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Rachel MontpelierENGL 389, Section 30Dr. MitchellFebruary 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 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.

Figure 1, (Satrapi 104).

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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

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.

Figure 2, (Satrapi 305).

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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 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.

Figure 3, (Satrapi 318).

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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.