End of Persepolis 118-153

The end of the novel is pretty sad.  There are quite a few events that negatively effect Satrapi's life.  The first important event was the death of one of her uncles.  He died from his third heart attack, but he could have been transferred to a foreign hospital where he could have received the treatment he need.  The reason he was not transferred was because he did not have the proper passport.  When Satrapi's mother went to try and get the passport she noticed that the man granting permission was her former widow washer.  She tried to ignore the fact that he used to wash her windows, but he recognizes her and delays the passport.  The uncle dies the day that the passport arrives.

Another bad event that takes place is when Iraq beings to attack Satrapi's city with long range missiles.  Even though her family has been aware of the war it has not really directly affected them.  This all changes with the missiles.  One day Marjane is away from her house when she hears that there has been a missile attack.  She rushes home to find that the missiles had hit her street, but had luckily missed her house.  She finally sees her mom and has never been as grateful to see her.

Without a doubt the biggest event in the novel is when Marjane's parents tell her that they are sending her away.  Her parents say that it's best for her, but Satrapi would rather stay with her parents.  Even though her parents say they will eventually move where she is going, she knows deep down they never will.  This upsets her.

Reading this novel was a new experience for me.  I'm glad I finally read a graphic novel, but I don't think they're for me.  I didn't like the lack of detail.  In most novels all of the important information is discussed on the pages.  In this graphic novel a lot of the detail was hidden in the pictures or required further research.

I also don't really understand why Marjane Satrapi wrote this novel.  She says she does it to basically shed light on the misconceptions that people have of the citizens of Iran.  The book was published in 2003 so it I figure she is referring mainly to the events of September 11th, 2001.  If this is the case I don't see how a novel about events that happened almost 30 years prior have much relevance.  It was hard for me to read about a child's thoughts about a particular event and believe them.  I think most people would agree that nine year olds do not really understand everything that happens in the world around them, and I think that is the case with this novel.  Marjane is highly influenced by her parents who happen to be very politically active.  In all situation there are two sides to every story and I think this is one time where it would be helpful to know how the other side felt.  I got tired of only hearing about what Marjane thought about everything.