Making and Breaking Stereotypes: A Comparative Study of the Graphic Novels Persepolis and Sarah
Lakshmi G. Menon,
Assistant Professor,
Department of English,
Sri C. Achutha Menon Govt College,
Thrissur, Kerala, India.
Abstract: Feminist literary
theory is of great significance from time immemorial. Ever since the birth of
the first man and woman, certain roles were bestowed to each sex, based on
their physical, emotional and intellectual abilities. However, with the
development in science and technology along with the spread of education, women
began to think, act and talk for herself. Many women writers openly expressed
their concern about the injustices done to women by the family and the society.
This was the beginning of feminist theory. This paper explores two graphic
novels Sarah and Persepolis, written by women of Asian descent. Each novel
brings out the nuances in the way each female protagonist is brought up in her
family/society/country/religion. The subtle differences in how both handles
life situations make an interesting study. This article makes use of principles
of feminist literary criticism for analysing the two texts.
Keywords: Feminist,
Injustice, Graphic, Family, Society, Religion.
Right from the ancient times, society had divided
responsibilities based on gender. A man, who was supposedly more muscular and
stronger than a woman was given the task of working hard and providing for the
family. A woman, due to her ability to bear children was given the role of a
home maker, engaging herself in the household chores and bringing up children.
For centuries these roles were followed by the two sexes without much complaint
and each one did his/her roles almost perfectly. But with the growth of
education women began to wonder why they alone should bear the responsibility
of child rearing and house-keeping. She wondered why the roles of the two sexes
have to follow a stereotypical pattern and what is wrong in dividing the duties
amongst the husband and wife. Women began to question the chauvinistic approach
of males feeling superior to women and considering women as unimportant or
insignificant. They began to raise their voice against this kind of male
suppression and started to give voice to their own dreams, interests and
ambitions. On the other hand there were groups of women who were suppressed
twice and thrice, not only due to their gender but also due to their caste and
colour. Dalit women, Black women, tribal women and women in the colonised
countries all belonged to the second category. Thus began a unique branch of
literature and criticism dedicated to women and women writers- feminist
criticism.
There were many women writers who
contributed greatly to the development of feminist literary criticism. Virginia
Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own is considered
to be a seminal text in feminist criticism. In it she gives the idea that, if a
woman has to become a writer, she needs money and a room of one’s own, thus
emphasizing on the financial, social and personal independence of women. Simone
de Beauvoir, a French existentialist philosopher published her controversial
book The Second Sex which is believed
to have set off the second wave of feminism. In this book she gave the idea
that a woman is always considered as the second sex and that a man always defines
a woman in relation to himself. Elaine Showalter is known for coining the term
gynocriticism. She wrote many significant works like Towards a Feminist Poetics, The Female Malady: Women,
Madness, and English Culture and
many more. Showalter talks about feminist criticism thus:
Feminist criticism
has been rather a powerful movement than a unified theory, a community of women
with a shared set of concerns but with a complex and resourceful variety of
methodological practices and theoretical affiliations. In addition to having a
broad social and intellectual base, feminist criticism is unusually wide in
scope. It is not limited or even partial to a single national literature,
genre, or century; it is interdisciplinary in theory and practice. (Showalter
29-30)
This shows that feminist criticism was more of a
movement of women who had similar concerns about the position of women in
society. It extends to other branches of study as well, thus becoming an
interdisciplinary theory. Susan S. Lancer opines that “just twenty years ago there
were virtually no courses in women and literature, no feminist journals or
feminist publishers et today courses in women and literature abound; books of
feminist criticism are too numerous to count.” (Susan 3) Thus feminist
criticism has become truly significant in the present times and it has started
to hold together marginalized women groups like women of colour, lesbians and
women from poor financial backgrounds. “These feminist critics writing from
outside the university have asked academic feminist criticism to deconstruct
its own dominant practices by turning its outward challenges inward as
well.”(Susan 17) Thus feminist criticism became a widespread, all inclusive
movement; holding together not only educated white women, but also women all
over the world, hailing from different social, cultural, financial and
educational backgrounds. All of them were held together by the common demands
of equal rights and opportunities for women, honest portrayal of women’s
experiences and rewriting the gender stereotypes in society.
