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1. Describe the visual style of Persepolis.

Persepolis is in black and white, and the characters are not drawn in detail. Their expressions exist mostly in their eyes and eyebrows. Some panels are filled with geometrical shapes to connote Iranian civilization, and others are filled with swooping shapes to connote fire or movement or chaos. The visual style reduces the emphasis on particulars and brings out the elements related directly to the story, so that the images provide a background narrative to the dialogue.

2. Why does Satrapi say she wanted to write Persepolis?

Satrapi says that Iran has gotten a bad reputation because of its strict Islamist government and their policies. She says that there are many different kinds of people in Iran, and that they each have their own response to the regime. She acknowledges that the regime has made many people suffer, and she suggests that the reader—and she—forgive people’s actions, without forgetting what happened.

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