Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis

I had come across the name “Persepolis” a few times before hearing it in my literature of comics class. I probably saw it scanning through my Netflix selections online. Because of the picture on the cover, I had no idea what it was about but I didn't really have any desire to watch it. For some reason I chose to read that one this week and I am so happy I did because my ignorance would have stopped me from learning about a subject I care a lot about. I am very invested in learning other cultures and especially what is happening in the Middle East.
I opened the book and I instantly loved the simplicity of it. Everything is quite literally in black and white. There are no gray areas. The drawings look like the sketches of a child and it fits perfectly with the story. The author tells the story of her childhood in Iran in very simple language following the simple illustrations. It was very easy to understand not only the story, but the complex situations happening in a struggling country.
As I've mentioned, the simplicity is my favorite part of this whole book. I felt like I could connect, not to what she was feeling (because I have never been through that) but to what she was thinking. As a child things are very black and white and we can read her thoughts as they change as she grows up. We can see how easily she is influenced by something she reads or hears, like when she wanted to beat Ramin with nails because she heard his father had killed millions. I think the author is subtly teaching us lessons by letting us into her young mind. For example, in the chapter where she wants to beat Ramin up, she learns about forgiveness, which in turn is something we learn.
Overall, this has been my favorite story. I connect better with stories about current or past events rather than fantasy because I am interested in learning about the world.