Persepolis – Marjane’s Grandmother

In the introduction of the book, Marjane wrote, “I believe that an entire nation should not be judged by the wrongdoings of a few extremists” (Satrapi, introduction page 2). She wanted people to remember that her country had a great history. Some bad things had happened, but there was no anger in the way that she wrote.  Her grandmother helped her to think this way. Grandmother told her to be true to herself and that nothing was worse than bitterness and vengeance. Her grandmother taught her by telling her what she should do and by showing her how she should behave.

Marji was very close to her grandmother.  In the book when Marji was planning to be a prophet, her parents and friends knew about her plan. But only her grandmother knew that Marji had a holy book with rules that she made up. Her grandmother would listen to Marji when she would talk about what her rules would be. Her grandmother’s legs hurt, so she really liked rule #8 that no old person should have to suffer. Some of Marji’s classmates made fun of her for wanting to be a prophet, and her teacher thought she was strange. But her grandmother would never make fun of her. Marji even said that the only other person that believed in her was her grandmother (page 26). 

Grandmother had had a hard life. Her husband’s father used to be the emperor, so her husband’s family used to be very rich and important.  When Marji’s grandfather was still very young, the Shah’s father overthrew his father.  When Marji’s grandfather grew up, he became prime minister and was very important. Grandfather became a communist and was put in jail.  He was treated very badly. Grandmother had been very poor because the old leader had taken everything away from them because her husband was a communist. The communists wanted things to be different from what the old leader wanted, so he put them in jail.  Even though grandmother had a very hard life, she never seemed to get very angry (page 32).

Grandmother was very clever.  When the family was in the car and was afraid that the man would find out that they had wine at home, grandmother was very calm.  When they stopped the car, grandmother and Marji were going to go into the house to pour the wine out.  The man tried to stop grandmother and Marji from going inside. Grandmother pretended to be sick so that he would let her go inside.  Grandmother and Marji poured the wine in the toilet. Grandmother tricked the man and was able to pour out the wine (page 110).

Marji’s grandmother was a big influence on her. Her grandmother had a very hard life but she was very calm. She and Marji were close, and she was always giving Marji advice. Her grandmother taught her how to get through bad situations without getting upset. The grandmother is this way, and Marji learned to behave like she saw her grandmother behave. I believe that the advice that that Marji got from her grandmother is why she could write about so many bad things that happened in her country without sounding angry.