Marjane Satrapi shares a personal narrative of her life as an expatriate from Iran using the literary genre of an autobiographical graphic text, she calls Persepolis. When growing up in a war-torn country, it's very difficult to have one's own voice which is why Satrapi's parents decided to send her off to Austria, where she spent the rest of her high school years. Between those two settings, she is dealing with different cultural views of gender, religion and even politics. Therefore, Satrapi begins struggling with messages from her home country of Iran and the powerful western world as Marane has grown up always questioning social policy towards women and the underclasses and the importance for women to have a public voice within the country.

Persepolis shares the story of a young girl, Marjane Satrapi, growing up in Iran during the revolution. During the revolution, it was very difficult for the author to be herself or even express her voice due to the country's strict laws and history. Having a voice for Satrapi meant first moving to a western country and corning to understand western values towards women, while still repressive are not as oppressive as in the Middle East. Yet, Satrapi chooses to memorialize her life as a child with her parents and still living in Iran while she is questioning her place within its society and imagining another. Throughout the novel, Satrapi uses the technique of questioning to demonstrate her construct struggle of conflict and confusion;  But it is the questions that matter as much if not more than the actual answers.

However, throughout the novel, Satrapi admires Western idols, political heroes and their courage to stand up for what is righteous in their eyes. In a way she is trying to do the same and follow in their footsteps. For instance, in the chapter "Kirn Wilde", Marjane requests to her parents to obtain posters of Iron Maiden and Kirn Wilde. After receiving her presents and not realizing to what extent her parents went through to retrieve it, she now feels more connected to her Father since he is the one giving her the posters. But the reason why these posters mean so much to the author is because of the context behind it. It's representing the Western culture as well as an act of rebellion. Her parents snuck the presents illegally from Turkey which meant to Satrapi they understand how important it is for her.

One phenomenon that can be understood, even in the western world, is Iran's rigid social class system that is consistently questioned by Satrapi. Especially in the chapter "The Letter" is where Satrapi explained her frustration of the social class seperation. Satrapi illustrates herself as angry and by writing, "The reason for my shame and for The Revolution is the same: the difference between social classes" (33,panel 7).  But being at such a young age and not understanding is what added to her anger even more. For this particular situation, even Satrapi's supporting parents couldn't agree with her. Her parent's are aware of the nature of the fact: two different social classes cannot be intertwined. At one point Marjane's own father said "Because in this country you must stay within your own social class" (37).  It is an Iranian mentality that the lower classes must never be ahead of anyone else, it's not culturally accepted. On other contrary, the western world, specially the American Dream emphasizes the importance to achieving whatever a person wants through hard work and determination.

According to the Marxist theory, consumerism is an ideology that makes individuals feel as if their self-worth is correlated to what he or she buys (Tyson 60). This ideology serves a purpose to make the rich feel even richer, while the poor still feel less empowered. Satrapi's family are comfortable in their social standing because they have a maid and drive a Cadillac (Satrapi 6). Evidence of their wealth was very much present throughout the novel. For one instance, when going out to shopping, Marjane asks her mother for money, without any hesitation she is able to provide it (138). Being able to send Marjane to a different country, having maids and money given when asked was a big deal especially during the 1980s in Iran. It's very much clear that this family is well off compared to other Iranian citizens.

Even being well off and having supporting parents, makes no difference when you're under a suppressive regime. As mentioned at the beginning of the book, Marjane has been experiencing political changes since a young age. But she was completely oblivious to what was happening around her only because of the young age and pure innocence of a child. In fact, after a day of protesting, Marjane's parents returned home, and Marjane's first question to them was, "Hey morn, dad, let's play monopoly" (18). This instance of situational ironic demonstrates the importance of western culture in Satrapi's life, and in her family's life, which brings up a bigger social issue: How much of western culture is influenced in other parts of the world? Is the western world's dominance one that controls the minds of the young, especially Satrapi? The game itself is very ironic due to its purpose and emphasis on money; thus, showing that the person with the most money wins. This idea captures the perception of people, particularly Satrapi, who already feels a certain bias towards western culture.

All in all, Marjane's innocence and lack of knowledge is due to her age, and now she reflecting back on her childhood. There were serious matters she spoke out against, but never fully understood the context behind it. There are two sides to Persepolis' story: how the government presents it and how Marjane sees it. Through the use of images and parental testimony, Satrapi defends her viewpoints throughout the novel.  The major differences between the West and East are also discussed through Satrapi's perspective. In the West, people have freedom which is why Satrapi because so preoccupied with its ideals since Iran forced the society to adhere to rules that go against the citizens' freedom. Despite Satrapi's criticism of her homeland, she is the person she is today because of her hardships, losses, and experiences. Without living in Iran and living through the difficulties after the Islamic Revolution, she would never have questioned authority or even her faith.