Persopolis
Marjane Satrapi
Pages 3 - 62
Line Illuminator
"But is it her fault that she was born where she was born? Dad, are you for or against social classes?'' (Page 37)
I chose this quote because it shows how things were back then and how people had no choice about how they are classified. This quote takes place when Mehri, Marji's family's maid, was in a relationship with a man from a higher class. She would tell him that she was Marji's sister. When Marji's father finds out, he tells the man that she really isn't his daughter and he doesn't want to see her anymore. I thought this quote is very important. It shows how social classes matter and that people had to live with this. The reason he didn't want to see her anymore is because she was from a lower class. If someone was born in a lower class, they would remain in a lower class. When Marji says it isn't Mehri's fault that she was born where she was born, it shows how people were however they were because of their families.
"But you have to admit I wasn't completely wrong when I said he was not on a trip. Maybe, but my father is a hero.'' (Page 52)
I thought this quote was very important because Laly cared about her father and was proud he survived, while Marji was insisting that he was lucky they didn't kill him and that he would probably die. When Laly's father was in prision, Marji told Laly that when someone is on a ''trip'' it means they are dead. It turned out that her dad was alive and in the end, Marji was jealous that Laly's father was a hero to her, but her own father wasn't a hero. She told stories saying that her father was tortured, but she didn't realize that he was lucky he got to stay home with his family and that Laly's father was a hero for fighting and surviving.
Antonia, I would like to share my thoughts toward your first quote. I interpret the quote as a barrier we lived in the past. It is very interesting how man had such a problem with the fact of a human being having more or less money. It is very similar now a days especially in India. Man people are disgusted to see their daughter or son marry and fall in love with a poorer man with less opportunities. I can compare this situation with what many citizens lived during the mesopotamia civilization. The social class was divided into our classes - the priests, the upper class, the lower class, and the slaves. The working class or in other words the slaves and the lower class where the ones who worked for a living. They were farmers, skilled workers who made such things as pottery and spun thread, and merchants who sold goods.
ReplyDeleteThe slaves where in some aspects very alike, their labor was very used to pay off debts. As a sum up what the non mobility of social classes was extreme. People had 0% percent of moving up or down the table. If you where born poor you would die poor and if you where born rich you would die rich. The differences in classes is very similar to what we love today and what we have just read. Their was persecution and prejudice, people are and where afraid, weary and uncomfortable of staying in an environment close to a lower class citizen.
Thanks,
Gui
I agree with you. I was interested the first quote. I think Marji’s father was for social classes because he was rich because of them. Have you ever thought that you are glad to be not poor? We are not poor, but we couldn’t decide where to be born. People aren’t poor because they wanted to be poor, people aren’t rich because they wanted to be rich. To be born in poor or rich family or country is a fate. At the time period, they even couldn’t decide who they can love. They didn’t have freedom to love. The line that you chose shows sadness of the time.
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