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Rachel Montpelier
ENGL 389, Section 30
Dr. Mitchell
February 20, 2013
Visuals, Emotions and Irony in Persepolis
At the beginning of Chapter 5 in Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud asks a very
interesting question regarding comics and their images. He inquires to his reader, “Can emotions
be made visible?” (McCloud 118). That question is applicable to and is answered in Persepolis,
the graphic autobiography about a young woman growing up in revolutionary Iran. The text
often uses visuals to evoke certain emotions, and can even use the images to contrast with the
message of the caption. The parallel panels in Marjane Satrapi’s The Complete Persepolis create
irony in the text by juxtaposing the structured, organized images with the panels’ intricate
emotional messages.
Before discussing Satrapi’s work, it is important to understand how graphic narratives
are able to communicate emotions via visuals. McCloud outlines the effect lines and structure
can have on readers, and how those lines are able to depict certain emotions. As he argues, “The
invisible world of senses and emotions can also portrayed between or within panels” (McCloud
121). The author explains how the text’s emotions and mood can be communicated through
images, and even through the way those images are constructed. The lines that construct certain
visuals are just as important as the visuals themselves. McCloud emphasizes the importance of
lines on emotions and mood when he remarks that they all hold “expressive potential” (124). He
proves his point by showing a series of different kinds of lines. A straight line can be “passive
and timeless,” while a curved line can be “warm and gentle,” and a rigid line in a 90 degree
angle is “rational and conservative” (McCloud 125). The use of lines is an important piece of
emotions in graphic narratives, and is a concept that is present throughout Persepolis. In three
important figures, Satrapi uses the panels to present certain emotions, and these emotions often
contrast with the way that the visuals are constructed.
The irony that Satrapi creates is present in Figure 1, a scene after a bombing, when
Marji’s family and neighbors are trying to assess the damage. The two panels run parallel with
one another. The first panel depicts anonymous figures running up zig-zagging stairs, while the
second panel shows the busts of the family and neighbors making phone calls to loved ones
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(Satrapi 104). The structures of both panels contain similar shapes, and are drawn in an
organized pattern. The rigid lines that construct the visual of the ascending staircase are
structured, or as McCloud describes, could
imply rationality and reason (125). However,
the caption and the completed visual suggest an
entirely different emotion. Marji narrates the
first panel by saying “And once it was over…”
(Satrapi 104). The ellipse, combined with the
overall mystery of the words, portrays the worry
and stress that the characters are grappling with.
Also, the message is ominous and portrays the
emotion of dread that Marji and her family must
feel as they hurry to see the damage the attack
has caused. The lines that Satrapi uses in her
visuals directly contrast with the message and
emotion of the panel. The organized structure
Figure 1, (Satrapi 104).
of the visuals communicates a completely different message than the panels’ message of chaos,
tension and fear.
This juxtaposition continues in Figure 1 with the second panel, where Satrapi uses curved
lines to create the images of Marji, her family, and their neighbors calling their loved ones (104).
The curved lines provoke the emotion of calmness and tranquility, but the caption again clashes
with the visual’s construction. Marji refers to the death and the cost of the attack by saying
“After the bombs and the instinctive fear of death, you’d think of the victims and another kind of
anxiety seized you” (Satrapi 104). The dread and tension that the caption provokes from the
reader directly contrasts with the panel’s structure. The mood from the lines is completely
different from the caption and this contrast creates irony. The clash between the caption and the
text reflects the general chaos that the family is feeling as they search for their friends and loved
ones. The irony that these parallel panels create manages to emphasize the tension that the
characters are experiencing. The contrast between the visual’s construction and the emotional
message reflects the confusion and disoriented nature of the characters in the panels.
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Satrapi uses parallel panels again when she presents Marji and her friends in their
required clothing and again in their individual clothing, in Figure 2. The first panel depicts all
the young women wearing identical traditional Muslim garb (Satrapi 305). However, the second
panel directly below depicts the same women in their
own clothing (Satrapi 305). When the women are
drawn in their individual clothing, each person’s unique
appearance is emphasized. The reader does not realize
how different the women truly are until their veils are
removed and Satrapi shows them in their own outfits.
