Closure for The Complete Persepolis

Closure

In Sidonie Smith and Julia Watson's "Reading Autobiography: A Guide for Interpreting Life Narratives", one of their elements of a life narrative is closure. They state, "Does the ending seem to bring the narrative to a tide closure, and if so, how? Does it seem to be a permanent closure?" (Smith and Watson 13). Marjane Satrapi absolutely applies closure to her book, The Complete Persepolis, through the panel below. 

Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel is about a girl growing up in revolutionary Iran. The panel provides much closure for the novel, because it shows Marjane's triumph over her trials during childhood. Here she is waving goodbye to her parents as she begins her new adult life in the west. She states, "There was no longer a war, I was no longer a child, my mother didn't faint and my Grandma was there, happily...". After her family's experience with the revolution, her experience in Austria and in Iran post-war, her family was still together and supportive of her decision to leave Iran. 

The other aspect of closure is the death of Marjane's grandmother. Marjane writes, "She died January 4, 1996 ... Freedom had a price...". She seems to be saying that even though her story ended well, her Grandmother suffered from Iran's past, 

Overall with Marjane's future in Europe and the death of her Grandmother, she seems to say people must move on, but not forget what was given up. This closure echo's Marjane Satrapi's introduction to The Complete Persepolis, "One can forgive but one should never forget".