Marjane Satrapi Critical Essay | Critical Review by Debbie Notkin

Critical Review by Debbie Notkin

SOURCE: Notkin, Debbie. “Growing Up Graphic.” Women's Review of Books 20, no. 9 (June 2003): 8.

In the following review, Notkin lauds Marjane Satrapi's frank autobiographical perspective in Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, noting that “Satrapi's unswerving commitment to the complex truth over the comfortable platitude will shake your expectations.”

In the second panel of Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi lets her readers know what we can expect from the rest of the book. The panel shows four little girls in Islamic veils, lined up in a neat little row. On the far left, we see the barest suggestion of a fifth girl. The text reads, in part, “This is a class photo. I'm sitting on the far left so you don't see me.” Satrapi, like all autobiographers, controls what we see and how we see it; unlike many, however, she is extremely cognizant of her control and wants her readers...
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