Oppression expresses authority over another group, disengaging that specific group from the rest of society. This concept is especially evident in Marjane Satrapi's childhood memoir “Persepolis,” a story set in Iran in the 1980s that chronicles the intense political turmoil caused by Iran's Islamic revolution at the time. In her memoirs, Satrapi induces pathos in her audience by illustratively exploring how lay people, women, and children were marginalized, excluded, and silenced during the revolution. Satrapi's choice of a graphic novel as a medium allows his story as a marginalized individual to be more accessible to his prospective audience of worldly and interested viewers thanks to its relatively basic language accompanied by images that enhance readers' ability to conceptualize the complicated issue . of the Islamic Revolution. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The Use of Symbols of Oppression and Marginalization Satrapi introduces her story and the systematic oppression she faced during the revolution through the symbol of the veil. The novel begins with a young Marjane being required to wear a headscarf at her new girls' school. In the last box of the first graphic page he states: “We didn't really like wearing the veil. Mainly because we didn't understand why we had to do it." This internal monologue which showcases her inability to "understand", plays with the confusion expected of a child and appeals to pathos by arousing sympathetic emotions in the audience who immediately recognize the oppressive meaning in having to forcibly wear the veil. Through this incident, the introduction of her story portrays that because she is a child and woman living during a takeover by a patriarchal and fundamentalist religious government, Marjane's voice is among the most marginalized. This makes Satrapi's accounts of the oppression imposed on herself and others even more believable as she herself is a silenced individual. As Marjane recounts how martyrs were recognized at school, she writes: “They lined us up twice a day to mourn the war dead.” The image illustrates all of her veiled peers, signifying that the veil is a common motif throughout the novel. The girls' facial expressions range from fear to confusion to anger, but never happy. Marjane has no obvious distinction from her classmates, and with this image, Satrapi creates a sense of loss of individuality, forced conformity, and resignation to oppression. The uniformity of the image and its placement immediately after the forced imposition of the veil depicts the veil as a visual symbol of political oppression on women. Following this event, as the novel continues through Marjane's scope, she begins to show how a multitude of beliefs and actions were silenced and punished during the Islamic Revolution, particularly those supported and committed by her family. The chapter "Wine" observes how Marjane's secular family opposes many ideals held by the current government, illustrating her parents celebrating the birth of her cousin in the first frame of page 105. The panel shows her entire family dance. Everyone is illustrated in black, except his father who is in the center drawn in white. His father, as the head of his westernized family, represents leadership in their beliefs. Therefore, the specific emphasis on his father during this forbidden holiday is made to show his contradiction towards the ideals of the Islamic regime. During this chapter, his family suffers,.