Graphic novel was a recent development in
literature, its predecessor being the comics. There was a wide range of comic
books published by DC and Marvel publishing companies. But unlike the
superhuman heroes of the comics, graphic novels had ordinary middle class
people as protagonists. These texts were targeted at mature, adult audiences
unlike comics which were mostly made for young adults. Most graphic novels
dealt with serious political, moral and social issues and conveyed messages
effectively through the combined medium of words and pictures.
This article aims to do a comparative
analysis of two graphic novels in the light of feminist literary criticism. Persepolis is an autobiographical work by
the Iranian writer Marjane Satrapi which reveals her story up to her adulthood
and marriage. Sarah is a graphic
novel by Ayesha Tariq and traces the story of a Pakistani girl, struggling to
live in an absolutely patriarchal family of hers. Both texts are similar in
some ways- both are graphic novels by Asian women writers, one Iranian and the
other a Pakistani. Both stories are about young Muslim women, smart and active
but made to live in a society where men took major decisions and religion
shielded them from living any kind of progressive life. The texts differ in the
way both protagonists respond to the challenges in their lives.
The name ‘Persepolis’
refers to the ancient name of Iran and Marjane Satrapi gives an idea of the ancient
history of Iran by naming her book as Persepolis. While Marji, the protagonist
of Persepolis,
is backed by her radical Marxist parents to face the rough world outside, Sarah
the titular protagonist of the other novel suppresses all her anger and fits
into the category of an ‘obedient daughter’. In fact, the subtitle of Sarah is The Suppressed Anger of the Pakistani Obedient Daughter. The visual
motif of the novel, says Anasuya “is a glass bottle with a stopper. The bottle
steadily fills with the weight of unsaid words through the course of the book.”
(“A Bottle Full of Unsaid Things”)This act of metaphorically putting in all the
unsaid words into a corked glass bottle is symbolic of the age long ‘silencing
of women’ in a patriarchal society. This paper looks into the subtle
similarities and dissimilarities of the two graphic novels from the perspective
of feminist literary theory.
Figures showing
Sarah’s frustration and unsaid words bottled up in corked bottles
Both the texts begin
in a slightly similar fashion. Sarah introduces herself as a girl of eighteen,
living in Pakistan and that she has a lot of dreams. However, she very openly
tells that it is her conservative family that prevents her from achieving her dreams.
Persepolis begins with Marji
familiarising the reader with her childhood society- where the young girls were
made to wear veils (though they never knew why they had to do it) and the girls
and boys were made to sit in separate classes unlike the previous French school
where they were sitting together. Both Sarah and Marji were dissatisfied with
the things going on in their life and this is clear from their faces. We can
see that their lips are curved downwards as if they were sulking and the look on
their faces reveals their gloominess. (See fig below)
While Sarah
introduces her family members, they are picturised in such a way that their
character too is revealed. Her dad looks very glum and serious; her mother
looks like a typical middle aged housewife and her brother looks like a
carefree young man. These are very stereotypical representations of middle
class family members. The first hint of feminism creeps in when Sarah comments
that her brother gets everything his way because it’s a male dominated society.
(Sarah 8)
Marji’s family lives
in Iran and is entirely different from Sarah’s. Marji introduces her mother as
a progressive minded lady taking part in a demonstration against wearing veils
as the Iranian monarchy had made it a strict rule to wear veils. She is
portrayed as short haired and wearing modern dress and sunglasses. This image
brings to our mind, the image of the new liberated woman, who has started
raising her voice against patriarchal norms in society
From a very early part of the novel, Marji’s
mother becomes a symbol of resistance. However this bold lady is intimidated
when her photo protesting against veils comes in an Iranian newspaper. Although
her husband consoles her that it is ok, she dyed her hair and wore dark glasses
for a long time after that. This shows that she was afraid to reveal her
protest or boldness openly in Iran and she tries to hide her true identity,
afraid of the unsaid rules of a male dominated society. Marji had inherited her
mother’s boldness and one day she tells her parents that she also wants to take
part in the revolution that was going on in her country to bring down the
Iranian King.
Sarah describes the
rooms in her house and openly says that her Bhaiyya has “the biggest room with
the biggest hi tech writing table and an exercise machine that he doesn’t use.”
