A Thousand Words

          The path of "the hero's journey" and the path of a coming-of-age story are often heavily related and intertwined.  In some ways, it could be said that all coming-of-ages are, in and of themselves, hero's journeys, although the reverse is likely not true.  I would say that Persepolis absolutely falls under both categories.  The protagonist is literally coming of age in it, and she is meanwhile dealing with a world that is heavily fraught with peril where formerly it was not.
          However, there is one stark difference between Persepolis and every other book we have read and will read this semester.  It is, of course, a graphic novel.  So the questions must be asked: why did Satrapi choose this format, how does this format serve the story, and how does it differ from a standard, text-only format?
          I will begin with probably the easiest question to answer: how is it different?  The answer seems pretty obvious - rather than relying on words to convey an image to us, it conveys the image directly through simple black and white drawings.  But more than that, and tying into the other two questions, this format both eliminates the need for lengthy exposition and explanation and more quickly evokes emotions from readers.  Rather than having to explain what a veil looks like, and the difference between fundamentalist and modern men and women, Satrapi simply shows us.  Rather than explaining the emotions and perils in the book, Satrapi expertly uses the expression afforded by her simple art style to convey fear, sadness, and happiness, among many other emotions.
          From the above, the answer to the second question is likely rather clear already.  Graphic storytelling allows Satrapi to condense the novel, letting her better convey emotions, which I feel is the main driver of her book.  The art style and lack of heavy narration is far more fitting to a child's point of view on the world.
          As to why Satrapi chose to write her life story as a graphic novel, I think it is mostly because it is told from the point of view of a child, and that format fits that perspective a little better.  Where a text format would have to explain things that a child would not be able to understand, we can simply see the situation and understand what is really happening while simultaneously seeing that Marji does not understand.  Where a picture is worth a thousand words, pages of pictures are worth more than a novel of words.

The Paul Paradigm

          In a previous blog post of mine, I talked about how, sometimes, I feel that a lot of the things that are said about books in English classes are just reading way too much into the book and what the author intended.  I recently had an interesting conversation about this with some classmates and some non-classmates, specifically dealing with A Lesson Before Dying and especially Paul.
          First of all, allow me to say that much of what I usually say about the supposed "classics" we read in English classes does not apply here.  The reason for this is simple: A Lesson Before Dying is by far the best book I have ever read for any class in school, and is quite high on the list of my all-time favorite books.
          With that out of the way, the conversation between myself and three other students (who shall remain unnamed) was a debate of sorts.  The two sides mainly argued were whether the parallels between the deputy sheriff Paul and the apostle Paul were superficial coincidences, or intended and deliberately included by Gaines.
          On the one hand, it is likely possible to take any fictional character and find however many connections to historical figures, biblical figures, or whatever else.  It could just be a coincidence that these parallels appear, and a character is just a character, nothing more.  I often complain of too much being read into a story, finding deep and hidden meanings where, really, none exist.  Of course, I often have this complaint of books that I read for English classes.  I wouldn't like to think that just because I like a book I start seeing connections and metaphors where there really shouldn't be any.
          However, in this case I really do think that the connections between the deputy sheriff Paul and the apostle Paul are real and significant.  I think that it would be far too much of a coincidence for an enemy of the main character who is then more or less "converted," and who holds a position of power before and after his conversion to also be named Paul, just as Jesus's enemy and then ally in the Bible.  In this case, I think it would be far stranger if, in fact, the characters had nothing to do with each other, as that would be a genuinely scary amount of coincidence.
          In addition, I think that it is important to note just how important Paul's "conversion" is.  This is someone who, in all likelihood, could be the sheriff of Bayonne at some point in the future, and this series of events has destroyed much of his prejudice towards the blacks in his community.  Just as Paul became instrumental to the spread of Christianity after Jesus's death, so Paul could become a huge part of progress in his community in the future.