Persepolis Analysis Questions
Chapters 2 & 3: “The Bicycle” & “The Water Cell”
Directions: After reading and annotating each chapter, complete the two analysis questions
below. Your main objective is to display a broad, yet deep understanding of the chapter as a
whole, while accurately analyzing the specific authorial choices (AKA Craft) Satrapi makes to
convey these ideas to her audience. Each response should be at least 3-4 sentences.
Chapter 2: “The Bicycle”
Theme or Global Issue:
- Global Issue: Abuse of Power/Police Brutality- These passages display the global issue of
abuse of power. The police are beating innocent people because they wanted to prove a
point. They wanted to show that those who do not agree or surrender to them will be
beaten or killed. This is major around the world and we still see this today. For example,
during the riots, some policemen would use violence to get them to stop rioting and to
stop fighting for the cause. Some are even beaten just because of their race. Police
Brutality is seen in almost every place. There are many that use their authority to get
what they want or even get away with breaking the laws.
Insert picture of passage(s):
Explain how the passage(s) support the theme or global issue:
- This passage supports the global issue of power abuse because it displays the police
beating innocent people. We know this because in the first panel the police are portrayed
in black which connotates bad and evil while the people getting beaten are in white which
displays their innocence. The police are abusing their power and creating fear as well as
destroying innocent lives to get their point across. Their abuse of power is also seen in
the second panel displayed because the police could have made it so that the firemen
were delayed and had to take a longer route. As a result, they were unable to put out the
fire and many lives were lost. In the third panel, we see the massacre happening inside
the cinema. The police force abused their power and locked the doors from the outside
which made it so people were unable to escape. As a result, there was a lot of death
which is displayed through the fact that there are ghosts covering the splash panel.
Overall, the police were abusing their power and
Authorial Choice #1 & Explanation:
- Graphic Weight: In panel 1 graphic weight is utilized in order to emphasize the police
brutality that is occurring during that time. The policemen are colored black which
connotates evilness. This symbolizes that the police are evil and are seen as bad by
Satrapi. She believes that they are wrong. On the other hand, the civilians are illustrated
as white which symbolizes innocence. This reveals Satrapi’s Sympathetic tone. Also, it
shows how the evil is abusing the bad or in other words how the policemen are abusing
the innocent civilians. This thoroughly displays the abuse of power and police brutality.
Also, the author narrates that they attacked them and the graphic weight displays their
angered faces showing how they were attacking them out of anger.
Authorial Choice #2 & Explanation:
- Emanata: In panel 1 the emanata is used to display the brutality of the police as well. The
emanata is toward the center of the panel and is displayed alongside the image of the
civilian getting whacked over the head with a baseball bat. The emanata helps the reader
to realize that the policeman is hitting the civilian extremely hard over the head. This can
allow them to make the assumption that the civilian will be very injured and might even
have brain damage. The police are abusing their power and beating innocent civilians
extremely hard. They are not just disciplining them, they are actually beating them and
they have done nothing wrong. Overall, the emanata displays police brutality because it
shows how civilians are getting brutally beaten
Authorial Choice #3 & Explanation:
- Splash: The third panel is called a splash panel also shows the global issue of police
brutality. We are given context from the previous panel that the police had locked the
cinema from the outside. Through the implementation of this splash panel, the reader is
able to get an inside look at the cinema. Through this inside point of view, the suffering
of all of the civilians is portrayed greatly. Through the use of the ghost icon, the reader
can assume that many of the people had died. Also, there are people that are running to
the exit, but the readers know that the doors are locked and that nobody will be able to
escape. Basically, because of the police, the people are going to slowly get cooked alive.
The police were so brutal that they let people burn and die. This also shows the abuse of
power because it the author displays the police as having no remorse and this is probably
because they are entitled.
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Chapter 3: “The Water Cell”
Theme or Global Issue:
- Global Issue: Using religion as a justification to get Power- Power is a major global issue
within this chapter. In this specific chapter the father is explaining how the Reza tried to
take over the capital because he wanted power. In the panel, we see how he references
religion as a way to try to convince himself that what he is doing is correct even though
he knows it isn’t. This is a major global issue today because many times people will
attempt to overthrow a ruler or betray someone that they were loyal to because they
wanted power. Also many try to justify their immoral choices by stating that it was God’s
will when in reality, they knew what they were doing and that it had nothing to do with
God. Many will try to lift the responsibility off of their shoulders and place it on God’s.
Insert picture of passage(s):
Explain how the passage(s) support the theme or global issue:
- This passage displays the global issue of using religion as a justification to gain power.
One instance, where it is displayed, is in the speech bubble of the man sitting all the way
to the right. He states that “if it is God’s will, [they] will reach the capital in 19 days”
(19). Through this statement, the reader can make the assumption that the man to the
right is trying to make it seem as if everything he is doing to gain power is because of the
reason that God wanted it to happen. From an outsider’s standpoint, it also makes it seem
as if he is trying to convince himself that what he is doing is right. Another example is
through the fact that the man in the middle tells the Reza that “God is with [them]” (19).
He repeats this statement twice showing that he is trying to convince himself more than
the Reza that God is with them. He is trying to convince himself that he is trying to gain
power because God is on his side.
Authorial Choice #1 & Explanation:
- Thought Bubble: The thought bubble helps to illuminate the fact that the men are just
using God as an excuse to get power. The thought bubble states, “And even if he isn’t,
what can stop us?”(19). The guy on the right knows that even if God is not on their side
they will still be able to take over the emperor and will still get power. He has accepted
the fact that God has nothing to do with their ability to gain power over the emperor. This
also helps the reader to make the assumption that God is just being used as a way to
justify the fact that they will be taking many lives in their attempt to take over the
Emporer.
Authorial Choice #2 & Explanation:
- Graphic Weight: graphic weight is utilized in this panel to emphasize the fact that the
men do not have pure intentions. Since the men are dressed in black it displays the fact
that they have evil intentions and are unpure. Since virtually the whole panel’s
background is white it symbolizes innocence, but because the men are the darkness in the
light it illustrates how they will bring death and destruction wherever they go. Also, the
graphic weight shows the expressions on the men’s faces and Satrapi illustrated them to
look evil and entitled. This supports the fact that they feel entitled to take power from the
Emporer. The entitlement they are feeling is not the will of God and once again supports
the fact that they are trying to use God to justify their wrongdoings.
Authorial Choice #3 & Explanation:
- Splash Panel: The splash panel is used to help emphasize that something important is
occurring, that is relevant for the readers to know. In this case, the three men are meeting
up and the Reza Shah is attempting to convince them that they will reach the Capital in
19 days. This would be the beginning of the revolution and Satrapi is trying to display the
fact that it was not God’s will that allowed them to take the power of the Emporer, but
rather the idea that it was their greed that caused them to want and get the power.
Through this splash panel, she is setting the stage for the rest of the novel and displaying
the fact that religion had nothing to do with the revolution.