(Sarah 11) Though Sarah’s room is big
enough, her parents are planning to make it the TV area and to shift her to the
servant quarter. The bias towards the male child continues when Sarah’s mother
reprimands her when she brings home a trophy her team won for throwball, “Look
how dark you’ve become! Bas, enough of these games! You’ve become so old
anyway.”(28) The brother never uses the exercise machine and when Sarah
actively takes part in games, she is discouraged. Her mother’s insistence on
white skin colour for a young girl and her reminder that she is too old for
such games turns out to be a much anti feminist remark. This brings out the
stereotypical belief that only fair women are beautiful and that women are not
designed for sports or physical activities. Though Sarah is only eighteen, her
family has already started looking out for suitors for getting her married.
Sarah remarks, “We’re raised to be brides here. Because of this shaadi business
all the important things are made to sit on the sidelines and looks become the
priority.” (26) No wonder Sarah’s mother gets frustrated when she plays
throwball and gets tanned. Marji’s mother on the contrary gets upset when she
decides to get married at the age of twenty one. She sadly remarks, “I have
always wanted for you to become independent, educated and cultured- and here
you are getting married at twenty-one.”(Persepolis
349)
The fact that in
their place girls were brought up to be brides proves that these girls could
not follow their dreams or continue their education. In fact, Sarah had her
exams right after Bakrid, but nobody in the house gave any consideration for
her studies. We get a picture of Sarah trying hard to concentrate in her book
while her family members keep on calling her for doing different chores. On one
page we can see Sarah’s father calling her name loudly just to put the fan on
low. Sarah who was studying in the next room is made to come to her father’s
room just for this purpose.
Marji however was lucky enough to have parents
who always wanted her to get her well educated. She is sent to Austria at the
age of fourteen as her parents thought Iran was not the right place for her to
grow up. Her parents bought her books to read and she was familiar with Karl
Marx and the concept of dialectical materialism at a very young age. Marji grew
up to be an extremely bold girl who openly voiced her opinions to everyone.
Once at her school, the Principal who was an orthodox Muslim lady forced her to
remove her bracelet from her hand. Marji exploded to her, “With all the
jewellery you steal from us, you must be making a pile of money.”(Persepolis 143) In her frenzy, she hit
the Principal who fell down. And Marji was expelled from the school.
Another gender
discrimination found especially in Asian society is based on the dress code.
Some twenty five years ago, even our Indian society had inhibitions regarding
how women dressed up in society. However no one ever bothered about what men
chose to wear. This kind of gender stereotyping is found in Sarah too. Sarah is not allowed to wear
jeans even for a friend’s party. Her mother exclaims, “JEANS?? No! No! You’re
no longer a child! This is not appropriate for a girl your age.” (Sarah 17) Sarah is always found dressed
in the traditional salwar kameez with a dupatta wrapped around her. This means
she always had to cater to the interests of the family, even in matters like
choosing her costume. Marji in Persepolis
however have progressive parents who allow her to dress the way she likes. She
wears jeans and sneakers and a badge of Michael Jackson on her jacket. Marji
had already inherited her mother’s attitude of challenging social and cultural
norms and the women in her family never adhered to the strict rules of the
traditionalists. The traditional ladies in her area question her attire and
warn her that she will be taken to the committee. The harshness and strictness
of the committee of traditionalists is clear through Marji’s words, “At the committee
they don’t have to inform my parents. They could detain me for hours, or for
days. I could be whipped. In short, anything could happen to me.”(Persepolis134)Thus even the family is
progressive, the so called traditionalists in the society always kept an eye on
young girls and dictated what they should wear, how they should walk and talk.
There is a notable
bias in the way boys and girls are bought up in Sarah. There is an incident where Bhaiyya informs his parents that
he is going to a friend’s house to which they responded in a cool way “Accha..
Take care.” (33) When Sarah informs them that she has to go to Hina’s house to
discuss about their project, he mother remarks, “No need! Talk over the phone.
It’s almost time for maghrib. It’s not right to step out.” (33) The worst part
is that Bhaiyya comes back at 3 am and he wakes up Sarah asking her to heat up
some food for him. He is always carried on a pedestal while Sarah is made to do
all the household work. This text thus gives umpteen examples to prove that
gender bias and discrimination still exist in the so called educated, middle
class society even in the present day.
