Although she writes comic books, Satrapi does use certain literary devices in her works. To begin, she often uses flashbacks to explain something that occurred to the character that might change
the audience’s opinion over that person. In reality, Persepolis is a giant flashback in which she retells her childhood in Iran. Her use of flashback serves as filler, because she cannot describe something people
are already seeing. In other words, since her novels are also drawn, she has
no need for imagery or descriptive phrases. She only tells the audience what
the character is saying or thinking, so everything that happened before she explains through the flashbacks. Furthermore, she also uses them to make her stories more comical.
The characters will have a flashback when they are reminded of something that occurred to them in the past because
of something that they are living in the moment. These random flashbacks also
allow her to bring some comedy into her story.
Furthermore, another literary device that the author uses is characterization.
She does not only speak the mind of the young Satrapi, but also that of people who were for the Islamic Revolution,
and people that agreed with what the government was doing. She uses her images
to portray her characters in what ever way she pleases, but leaves space so that the audience can draw its own conclusions
from the story. Satrapi clearly does not care if her audience agrees with her,
as long as they listen to her. Because of this, her diction is not so eloquent,
and she tries to keep everything simple. From her drawings (which are not so
detailed), to her writing, which is almost childish in a way.
Since she is writing a comic book, the author obviously uses various asides.
These are usually used when she wants to say something that went through her mind at the moment. These asides usually have some kind of comic remark in them because they are the innocent thoughts of a
young girl that did not know any better. Along with her asides, Satrapi is also
very sarcastic. She uses her sarcasm as a way to mock the other characters (the
town people). The author probably does this because her sarcastic remarks can
be taken literally or sarcastic. So if someone who was not so fluent in French
or English (or any of the other languages that her works have been translated into except her own because the government will
not allow it because their content is too vulgar) tried to read it, they might not understand.
Of course this person would probably be an Iranian that dislikes her, and wants to know what she is up to.
Satrapi also has many historical and religious allusions. She alludes
to events that occurred in Iran during the time she was there,
but writes about them in a way that even if one does not know much about Iran
or its government’s history, they can still understand at least half of the joke.
She also alludes to the Koran and certain passages in it to remind her audience that despite her dislike of the country,
she still has the same religion and has the same beliefs. Furthermore, her use
of dialogue instead of imagery allows her to highlight her mediocre drawing abilities.
They are nonetheless comical, but obviously drawn hat way on purpose so that the audience will not become to interested
in her drawings and completely forget her story. She also uses a protagonist
and an antagonist in every situation to create the story around her character, and draw the attention solely to her life.