Ninth grade required reading provides context for protest in Iran

CHANEL NEAL

Writer

Contributing

Recent protests that have struck in Iran relating to strict government mandates around restricting women’s dress and activity is contextualized in nineth grade required reading of “Persepolis.” The novel is about a young girl, Marjane, growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, which provides context for the injustices that still persist today. Since the Islamic Revolution in 1978, an authoritarian regime has taken over the Islamic Republic of Iran. More recently, in 2022, an Iranian woman named Mahsa Amini was detained and murdered by officials after going in public improperly observing hijab, some of her hair being visible, a direct violation of one of the regime’s laws.

Her death led to a rise of protests throughout the nation, making Persepolis an even more relevant reading in our community.

English teacher, Miriam Emery, said that the reading along with the revolts has been a complete coincidence. This reading has been taught alongside other memoirs such as Trevor Noah’s “Born a Crime”, meant to analyze how political events can shape the course of one’s upbringing. Emery said, “On the surface, someone who hadn’t heard of the graphic memoir, or of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, might think, ‘I don’t think I’m gonna like this. I’m not into politics, and I know nothing about Iran and that part of the world.’ And by the end, almost every student did like the book and would see a lot of connections between themselves and the characters.”

Ninth grade have been able to more effectively analyze the recent spark of protests in Iran because of Perspolis’ appeal to teen life as it relates to growing up in political turmoil. Chloe Mackay, freshman, who read the novel, said that it was a relatable story about “finding ourselves and coming to terms with a corrupted country.

Alumni have been carrying the school’s mission statement post graduation. Nil Sera Gungor ‘20, a college senior at Babson College, said, “I don’t think it’s gotten nearly the amount of media attention it should,” She’s passionate about the cause because she has many family members from Turkey. Though her family wasn’t directly affected, she said “If one person feels pain, we all feel it.” Gungor believes that the death toll of the earthquake could’ve been lowered if Turkey had earthquake proof buildings. She believes that the best way our Masters community can help is spreading awareness who we are,” no matter how different those circumstances may seem. Mackay further explained that the novel debunked misconceptions that she and many of her peers may have had about the Islamic Revolution in terms of women’s role, religious implementation, and government regimes in general.

She said, “It definitely gave me more context and it was easier to empathize with the character knowing that she was around my age. It could have so easily have been you,” Mackay said.

Persepolis is set during and after the Islamic Revolution, but the themes of the novel are present in Iran today. Emery’s neighbor, Nazanin Mahallati, is an Iranian woman now living in Hastings-on-Hudson, who spent 18 years of her life in the midst of post-Islamic Revolution Iran before moving to the United States, speaks to these similarities.

When it comes to the recent protests in Iran, Mahallati said that her experiences as a high school student involved being “punished for little things” that she and her peers should not have been, which makes the recent protests

(while at a larger scale) familiar. According to Mahallati, the required reading of Persepolis is a step in the right direction. She went on to say that spreading awareness on this issue can be done effectively through literature. Mahallati said, “Through introducing books that are written by Iranian young immigrant writers who have been in the country and experienced it, they can voice their experience through their literature and through their writings. Personal experience, either verbally or written, speaks better than other people talking about it who haven’t experienced that themselves.”