Analysis Of Marjane Satrapi s Persepolis And Ta Nehisi...

There is no such thing as an objective reality, since the very notion of an objective truth is impossible for us all to conceive together, and, is, therefore subjective. As such, our reality is a collection of subjective truths woven together like a collage, that ultimately represents what we consider to be true. This theme of a subjective reality is conveyed in both the major motion picture version of Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis and Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me. Moreover, following the argument that there can be more than a single â€Å"truth,† what should concern the individual shouldn’t be obeying an truth proposed to be objective, but rather adhering to whatever truth best meets their criteria as true. This said, if someone†¦show more content†¦Coates described the world in this light, in his book, a world where subjectivism defined people’s grasp of reality and was the basis for their actions. He attacked the notion of a single â€Å"truth† with his depiction of the United States as a place where some citizens were kept awake by systematic racism and institutional discrimination and prejudice, while the rest were allowed to slumber, living their lives in a dream world. In this â€Å"Dream,† the sins we committed in the past, and continue to this today, such as, the plundering, raping, and destruction of black bodies no longer carry relevance. The â€Å"Dream† would convince us that racism doesn’t haunt America’s legacy any more than your typical natural disaster.(Coates, pg.7) The â€Å"Dream† was nothing more than an illusion, a reality created out of a formula of denial and shame, but still people put their faith in it. Similarly, in the movie Persepolis, Satrapi shows how a state’s claim to an objective truth can greatly contradict with the subjective reality experienced by its own people. During her childhood in Iran, Satrapi grew up in a dictato rship that imposed its own narrative on everyone she knew, and murdered anyone who dared to express their own subjective reality. The contrasting truths that prevailed in Iran are best shown in a scene that particularly stuck out for me, where Satrapi openly rebukes her teacher for attempting to spread a false reality in the classroom