In Persepolis, a graphic novel of memory, Marjane Satrapi paints a chilling picture of life in Iran during times of upheaval. She describes many disturbing things, like bomb attacks in her neighborhood and anti-regime rallies where demonstrators were beaten. One of the things she describes is the country's fascination with martyrs, both when Marji was a child and when she was an adult, returning to Iran after the war ended. During the two periods she lived in Iran, the country was controlled by oppressive regimes with extremist Islamic beliefs. It is these beliefs that have led leaders and citizens to view martyrdom as the highest glory. This essay will discuss Marjane's encounters with the glorification of war, Islamic conceptions of martyrdom, both textually and historically, and how this issue fits into the overall theme of Persepolis. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay In her memoir, Marjane is influenced by what she sees of the culture around her glorifying war and martyrdom. In the chapter “The Key,” Marjane tells her mother that she saw the streets lined with bridal chambers for virgin martyrs. Then his servant, Mrs. Nasrine, tells them that her son was given a golden plastic key at school and was told that it would allow him to go to heaven if he was lucky enough to die in the war . Ms. Nasrine reveals that her son's teachers told her that if he went to heaven, he would be rewarded with food, gold and women, in an attempt to make him desire death on the battlefield . What Ms. Nasrine's son learned is in line with Islamic beliefs that martyrs are considered the holiest people entering heaven and are rewarded by Allah above all others. Marji later describes the slogans written on walls in Iran and cites one: "To die a martyr is to inject blood into the veins of society." Marji says this phrase when she thinks that the regime considers people very different from hers as martyrs. The stories Marji makes up as a child when she is jealous of another girl whose father was a war hero show the glorification of war in her culture. This shows that, because of the way she was taught, she places more value on the idea of ​​having a war hero in her family than on having perfectly healthy and safe parents. The same ideas about martyrdom and war that Marjane learned as a child. are still taught to children and adults in Iran today. In a public speech, President-elect Ahmadi-Nejad said: “Is there an art more beautiful, more divine and more eternal than the art of martyrdom? Children growing up in Iran today are taught that they must die for the Islamic cause in order to go to heaven, just as Ms. Nasrine's son is in Persepolis. “This is the height of child abuse. Here you have a whole generation of children who think that the best they can achieve in life is to die for Allah. This is a tragedy with implications that no one in the West has begun to contemplate,” wrote Israeli researcher Itamar Marcus. This concept exists more strongly in Islam than in any Western religion. In most forms of Christianity, suicide is considered a sin and, for some branches, the worst sin of all. Liberal Protestants believe that Christians who commit suicide still obtain heaven, even. 2013.