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IB SL ENGLISH LITERATURE Paper 2 essay: Persepolis and 1984
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Comparative essay surrounding the role of violence in two works (Persepolis and 1984) from an English Lang and Lit Level 7 student.
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PAPER 2Compare the role of violence in at least two of the works you’ve studied
Both Marjane Satrapi, the author of Persepolis and George Orwell, author of 1984, presents
different forms of violence either physical or psychologically, and their impacts on the victims in
their works. In Persepolis, published in 2000, Satrapi utilizes graphic storytelling to tell a coming
of age story set in the backdrop of the Iranian Revolution and the Iran-Iraq war to show the
readers the harsh restrictions living under a conservative Islamic regime. Meanwhile, in 1984,
published during the Stalinist era, Orwell delves into the repressive life under the fictional
Ingsoc Party that controls every aspect on their citizens personal life to serve as a warning
Despite their different forms and being set in different periods, Satrapi and Orwell both
presents violence in regards to war, and the psychical and psychological consequences it has on
society.
Firstly, both texts explore the use of physical violence as a means to control people, in
particular the effective use of the fear of violence instead of the action of violence itself as a
means to breakdown society.
In 1984, Orwell shows The Party employs torture as a tool to brainwash others into submission
and strip way their free will. When asked again by O’Brien inside the Ministry of Love how many
fingers were raised, Winston could only yell:“Four!Five!Four! Anything you like. Only stop it,
stop the pain!”. Here, the exclamation marks and the repetition of the word “stop” highlights
the desperation and fear in his voice, pleading for the pain to stop - demonstrated his fear of
violence triumphs over his sense of free will and any independent thoughts of rebelling against
the Party. Up to the extent that Winston was described having “clung to O’Brien like a baby”,
regressing into this vulnerable childlike state to put further emphasis on his inability to make his
own decisions - completely at the mercy of the Party, this creates a sense of shock and pity for
the readers. Moreover, this suggests a sense of intimacy - a deep paternal bond with O’Brien,
that violence has turned him from a rebel into a loving mind towards the Party and BB. The
physical effects of this violence – physical torture has left Winston in a pitiful emaciated state,
through the imagery “scraggy neck” “bald scalp” “crooked nose” with his varicose ulcer paints a
grotesque picture of what ‘humanity’ has become, inferior to the appearance of the Party. This
humiliation and shame have stripped away any human dignity he has left and ‘broke’ Winston,
as he starts to surrender his thinking to the Party.
Similarly, Satrapi’s Persepolis highlights the macabre horrors of torture that Marjane is exposed
to. In ‘The Heroes’, young Marjane and her parents were listening as Siamak retells of the fate
of another prisoner: Ahmadi. The panel illustrates Ahmadi’s torture with jagged speech bubbles
to illustrate the harsh taunts of the torturer against Ahmadi’s agony:”Confess!Where are the
others!” demonstrates the use of physical violence to force rebels to submit and betray others.
The panel splashes over the page, no longer contained in the outline, shows the drawn-out
process of torture as if the prolong his suffering. This is placed against a heavy contrast
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