Comparison With Examles Of Persepolis And Streetcar

Question 1

Shaping identity to survive

Answer 1

• B performs a version of herself (young + pure Southern Belle) to survive post-Belle Reve and fit into a world that no longer accepts her.
• M. Performs both as a dutiful Iranian daughter & a westernised teen in Vienna. She fakes being high by rubbing her eyes to fit in. This dual identity leads to collapse

Both adapt or perform identities to survive

Question 2

Detachment from true self:

Answer 2

• B. Changes her story (lies about her age / past / reasons fro leaving Laurel) to escape trauma. She clings to illusions
• M. Betrays her values in Vienna (smoking, drugs lying to friends), = mental break down

Question 3

Downward spiral

Answer 3

Both lose sense of identity and stability, reaching emotional collapse

• M. = 2 months on street = disconnect from everyone (symbolises complete loss of direction & idenity + inner emptiness
• B.‘S illusions collapse after Stanley exposes her lies & assaults her, raving her mentally shattered. She spirals psychologically + ultimately institutionalised , retreating permanently into fantasy

Question 4

Inescapable past

Answer 4

• B: haunted by Allan’s suicide and the loss of Belle reve. She is cauhgt in a trap of memory, seen by varsouviana polka.
• M, after return to Iran, hides her experiences un Vienna (drugs/homelessness) unable to speak about trauma = silence = psychological weight of her past —carries guilt and shame , shoes how her past is emotionally unresolved

M, only after acknowledging pain of her past does she start to heal, doesn’t disappear, but learns to integrate it rather than run from it, unlike B. Who conceals it, resulting in her downfall.

Question 5

Both judged and rejected due to their sexual past

Answer 5

B’s history earases any chance of respect (society punishes women for stepping outside of normal norms, seen when Mitch says she isn’t pure enough to bring home to her mother)

M, one friend asks her if she’s any divert from a whore

female worth tied to purity in both societies
Reflects harsh moral judgment placed on women’s sexuality

Question 6

Coping mechanisms

Answer 6

• B drinks to escape memory, she hides under layers of illusion (paper lantern) —> become unsustainable = psychological breakdown
• M smokes to rebel & cope w/ control (1st against mother and then against oppressive regime). Uses western culture to survive, as emotional refuge from isolation and repression. = these cause her to betray her sense of self = emotional collapse

Both develop personal rituals (dink and smoke ) to navigate trauma, loss and powerlessness.

Their contrasting outcomes — Blanche’s breakdown vs. Marjane’s recovery — reflect how coping strategies can either imprison or liberate, depending on whether truth is ultimately faced or avoided.

Question 7

Oppressive male power

Answer 7

• Stanley uses physical violence & domination to control B. & S.
• Islamic regime enforces patriarchal laws ( veil, gender, segregation, violence against women) marjane & her mother resist

Stanley operates as single man enforcing patriarchal power in a household, Islamic regime enforces it on a national scale
In both women = reduced + controlled + punished
B ultimately succumbs to male domination M fights back

Question 8

Women resting control

Answer 8

• B rests to male dominance by asserting her femininity, intelligence + social clas, refuses to conform to Stanley’s crude world + challenges his authority BUT resistance ultimately undermined by her vulnerability + society’s rejection of women who dont fit traditional roles
• M smokes, skips school, joins protests. Her mother resist the veil

Both push back against oppressive systems, whil B’s rebellion is rooted in illusion and ends in collapse, Marjane si conscious and sustained = more empowered form of resistance

Question 9

Pain and coming of age or regression

Answer 9

2 texts explore coming of age as painful + often traumatic process that forces the characters to confront harsh realities

• B experiences psychological deterioration rather than growth. Failed relalatinships + loss of finality estsae eventual breakdown = journey of regression rather than matures
• M forced to grow rapidly through war + exile + personal grwoth. Turning point = homelessness = faces total isolation & moment strips he of ignorance + propels her towards rebuilding a stringer sense of self

While both endure painful experiences , B’s suffering = collapse & M’s = transformation

Question 10

Assertion of independence

Answer 10

• B tries to assert control via fantasy. Ends up dependent on strangers
• M finally leaves Iran + rebuilds herself through reflection nad emerges more self-aware

Both attempt independence but B escapes into illusion & M grows through confrontation

Question 11

Disillusionment w/ authority

Question 12

Displacement `cultural isolation

Question 13

Homelessness as metaphor

Question 14

Struggling to find ‘home’

Question 15

Lies + delusion as protection

Question 16

Illusion shattered by reality

Question 17

Final consequence of illusion

Question 18

Loss of loved ones

Question 19

Clinging or letting go