Persepolis is a bildungsroman that tells the story of Marji, a young Iranian girl who grew up in a time of revolution, unrest, and war. Her path of growth and development changes direction at any given moment and she begins to become a young adult with her own views and opinions. Marjane Satrapi reveals Marji's moral evolution in her bildungsroman Persepolis through the theme of coming of age. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The theme of adulthood through the character of Marji At the beginning of the novel, Marji was innocent and naive about everything that was happening in Iran. All she understood was that there was trouble in her country; however, she did not fully grasp the gravity of the situation. Marji was in her own bubble with her unrealistic ideas of the world. For example, Marji doesn't understand how bad torture is or what it was really for, and she makes torture a fun game: "These stories gave me new ideas for games. I too have imagination… the burning mustache torture consists of pulling on both sides of the upper lip” (Satrapi 53). This shows how little Marji really knows about what's going on, because if she did, she would know that torture isn't really a fun joke or a fun game to play. However, this quote provides insight into the benefit of a child narrator. It shows how a child narrator is able to reveal their creativity and offer a new perspective through their imagination. In doing so, Satrapi helps the reader understand what it was like for her at that time when she was experiencing it. Marji's innocence is preserved until the pivotal moment of her adolescence. The pivotal moment was the bombing of his city, which marked the start of the war. Coincidentally, just before the attack, Marji yelled at God and told him to get out of her life. Also, on the same page, Marji's uncle Anoosh, who was important to her, was executed. This moment clearly changes Marji and marks a shift in her worldview. As they are being bombed, Marji recounts this by saying, "And then I was lost, with no bearings... What could be worse than that?" (Satrap 71). By using a rhetorical question, Satrapi addresses the reader almost directly. This makes the reader stop and wonder what Marji is feeling and put themselves in her shoes. From that moment on, Marji adopted a rebellious lifestyle. This moment shaped the story and added to the theme of maturity as it helped Marji further develop as a character and as a person. It helped her grow a little and find herself and what she believes. This pivotal moment not only contributed to the coming of age theme, but it also helped develop the story because of the impact it had on the protagonist. She begins to take action and stand up for what she believes in. This is especially evident in his adoption and love of Western culture, which is forbidden. She loves listening to Kim Wilde and wearing Nike sneakers, which gets her into trouble: “They were the guards of the revolution, the women's branch. This group was added in 1982, to arrest poorly veiled women. (Like me, for example)” (Satrapi 132). Even though she knew she might get in trouble, Marji would go out in public poorly veiled, wearing tight jeans, Nike sneakers, a denim jacket and a Michael Jackson button-up. Satrapi uses these allusions in these panels in order to connect with readers around the world to help them understand that Marji is no different from teenagers in the United States, for example. This example.