Ideological Conflicts Between Religion and Modernity Anonymous 11th Grade

Classic literature often portrays struggles of identity, where the main character is caught between two sides of an ongoing ideological struggle, and begins to question who they are, because they’re not entirely sure to which group they should, want to, or even do belong to. In Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel Persepolis, the process of deciding between 2 conflicting sides of an ongoing ideological struggle will often lead directly to that person’s intellectual growth and maturity, as shown by Marjane’s struggle to decide between the God of her religion and a liberal lifestyle, the way that she eventually rejects the repressive ideals of her conservative religion, and the way that her exploration of those ideologies eventually becomes too much for her, resulting in her discovery of reassurance in her religion yet again.

Marji has an ongoing internal conflict as to whether she should ascribe to the religious views of Islam (which her country is very supportive of), or the relatively liberal ideals of her parents, because “deep down [she is] very religious, but [her family is] very modern and avant-garde” (Satrapi 6.1). The panel attached to that quote effectively presents this idea in a single image, as it shows Marji, with her...