Inevitability of Death

I found the ending of Persepolis interesting. The author manages to escape her war torn home country, and the oppression and violence that she grew up surrounded by. Though her departure is bittersweet, one would expect an ending pointing towards hope for a better future outside of Iran. Yet the ending illustration shows Marji looking back, pressed against the glass partition that separates her from her parents. Her father looks grave, his face dark, as he carries his seemingly unconscious wife.
In the pages leading up to the end I did not expect such a dark ending. But if you follow the patterns of the book it makes sense. Taher sends his son to Holland, and though his son remains safe, Taher tragically dies without ever seeing him again. Satrapi focuses on the death of the father rather than the survival of the son. She grows up in a country that mourns the dead from the war twice a day, and embellishes their funerals and glorifies them as "martyrs." And despite her efforts to "think only of life" (95), I believe that Satrapi falls into the same belief as most of those in Iran- that the inevitability of death prevails over the continuity of life. This belief erases all hope for the future. This helps to explain the unusually dark ending of Persepolis. Though a brighter opportunity awaits Marji, all she can do is look back and mourn the life she thinks she is losing.

http://www.notablebiographies.com/newsmakers2/2006-Ra-Z/Satrapi-Marjane.html

After reading this book, I thought it would be interesting to see what Satrapi did after leaving Iran. As it turns out, she returned to Iran at the age of eighteen.