Sarah has exams right
after Bakrid and none of her family members cared about her studies. They had a
lot of guests and Sarah had to serve them drinks, take care of their babies and
wash all the utensils. At one time Sarah thought all her work is over and it is
then that her mother asks her to make tea for everyone. Sarah is exhausted by
the time she makes the hundredth cup of tea and it is then that Bhaiyya asks
for a cup of tea! There is a picture of Sarah looking tiny as she stands beside
the huge heap of dishes to be cleaned after a big dinner. In Persepolis however there is no mention
of Marjie doing the household work unlike Sarah. However, she cooks for herself
while at Austria.
Fig 1. Parents carrying Bhaiyya on a pedestal, Fig
2. Sarah doing all the household chores
Fig 3.Sarah exhausted
after doing all the work
Sexual abuse against
women is yet another issue taken up by the feminist writers. Sometimes the
abuse may be open at other times it is covert, and by members of the family.
Women are afraid to voice their protest because they feel that society might
humiliate or condemn them. We can see two types of protests from the
protagonists, one passive and the other active. There is a very annoying
incident in Sarah when one of her uncle’s
sexually abuses her. One whole page is set aside to bring out the exploits of
this man whom she calls Khaaloo- one picture shows “the cheek squeeze”, the
next shows “the lingering handshake”, the next one shows “the weird back rub”
and the final one shows “the arm squeeze.” (50) Whenever she informed her
mother about these incidents, she would deny it by saying, “One should not say
things like that! He loves you. This is how he expresses his love!” This again
shows the norms of a patriarchal society which silences women even when they
are sexually abused by men. Even when the mother understands the situation, she
is made to accept blindly the fact that these things happen and that this is
how he expresses his affection.
In Persepolis however such stereotyping is
flung into air by the bold Marji. Moral policing in Iran was getting too strict
in those days. Young unmarried couple who were found roaming in the streets
were caught by the committee. Their parents could free them only after paying a
fine. Once in Iran she was running to catch a bus when suddenly the policemen
shouted her to stop running. When she asked the reason they replied, “When you
run, your behind makes movements that are…how do you say…obscene!” (303) Marji
feels insulted and body shamed- they had dared to say this only because she was
a woman. She retorted angrily asking them not to look at her ass, if that be
the case! Marji says, “I yelled so loudly that they didn’t even arrest
me.”(303) Here we can see Marjie
challenging patriarchal norms and power structures on her own. At her college
of art, men and women had separate studios. One day she was drawing the picture
of a man who was posing as a model for her. One of her supervisors came and
scolded her saying that she must not look at the man so closely as it is
against their moral code. Marji was enraged and she replied, “What would you
have me do? Should I draw this man while looking at the door?” (302) The
supervisor replied “yes.” (302) The patriarchal society gave undue importance
to female morality. That is why there were separate studios for men and women
in the Arts College. There was a very wrong notion that men would be attracted
to women if they sit together in class. It is this social restriction that
Marji questions.
The two graphic
novels end in diametrically opposite ways. Marji, with the emotional support of
her understanding parents comes out of life’s challenges positively. She had
been expelled from her school due to her bold, outspoken nature. However,
instead of blaming her, her parents send her to Austria. There also she had
issues with the school authorities first, then she had a break up with her boyfriend
and she came away from her hostel. For three months she lived on the street and
the cold winter weather combined with her smoking habit caused bronchitis. Even
when she finally came back to Iran, her parents had promised that they won’t
ask her anything about those three months. This incident shows the amount of
personal freedom Marji’s parents gave her to decide her life. Again her
marriage with Reza ended in failure and her parents said they had already
foreseen it. Her father remarks, “You weren’t made to live here. We Iranians,
we’re crushed not only by the government but by the weight of our traditions.”
