Answer: The Complete Persepolis is a graphic memoir by Marjane Satrapi that describes the author’s childhood experience in Iran during and after the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and her early adulthood after she graduates high school in Austria and returns to Iran. As a result of the restrictions placed on Iranian women by the supreme spiritual leader Ayatollah Khomeini, many Iranians demonstrated in the streets and rebelled against the Islamic Republic (“History of Iran”). Marji, the protagonist, has a distinct childhood experience in the time of revolution, experiencing extreme psychological struggle under the influence of the political and social upheavals in Iran. Marji’s internal struggle follows her from a very young age through her adult life, which corresponds to memoirist Mary Karr’s “inner enemy” theory explained in her book The Art of Memoir. Karr theorizes the inner enemy as “a psychic struggle against the author’s own self that works like a thread or plot engine” as well as one of the key components of a great memoir (Karr 91). Based on Karr’s theory, what is the role of Marji’s inner enemy in The Complete Persepolis? Why does she confront such an internal struggle, and does she resolve her inner conflict by the end of book? By exploring these questions, we can better understand the central idea of Satrapi’s memoir as well as Karr’s theory and the mechanism behind a graphic memoir. It also provides readers with a distinct and profound perspective to trace the history of Iran and the impact of the revolution on the Iranian people, especially on Iranian women. Marji’s desire for freedom and her courage against authority, which are cultivated under the Westernized education she receives from her parents, make her incompatible with the society constrained by Islamic traditions and consequently lead to her inner conflict. Even though the inner conflict acts as a significant obstacle in Marji’s childhood, she successfully overcomes it and achieves self-approval before she leaves Iran for France as an independent adult, which indicates the final resolution of her inner conflict.
