Persepolis Chapter 1

The Veil

• We're introduced to young Marji, age ten. The year is 1980. She's not wearing acid-washed jeans and rocking out to Michael Jackson, though: she's in school, wearing a veil, just like all the other girls.
• They don't want to wear it.
• In 1980, the new regime in Iran made it mandatory for women to wear the veil. They also segregated the schools between male and female.
• Marji tells us that she wanted to be a prophet when she was a girl. "I was born with religion" (1.20), she says.
• The school thinks it's weird that prophesizing is Marji's career choice, so they call her parents.
• Even though she tells her parents she wants to be a doctor, she still really wants to be a prophet.