Often times, when we read books, we rely on the text to tell
us what each character is experiencing. A lot of times, we have to infer what
our character is feeling through their thoughts and actions as well as the
thought and actions of others. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is a different kind of book. Rather
than having a lot of text, its main emphasis is the usage of pictures. Because of
this, we must look at the pictures to get a better understanding of what
happens in the book. In particular, we must pay attention to the faces of the
people in the book to understand what really occurs in Persepolis.
In the book, there are many different kinds of faces. Some
of the more common ones are the faces that are smiling as well as some that
look really sad. These faces really let us know what the main character, Marji,
is feeling, as well as telling us the influences others had on her. For
example, on page 69, in the scene where Marji meets her uncle Anoosh in prison,
it is their facial expressions that really tell us what they feel. Just looking
at the tears rolling down Marji’s face is enough to tell us just how sad she
really is. The same applies to Anoosh as well. You can tell by the grim yet
semi smiling face that he is really sad about leaving Marji, yet he is still
trying to be strong for her sake. The words on the page don’t really emphasize
these emotions, it is the touching images that do. Those images make us feel
much more empathy for the characters since we can visualize their expressions.
All in all, I really like the style the book is created in.
I think that writing this book like a graphic novel was an excellent idea. It
really drives in the emotions the characters were feeling. There is a saying
that a picture is worth a thousand words. I think that saying is very appropriate
to use here. No amount of text would be able to paint the emotions we see from
the faces in Persepolis.
I also agree how the reader is more emotionally connected as we can see the characters emotions in this style. I think it's great how Marji will sometime just depict a scene of sadness, and don't say anything about it and let the picture speak for itself which makes the images in the rest of the graphic novel more powerful themselves. Nice post
ReplyDeleteThe facial expressions are a big part of the narrative and they definitely help me feel more connected to the story. Mr. Mitchell mentioned how important the eyebrows were and I completely agree with him, because the drawings are fairly simple, Satrapi has to kind of over-exaggerate some facial features like eyebrows to really convey her message.
ReplyDeleteGood post and I definitely agree with it. Some scenes just don't have the same effect when they're put through word form. The art style of straightforward black and white helps keep everything cleaner yet still bolder. And when drawing people and their expressions, it's all in the details. There are 43 muscles in the face, and the slightest movement of one of them can make the difference between one portrayed feeling and another, and I thin the illustrator does a lovely job with knowing how to depict expressions.
ReplyDeleteThe reader definitely will feel more emotionally connected with characters when he/she sees them, even if they're not "realistic". One good example of Satrapi making use of illustrations are in some panels when she positions the main character's face directly towards the reader. For example, the cover, page 42, or page 53 all have the character's faces and expressions looking toward us. Each depicts a different feeling that is made more significant, in my opinion, with the face on interaction between character and reader.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think the graphic representation goes a long toward way toward connecting the reader with events that might be distant from them with emotions they feel everyday. Great post, it definitely relates to our class discussion today.
ReplyDeleteI certainly agree with you that the images present a much more personal depiction of the characters' emotions, something that you don't get from just reading about them in a newspaper. Our brains have evolved to quickly decipher how a person is feeling by looking at their face, whereas adjectives describing emotions are a much newer concept. This makes the simple images in Persepolis a far more powerful way to express such emotions.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree; the author uses facial expression to great effect throughout the book. I especially like how her art style allows her to draw much more exaggerated expressions that get her point across even better than photo-realistic ones would, like when someone's smile takes up most of their face, or when we see two large tears, perfectly placed in each of a characters eyes. This style of drawing is often cartoonish but it totally works here.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's the mustache that gives Anoosh such an expressive face in these drawings, but I think Satrapi does an especially good job communicating quite complex, adult-level emotions (which Marji doesn't always necessarily perceive) through subtle changes in his facial expressions. In particular, the sequence (which I pointed out in class) where his optimism ("Everything will be okay") slowly deflates as the news gets worse and worse--you see a gradual shift from an optimistic, upward thrust to his features (and raised arm) down to a more sagging despondency. This sequence communicates so much about what the parents are feeling as history unfolds around them. (Also, distressingly reminiscent of the progress of my own emotional journey on election night last week.)
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