
Originally Posted by
beascarpetta
This book clearly is about Satrapi's childhood and the way she perceived the world that she was a part of.
Satrapi was nine at the time of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and she grew up as the veil was introduced
and schools were segregated.
A major portion of the book deals with the gender issue.
Much is told from a child's often partially uncomprehending point of view.
Concepts such as class differences and various ideologies often aren't clear to the mind of a nine-year-old
girl and reactions such as to the veil are often childlike.
When Satrapi rallies againgst sexual discrimination she refers to the way her relatives,such as her uncle,or her mother were victimised during that time.
On the one hand, men were tortured and betrayed (tricked, lied to, deceived) in order to induce them to go into battle.On the other hand, women were forced to do what they did not want to do,like wearing the veil, making do without jewelry and tight pants, in short anything that might send the male imagination into overdrive.
There were many more rules/laws to be obeyed to the letter, simply for survival's sake.
When the family maid falls in love with the son of the family next door, Satrapi's parents' class
consciousness is closely scrutinised by their young daughter,who cannot believe how her otherwise
liberal parents condemn the maid for ignoring class boundaries.
The nine-year-old girl comforts the teenage maid: "We were not in the same social class but at least we were in the same bed."