Ryan Wen ’27
Aadi Balyan ’28
On December 28th, protesters in Iran filled the streets of the nation’s capital, Tehran. Riddled by economic woes and angered by long-standing grievances against the Iranian regime, protesters chanted slogans such as “Death to the dictator” and burned photos of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader. Recognizing the nuance and complexity underlying these most recent protests can be a difficult task, especially for high schoolers at EA. However, current EA sophomores believe one resource in particular can help: Marji Satrapi’s graphic novel Persepolis.
The most immediate causes of the recent protests in Iran were largely economic. Due in part to heavy US sanctions, rapid inflation has plagued Iran’s economy in recent years, with an annual inflation rate of nearly 40%. Consequently, nearly all levels of Iranian society, even Iran’s typically affluent middle-class, have struggled stay afloat, struggling to acquire basic goods such as cooking oil and chicken. Dr. Arezoo Zomorrodi, mother of Darian Mihalakis ’27, is a nurse whose family currently lives in Iran. “The very specific causes for this protest are just atrocious prices of everything, the collapse of the currency, the difficulty in having basic rights such as water and electricity,” she explained.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images
However, as demonstrations moved beyond Tehran, protests have become symbolic of broader resentment and criticism against Iran’s theocracy. Since the current regime toppled the Western-influenced Shah’s secular monarchy in 1979, numerous riots and protests have taken place in response to corruption, political repression, and human rights abuses. “There [have] been protests in Iran for as long as I can remember,” says Arjun Kulkarni ’27. For instance, as recently as 2022, “Women, Life, and Freedom” protests took place across the nation, honoring the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after being arrested due to violating hijab laws. This deep-rooted discontent, one that traces its lineage to the very beginning of Iranian theocracy, has become increasingly evident as riots continue to increase in fervor. “Young people, millennials, and Gen Z are tired of living in a theocratic state that is not engaged with the modern world, that is very controlling and obviously intolerant. They want to live in the modern world, and living in a medieval, theocratic state is not that,” says Christopher Row, upper school world history teacher.
While the underlying reasons behind the latest protests and their predecessors share similarities, what distinguishes the most recent conflicts has been their sheer scale. According to Shams, these protests are the largest public display of resistance to the regime since the 1979 revolution. Even typically conservative groups such as the bazarris—shopkeepers and merchants—who have historically rarely participated in large-scale protests, found themselves at the forefront of the riots. Row says, “The intensity of these protests is unprecedented.”
In response to protestors, Iranian security forces have responded with deadly force, opening fire on crowds and setting fire to marketplaces. According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, at least 6126 people were confirmed dead from police retaliation as of January 27th. “Most of them have been peaceful. [The protestors] actually don’t have access to arms in Iran the way that they do in countries such as America,” says Dr. Zomorrodi. The Iranian government also cut off all Internet access on January 8th, leaving the nation in a communications blackout.
Across the Atlantic, American officials’ reaction to Iran’s turmoil has also been notable. President Trump has consistently shown his support of the protestors, writing on Truth Social, “Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!” In a separate Truth Social post, Trump also declared 25% tariffs on countries that traded heavily with Iran. Furthermore, the United States has also threatened military intervention; most recently, the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and several other destroyers were stationed near the Middle East, in clear striking distance of Iran. Especially due to the US strikes that damaged Iran’s nuclear facilities this past summer, indications of further American interference in the Middle East have drawn clear criticism. “After what happened over the summer, I don’t think it would be wise to keep going back into Iran over and over again,” Kulkarni remarks.
Through various articles, social media posts, or other forms of information online, most EA students are aware of the situation occurring in Iran. However, awareness is not the same thing as understanding what exactly is happening. To look deeper into the situation in Iran, students can look to the graphic memoir Persepolis, which is taught in World Literature in Sophomore year. For those who may not have been at EA in 10th grade, or those who may not remember, Persepolis is a graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi, which tells the story of the author from the perspective of her childhood as she navigates through the rise of the Islamic Republic and the Iran-Iraq war. The format of the graphic memoir uniquely provides the reader with simple, contrasting scenes, as well as a lived experience of what it was like to live through those events.
Persepolis is centered around themes of oppression, government surveillance, freedom of speech, and youth resistance. As Satrapi navigates these ideas through the lens of Marji’s childhood upbringing and sense of identity, she simultaneously relates them to what tense political moments like these can do to children and people in direct contact with these conflicts.
evant decades later.
Photo courtesy of Penguin Random House
The protests today aren’t sudden or isolated. They reflect the ideas represented in Persepolis and are a result of a culmination of decades of history. Even though Persepolis is set decades before today, recent protests have been similar to those in 1980. Satrapi depicts a society in which government authority penetrates everyday life, regulating what people wear, say, and believe. The protests that occur today reflect this same type of resistance to those structures of control. Marji learned early on in her life that there is a stark difference between public and private identities. Expressing opposition in public could carry severe consequences. By showing these tensions and how political issues affect ordinary people, Persepolis helps readers understand that the protests today are not random—they are in reaction to an ongoing struggle against authoritarian rule that has existed for decades.
Students at EA agree that Persepolis carries with it a deep connection to the events happening today. Sophomore Max Leung said that Persepolis gave him a way to “experience the events and thoughts from an angle that helped better understand what is happening in Iran today.” Teacher Anne Barr notes that books like Persepolis encourage students to “think in a more complex way about Iran and the people of Iran and Iran’s history,” making it essential for understanding the specifics of what is going on today in a different light. She says that Persepolis often triggers thoughts for teenagers like “Who am I? What do I think about God? What do I think about my parents’ beliefs? What do I think about government?” Persepolis offers a relatable angle from a different society, making it integral to the World Literature curriculum. Books like Persepolis remind us of the importance of reading literature. It shows that it is not just a reflection of past events, but also a possible framework for the present and future. Marji’s personal experiences and perspectives resonate with the thousands suffering the consequences of decades of history and oppression. As the conflict in Iran develops, Satrapi’s book offers insights into how these systems of power can affect the lives of many who are not directly connected to the conflict today. Rather than narrating the experience through a distant perspective, Satrapi transports the reader directly into the perspective of young Marji’s mind. In doing so, literature such as Persepolis becomes a way to bridge history and literature, helping students better understand the world through this lens of the past.
