Persepolis

The chapter begins two years into the war as Satrapi befriends older girls. They convince her to skip school to go get burgers and hot dogs and to flirt with boys. Satrapi is caught by her mother when the school calls home to say she cut class. Tensions run deep between Satrapi and her mother, and Satrapi begins to hang out alone in the basement.

The war rages on as Iran makes it clear they are not interested in peace, but in taking over Karbala, a holy Shiite city in Iraq. It is obvious the Islamic regime depends on the continuation of the war, despite its high death toll. The image of Satrapi hiding in the basement is contrasted next to a gory illustration of a battle. The regime becomes more and more repressive, systematically arresting and executing Iranian dissenters.

Satrapi rebels in her own way by beginning to smoke cigarettes in the basement, noting that with her first cigarette, she finally became an adult.

Opening in July of 1982, Satrapi and her parents visit her Uncle Taher. Taher is in bad health and continues to smoke despite his doctor’s warning. He sent his son to Holland but despairs he cannot visit him due to Iran’s closed borders.