it is entirely real, but I do know one thing. If she did fake any details of the story and someone found out all of her credibility would be gone. Really like I said I don't read memoirs. But I'm guessing it is much different from most of them since most memoirs' settings are in the writers early adult years...I think. Anyways the benefits of memoirs is that you can rlate to them. That is also one of their worst traits. Sometimes, people have gone through things that they are trying to forget and reading a memoir explaining another persons experience with the same thing wont quite help. also one of the major drawbacks to memoirs is that they are supposed to be accurate representations or recounts of a person's life. And as we all know a majority of people's lives are incredibly boring.

-How does Satrapi go about challenging the myths of Iran.

A very important rule to remember is that people are generally stupid creatures as well as judgemental annoyances with huge superiority complex. Take 9/11 for example. We were traveling in an airport a few years ago and they purposely pulled my mother out of line to check onto our flight. Why? Simply because her skin is light. Even though she was born and raised in America, just because her skin resembles that of the Iranian people in the slightest they were already judging her as an enemy. I don't want the B.S. about how they were protecting America because simply put they were not. What I mean is that just because something happened once doesn't mean that it will happen again. Satrapi is expressing this through her writing. She is trying to prove to the world that Iranians are people to. It helps me understand what almost every race except for the Europeans have gone through. And just the problems of the world.

-What kinds of captivity and freedom does the authour explore in Persepolis. What stifles or prevents people from being completely free? How do they circumvent and defy the rules imposed on them and attempt to live ordinary lives despite revolution and war? Give some examples of their small acts of rebellion.

The author explores many types of captivity in Persepolis, but I don't see many types of freedoms expressed in it. Wait now that I think of it I guess with every captivity there comes some type of freedom. They can dream, they can still learn about the world or even themselves. What stops people from being completely free? A mixture of government and self... and fear. Or rather the government is using fear to influence them to keep themselves in captivity, to keep themselves under lock and key. Through fear man can accomplish great deeds. They defy the rules by having fun, by being human, by living, by thinking. Every time they threw a party they were rebelling. Simply wearing a smile or sneakers, that was rebelling. By being human, by acting like people and not machines, they were being human.