The conflict in these parallel panels is clear: There is an
obvious disconnect between how the Iranian
government wants these women to be, and who they
truly are, when left to their own devices. All the ladies
in the panel—including Marji—must maintain their
personal identities in the face of a controlling national
rule. As Satrapi describes, “Our behavior in public and
Figure 2, (Satrapi 305).
our behavior in private were polar opposites…This
disparity made us schizophrenic” (305). The inner turmoil of Marji and her friends is clearly
communicated within these panels, but there is a contrast between the panels’ emotional message
and the way the visual is presented.
Although the panels manage to create a clear emotion within the characters, and from the
actual reader, the way that the visuals are constructed creates irony on the page. The way the
women are presented within the panels presents another notion, entirely. Both panels present the
women in overlapping lines, in a somewhat organized fashion (Satrapi 305). This linear
structure, paired with the parallel presentation of the panels incites a direct disparity to the
emotional message of the page. While the women are in identity crises, the panels present with
clean, rational lines and an organized structure. The lines and structure suggest organization and
rationality, while the emotional message indicates confusion (McCloud 125). The way that the
panel is constructed is in complete opposition to the anxiety and the “schizophrenic” nature that
the women feel when they are forced to live two lives (Satrapi 305). These panels demonstrate
perfectly how Satrapi’s parallel panels, their visuals, and their emotional value create irony.
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Finally, Satrapi utilizes parallel panels as Marji describes why her marriage is failing in
Figure 3. The two panels depict two different
Marjanes: the way her former husband thought
she should be, and the way that Marjane sees
herself (318). The first panel depicts Marji as
smiling, overly made-up and more feminized in
front of a flowery background, while the second
features Marji frowning, with dark clothing and
no make-up in front of a black background
(Satrapi 318). These panels successfully
communicate why Reza and Marjane’s marriage is
Figure 3, (Satrapi 318).
not working. Marjane pretends to be someone else, and finds that her husband prefers her that
way. Unlike the previous panels’ demonstration of a forced persona, these panels show Marji’s
choice to pretend to be someone else. The conflict is between the person Reza wants Marji to be,
Marji’s real identity. As Marji comments, Reza married Marji posing as another woman, and
realized his wife was actually the real, less perfect Marjane (Satrapi 318). The panels
successfully portray Marjane’s sadness that her marriage is breaking up, but also shows her
adamant nature. She will not change who she is for anyone, not even her husband.
The way that these visuals are constructed conflict with the emotional subtext of the
panels. Satrapi’s visuals are extremely organized and complement one another well. The two
images are basically the same: Marji sitting on a couch (Satrapi 318). The main differences are
the character’s facial expression, her appearance and the panels’ backgrounds (Satrapi 318).
Although the images are organized and similar—with the signature rational, rigid lines—the
construction of the visual contrasts with the panels’ emotional message (McCloud 125). The
reader is aware that Marji is sorry to divorce Reza, but also is independent enough to know she
cannot go on pretending to be someone else. This complex message paired with deceptively
simple lines creates irony in the panels. Satrapi’s parallel panels are ironic due to Marjane’s
conflict in her marriage being juxtaposed with an organized, simple structure. Marjane and
Reza’s marriage is disintegrating, but the visuals presenting Marji’s emotions are ironic because
they are straightforward and simple.
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To answer Scott McCloud’s question in Understanding Comics, it is possible to convey
emotion through visuals (118). However, sometimes the way the emotions are expressed
conflicts with the way the visuals are presented. Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis creates irony by
pairing structured, parallel panels with complex emotions. The three figures in this paper depict
the chaotic fear in war, the struggle to preserve one’s identity, and the failed expectations in
marriage. All these figures use parallel panels that create irony with contrasting visuals with
emotions. McCloud explained how lines could communicate certain emotions, but Satrapi
demonstrates how lines can contrast with the panels’ emotions and mood (125). Marji’s struggle
in the war and in preserving her own unique identity, in opposition to national mandate, directly
contrasts with the simple lines and organized structure of the parallel panels. In this way, Satrapi
creates irony by using simple visuals to convey complex emotional messages.
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Bibliography
McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York: HarperPerennial, 1994.
Print.
Satrapi, Marjane. The Complete Persepolis. New York: Pantheon, 2004. Print.