The main conflict

Class conflict is an underlying tension throughout the novel. At the beginning, Marjane cannot quite grasp how her father can drive a Cadillac and her family can have a maid while also preaching the virtues of class-consciousness and equality. Iran's history is seen as a history of both great wealth and great poverty. The 1979 Revolution is characterized by Satrapi as largely a Marxist revolution undertaken by the urban cultural elites on behalf of the impoverished people of Iran's countryside.