Social Class in an Iranian Society

Growing up many people are friends because they’ve done something friendship worthy or you and the other person just click on a certain level. It is rarely based on social class and how much money a person has compared to you. In the novel, Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, she portrays the impact of social class differences on relationships throughout the book. Primarily through the relationship of Mehri, the housemaid, the mom, and the neighborhood boys Marji hanged out with. Persepolis is a graphic novel about a little girl named, Marji, who lives with her parents living a great life, but their lives begin to change after the takeover of the Islamic revolution comes into play, which changes everything. There was a revolution going on, and the people of Iran were attempting to overthrow the emperor at the time. However, in doing so a war breaks out between Iraq and Iran. During this time many people die, including women and children, and Marji is forced to leave. During her time in Iran, Marji witness her maid not being able to date her neighbor due to her belonging to a different social class. Marji was also exposed to the harsh differences between men and women. Women had to wear a veil, so that the men were not distracted. Also lower class boys were given a “golden” key to go to war; this key meant that if the boys died they would go to heaven. In Iran there are many ways in which iranian people can be classified when it comes to social classes, through relationships, gender, and financially.

Marji originated from a quite affluent family her dad was a designer, they had a Cadillac, and a maid, numerous individuals in Iran were not as fortunate as others, and indeed there were numerous individuals who were from the lower class. Marji initially saw the distinction between social classes in the section "The Letter", when she read a book about lower class youngsters attempting to bolster their family. Understanding this book, Marji acknowledged the social she was in, and felt humiliated on the grounds that she was exceptionally lucky of experiencing childhood in the white collar class when she saw lower classed individuals attempt to defeat the difficulties that they confronted being from the lower class.

An example of a difference would be Marji’s maid, Mehri. Marji’s parents received Mehri when she was eight. The reason being because they couldn’t take care of Mehri like they needed to. Mehri asked Marji to write a letter to their neighbor, Hossein, because Mehri didn’t know how to read or write, and also because Mehri liked him. However, when he found out that Mehri was a maid, he decided to end things because of her social class. Marji did not believe in the contrasts between social classes according to this quote, “But is it her fault she was born where she was born?” (Satrapi 37). “…We were not in the same social class but at least we were in the same bed” (Satrapi 37). Marji thought that