What’s Up With the Ending?

At the end of Persepolis, Marjane divorces her husband and returns to Europe. But she's not fleeing her life in a Lifetime Original Movie way (no crying in the shower here)—she's leaving to regain her freedoms.

Moving back to Iran from Vienna has its positives and negatives. The positives are that she gets to reconnect with her family as an adult, and she understands that they will support her in anything she does. However, the negatives outweigh the positives.

Sure the restrictive clothing she's forced to wear is getting slightly less restrictive, but she's still forced to behave the way the men in charge want her to, and human rights issues get worse in Iran day by day. Marjane's situation is worse because she gives up even more of her freedom by marrying a man she doesn't love. Now we really understand the phrase ball and chain

After a few years back in Iran, Marjane realizes that she has to leave again. Her parents and grandma want her to live her life to the fullest, and there is no way for an independent woman to do that in Iran. Marjane makes the sacrifice of leaving her family behind in order to forge ahead with her own life. It's sad, particularly because it means she barely gets to see her grandmother again. But if she hadn't left, we might never have known her story.