Fundamentalism and Modern People free essay sample

There are many themes that can be considered in the novel â€Å"Persepolis. † One of the major themes that can be found in the book is fundamentalism vs. modernism/western ideals. The author, Satrapi uses fundamentalism and modernism to show that there are multiple opposing sides to how society should be run. She clearly depicts this idea through various images and context in the novel, giving the reader a clear understanding of a conflict between two different groups. The idea being shown in this novel that the reader can learn is that there are always multiple sides in a conflict, and that each side will try to control society and modify it to follow their standards. Satrapi uses many types of authorial techniques in her writing and the most prominent one is imagery. Imagery helps explain the theme of fundamentalism vs. modernism in the biggest way because it can show the differences in both points of view. We will write a custom essay sample on Fundamentalism and Modern People or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page An example of this in the novel is in the picture comparing a fundamentalist and progressive/modern person (75-12). In the image, it shows a fundamentalist and modern man and woman and the way each of them dress. It shows the fundamentalist completely wearing a veil and clothing on her whole body excluding the face, and the modern woman wearing regular clothes with a veil, while showing a few strands of hair, which shows opposition to the regime. For the men, the fundamentalist man had a beard and an untucked shirt. The progressive man shaved and had a tucked shirt. The author uses imagery at this point to depict the differences between the society throughout the story. It shows the main theme of fundamentalism vs. modernism through showing how they are different and in opposition with each other, and also how they are the major groups in the story. Another example of the theme of fundamentalism vs. modernism is when Marji walks around in public with western clothing and the guardians of the revolution catch her and scold her (133). Throughout the images used on this page, the guardians, who are fundamentalists are following the rules about the veil and clothing, spot Marji who is showing herself as a person living a modern type of life. When the guardians spot her, they start to scold her for wearing western clothes and for wearing things that are improper. The guardians as a fundamentalist had the job of â€Å"to arrest women who were improperly veiled† (132-5). The last image depicts the guardians starting their process on arresting Marji. This piece of imagery shows the views of fundamentalist women vs modern women and how the fundamentalist women are forcing Marji to realize that its wrong to wear modern clothes. Another literary technique the author uses is foreshadowing in showing the theme of fundamentalism vs. modernism. The author shows this in the panel where Ebi tells the family that they are free and can enjoy their life. Also in the picture is a picture of a serpent (43-7). Ebi is declaring that they can have their own way of life and live in the way of modernism. However, the picture of the serpent depicts that there is still evil lurking around and it foreshadows that bad events are soon to come which in this case, is the reise and control of the fundamentalists in support of the government, Over the modern people. This shows that there are still fundamental vs. modern views in the society and that the fundamentalists will continue to try to control the modern people and make the modern people follow their standards. From the book, readers can better realize that there are always groups trying to control each other along with setting the standards for society.