Coming-of-age-story+(Bildungs+Roman)

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Coming-of-age-story (Bildungs Roman)

//Persepolis// is about a girl growing up in Iran, during the Islamic revolution.

When we discussed this theme in our group, we realized that Marji is just like any other girl growing up. For instance, children often see their parents do things and do not have any clue why they are doing it, but the children copy their parents and do the same thing. In Norway, we might see children pretending to drive cars or talking on the phone to themselves. In //Persepolis,// Marji and her friends are "demonstrating" in the back yard. They do not know why they are demonstrating or what they are demonstrating for, yet they still do it.

Another similarity is that kids often brag about their parents or uncles. For instances, a Norwegian child might brag about his dad having been to Africa or performs brain surgery. In //Persepolis,// Marji brags about her uncle having been to jail longer than all the other men and that he was tortured in jail. Then, she and her friends play "torture" for fun.

We see that Marji is influenced by the Western culture when her parents travel to Turkey. Her parents asks if she wants anything from Turkey and she says she wants some clothes and a poster. Her parents had to smuggle these things in as they were illegal in Iran. But Marji really was really happy when her parents came home with the gift.