Through the eyes of a child

One of the most complicated aspects of writing is the ability of the author to portray his/her emotions and views on a particular moment or situation in a manner that will allow readers to understand the author without discrediting their presentation. When writing about sensitive topics, the author must also take into account the emotions of those involved, as well as how the readers may react to the material presented. Satrapi takes a risk by choosing to tell her story in a quite unconventional form - a graphic novel. Although quite unordinary, this decision allows Satrapi to tell her story in a way that would not be possible through the use of words alone. It is the stark presence of pictures and visuals that allows Satrapi to educate the audience on both her life and history through the eyes of a child.

One can claim that it is a child’s innocence that allows him or her to believe everything and to take everything for fact; what is seen and what is heard is truth. The use of black and white and the lack of lengthy text that is found in a graphic novel add to this factor. Not only through appearance alone is Satrapi telling her story through the eyes of a child, but also in the depth of what is written. Satrapi chooses to focus on what a child would find important and outstanding during those tragic times, such as her reactions to having to wear a veil. Although the story is presented with this “child-vision”, it is successful in the sense that this format enables the reader to more easily digest such troublesome material without even realizing it. Satrapi does not lie, she merely tells history the way she experienced it, and in a way that readers will allow themselves to understand her story through the unbiased, innocent eyes of a child.