Argumentative Essay

Argumentative Essay
Persepolis is a non-fiction book about the author Marjane Satrapi’s life growing up in Iran. Johan Bennett is trying to ban Persepolis from all school libraries; Johan Bennett believes the book is, “A poor choice of novel for students,” and is also, “Inappropriate.” Persepolis should not be banned because it teaches life-lessons, learning from mistakes, and to not take life for granted.
One reason that Persepolis shouldn’t be banned is because throughout the book life-lessons are being taught. It’s like when Marjane wanted to hurt a boy named Ramin, because his dad supposedly killed a “million people.” Marjane’s mother told her that it wasn’t Ramin’s fault his dad did that, and she just had to learn to forgive (46). Another life-lesson she learned was from her grandmother, “Always keep your dignity and be true to yourself” (150.6). This is a big problem with people today, because now a day’s more and more people are feeling ashamed of whom they are. This message tells other people who read this book to always be proud of who you are. It is clear that Persepolis has a lot of great life-lessons.
Another reason that Persepolis should not be banned is because it’s also about learning from mistakes. For example, when Marjane was going through depression and trying to commit suicide, she realized when she didn’t die that it wasn’t meant for her to die. She stated in the book, “I inferred from this that I was not made to die. From now on I’m taking myself in hand.”(273.8). This is important because when Marjane didn’t die she learned from that experience that it wasn’t her time to go. Also there was a time when Marjane got that poor innocent man in trouble (285.8). After her grandmother found out about what Marjane did, she became disappointed in her. This is important because that mistake got an innocent man in trouble and that kind of thing teaches people not to use others for your mistakes. It is clear that learning from mistakes is important, because the last thing you want to do is repeat that mistake.
Some people would argue that Persepolis has a lot of sexual content that is not appropriate for high school students. It is true that students should not be exposed to sexual content in the case that it might peek their interest in it. Nevertheless it was not Marjane Satrapi’s intentions to influence anything inappropriate; she was just merely talking about what she experienced in her life in her life. This is important because it helps readers understand that no one’s life is perfect. Therefore; even though, Persepolis has a sexual content in it, doesn’t mean Marjane is talking about it to influence her readers. Marjane is just telling her story about what she experienced in life.
The final reason that Persepolis should not be banned is because it shows you to not take your life for granted. For example, how Marjane grew up with hardly any rights, and also grew up experiencing a lot of death (750)(116). This is important because a lot of people take their lives in America for granted, while people in Iran probably wish for a life like ours. In addition, it’s also like when Iran was going through a famine and supermarkets were empty (87). This is important because when people waste food they don’t take into consideration people who have nothing to eat. It is clear that people should never take their life for granted, because other people out in the world have much worse lives than others.
Persepolis is about the author, Marjane Satropi; and she talks about the hard times and the happy times of her life in Iran. This book is about life lessons, learning from mistakes, and not taking life for granted. I believe Persepolis should be read by everyone, from teenagers to adults. There is no more to the book Persepolis than just what the eye sees. Everyone should read and understand why the book Persepolis is amazing.