Title Significance

        There is a literal and figurative meaning to the title Persepolis. Persepolis has the word polis in it so you already know that it is some sort of city. Persepolis is the name of an ancient city that was once the Capital of the ancient Persian Empire that is now in ruins. In the memoir Marjane Satrapi titled on of the chapters Persepolis. In the chapter it described the history and the becoming of Persia. The grandma told Marjane Satrapi a story about how the Shah spent all the countries money on ridicules celebrations. This was one of the many reasons of the Revolution in Persia. The literal meaning of the title is just an ancient city in ancient Persia. The title is what told you the setting of the story and helped you predict the topic of the memoir. Marjane Satrapi does not live in Persia but you can predict the situations that occur in the country will be the same.
        Even though the title had a literal meaning, it has a deeper figurative meaning. Marjane Satrapi titled the book Persepolis to symbolize the Revolution. She wanted people to know the truth about the Revolution that many did not. In the introduction of the book the last sentence says "one can be forgiven but one should never forget." She never wants the events that took place to be forgotten. The best way to ensure it will not be is by creating a book that explains her personal experiences. Also in the introduction it says "I believe that an entire nation should not be judge by the wrongdoings of a few extremists". Marjane does not want her entire country to be categorized as a bad place just because of a few bad people. Persepolis is portrayed as a bad place and all Marjane is trying to say is that you can not judge a place by just a few people's actions. By Marjane Satrapi saying this in the introduction she is telling you why she wrote the book. The title symbolizes her purpose of the book. Even though Persepolis is now in ruins her titling the book that makes people never forget. The events that happened in Persepolis were the same that happened in Tehran and many forgot what happened in Persepolis. The figurative meaning is very hard to interpret, but there is definitely a bigger meaning behind the title.
Word Count: 400