Social Ignorance

Every human being is made of the same basic things: Oxygen, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Calcium, Phosphorous etc...all these "things", really elements, come together to form bigger and more important "things." For example Oxygen and Hydrogen come together to create water which is 67% of the human body and calcium and phosphorous come together to make a person's bones. As a result of this similarity, people yearn to find how to differentiate themselves. One way all of humanity figured to do this was to create social classes. However, in reality there are many more important aspects of life than social class; this, is one of the theme's of Persepolis. This can be evidenced on page 33 when Satrapi writes "The reason for my shame and the revolution is the same: The difference between social classes." Some of the shame that Marjane feels is in that of the child labor. The page references a 3 year old cleaning car windows and a 5 year old having to weave quilts to aid her family in survival. Stopping of childhood labor and poverty is exponentially more important than something as petty as social classes. Furthermore, on page 37 when Mr. Satrapi talks to the young man across the street who has taken a liking to the Satrapi's maid, who he believed to be their daughter. After Mr. Satrapi exposes her the man (Hossein) across the street "Without any hesistation, Hossein gave all the letters he had received to my father!". True love, is more important that social classes, love can not be constrained by your place in society; however, in the context of this novel it is. Finally, is when Marjane says that she wants to be a prophet, "Because my father had a Cadillac." It is absolutely repulsive that because of someone's father having a superior car means that they are allowed to strive to become a religious figure that affects faiths that millions of people follow. Social classes are nothing compared to the oppression of people for not having the "correct" car. What Marjane Satrapi is trying to communicate is that their are more important aspects of life than social classes, and as humans we need to understand this to make the world a better place.