(Persepolis 341) Here we see a very
supportive father who stands for the freedom and empowerment of the women in
his house. In fact if the status of women needs to improve in any country, the
men should learn to respect and acknowledge women. Marji’s parents do not put
the blame on her; rather they blame their own country and tradition for the
narrow outlook. Marji’s grandmother has a very positive outlook and she
consoles her by saying, “a first marriage is a dry run for the second.”(335)
She finally leaves for France and her mother advises her thus, “This time you
are leaving for good. You are a free woman. The Iran of today is not for you. I
forbid you to come back.” (343) Thus with the positive attitude of her parents,
Marji leaves for France to start a new life. To quote from an article by Lisa
and Plastas- “Marji’s meditations on torture, religion, politics, and class,
among other things, suggest that young girls exist not only as casualties of
war, but also as inventive agents of resistance and change.” (Lisa and Plasta
9)
Sarah had unpleasant
experiences all through her life. Each experience made her irritated and angry.
However, unable to express her frustrations openly she began to bottle up each
feeling. This process is graphically represented in the novel as Sarah really
storing her pent up emotions in a glass jar until the jar is filled to the top
with such emotions. At one point we feel that the jar may explode as Sarah
herself says, “I am done”, the panel showing a very angry Sarah pulling out her
hair in frustration. The reader gets a feeling that she may shout at her
parents or leave the house. However on the next panel we can see Sarah’s
parents talking to one another, appreciating the hard work she had displayed
during the Bakrid get together.
Sarah’s mother:
Wasn’t Sarah amazing today? She handled the whole lunch! Didn’t complain even
once! She is the perfect daughter!
Sarah’s father: Yes
she was! Her future husband is very lucky! (63)
Sarah overhears this
conversation and does not want to disappoint them by expressing her frustration
openly. Instead, like the stereotypical daughter who is timid and obedient, she
justifies her parents’ attitude thus, “Maybe it’s not so bad”, “They just want
what’s best for me”, “It’s not a big deal. I can manage”, I am sure other girls
do it as well”, “They do care about me.” (65, 66) The anti feminist attitude in
the tone of her parents is too obvious. The mother does not give any household
duties to her son and makes Sarah do all the chores. Her father is happy to
think that the future husband of his daughter is lucky because she works so
hard! Sarah too is made to internalize the fact that being a girl, it is her
duty to do the household chores and lead a meek, submissive life in her own
family. This is the result of patriarchy inside the family and the society.
However, to quote Anasuya “The lack of a fairy tale resolution doesn’t make
this novel less feminist, nor does it render Sarah weak. Instead, it
demonstrates what Sarah must endure everyday and how much she must fight to
ensure that she can continue to study and dream in spite of the enormous
pressures put on her to conform. Sarah’s story is an important reminder that it
is not just public spaces that need to be taken back against gender-based
discrimination- it is all spaces, including and especially those in the home
and in the mind.”(A Bottle Full of Unsaid Things) When read in this manner, Sarah becomes a mirror image of many
such girls toiling hard for the family yet managing to float above the daily
drudgery of housework and patriarchal biases. The novel becomes an eye-opener
for all those male chauvinists who consider the women in their family as either
servants or brides and not as ‘women’ with an identity of their own.
Thus the two graphic
novels by women writers bear testimony to the real condition of women in two
Asian countries. The main aim of these works is to expose injustice as a result
of patriarchy in the society and to reveal how women respond to these tensions
in different ways. While Sarah shows
a totally submissive approach to the evils of patriarchal power, Persepolis shows a high amount of
resistance to patriarchal exploitation and political misuse of power. Sarah
bottles up all her frustration symbolically in the various glass bottles while
Marji is bold enough to voice her opinions everywhere she goes. Analyzing the
two texts from a feminist perspective proves to be an interesting exercise. One
text upholds feminist principles of resistance and resilience, the other one
unravels the inside story of a normal middle class family where the parents are
conservative and against any kind of women empowerment. Though the two texts
end happily, Sarah builds upon the
bricks of patriarchy, making the stereotypical representations come true. Persepolis on the other hand breaks
these stereotypes and creates an image of the new educated, liberated woman.
Thus through two diametrically opposite storylines, the readers are made aware
of what women go through and how women respond to injustices meted out by a
patriarchal society.
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http://www.jstor.org/stable/4316102. Accessed 17 July 2025.
Lisa
Botshon
and Plastas Melinda. “Homeland In/Security: A Discussion and Workshop on
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