Persepolis

I do not think that Marji agrees with her dad that "politics and sentiment don't mix". She is so devoted towards her country and her independence as a woman is much stronger and makes her father’s statement seem anything but not true. She has a very good relationship with her mother, father, and grandmother and their opinions meant a lot to her. When the problems turned dire in her country she started to feel and think separately from her family and wanted to make changes and be apart of the revolution. When her father decided to stand down and take no part in protest anymore she thought wasn’t as patriotic as she was, but then she realized that much more was going on and that he didn’t let his feelings get in his way thinking straight. Her grandmother and mother seem to be extremely independent according to the dialogue and in the comic. I definitely think she got her strong personality from the women side of the family. He mother was very emotional throughout the whole attack. She just wanted the safety of her family and friends and just go with whatever changes and rules were make, but not Marj. She wanted her opinion heard and acknowledged. The bond between the family helped then tremendously through the war. I think that is why Marj was so involved with the news and what was happening around her. Satarapi’s grandmother meant a lot to her and made her feel at ease. She would give her advice and tell her not to ever forget who she was or where she came from. When Marj moved to France she was afraid to let people know the she was from Iran. The war had reflected Iranians as ‘crazy’ par say. Eventually she was over the down grading that people were doing and finally stood up for herself because she felt so strongly about her country. At the beginning of the book I could tell that Marj was a strong individual and wanted to stand out in the crowd. She was the one that always gave her opinions in class and outside of class. Politics and sentiment to go together because a person is going to do what the feel is right to them and the feelings they have can alter the decision they make. Even though her father said politics and sentiment don’t mix, he knew that it happens and nothing can put a barrier between them.

The Great Gatsby

As Nick journeys out to East Egg and reconnects with his cousin, Daisy, he learns about her relationship with Tom and gets introduced to Jordan Baker. The type of life style Daisy and Tom have revealed to Nick is so distance from what he has experienced. As the summer continues he gets invited to one of Gatsby’s parties and meets him. He came off as a surprisingly young man with an English accent, a remarkable smile, and calls everyone “old sport.” Nick immediately found Gatsby interesting as Gatsby did Nick due to the relation between him and Daisy. I think Nick does turn out alright in the end. He is no longer impressed with the wealthy and the lifestlye they live. He soons realizes that the need to relate to them is no longer important. Nick's personality gave him the upper hand the whole time especially after Gatsby's death he took the responsibility for him.
I think that Nick relates to Gatsby at the end of the story because he realizes that Gatsby is just a normal guy with real feelings just as he is. Nick didn’t realize this till the end of the story because Gatsby was so calm and secretive about his ways of doing things. He started to see the real side of Gatsby during the time of the first meeting with Daisy in Nick’s house. His story became clear after the events of the last night out with Daisy and Tom. The whole story had a lost concept of love and relationships. He thought the only thing keeping them apart was is social standard. His used his extravagant lifestyle to impress the woman of his dreams. He saw money as the free market and opportunity to achieve the vision of making Daisy his own.
After Gatsby’s death, Nick realized that no one was interested personally. He had friends within his “business” but once they got the news they had no part in his life. They said it was too risky. When the funeral came and the other person that showed up was a random man from the library, Nick knew Gatsby’s dream was ruled by nothing but money and dishonesty. He came from a lower class community and thought that he deserved to have an equal chance to become part of something bigger. The parties and wild jazz music was a way for him to become apart of the upper class and bring him closer to daisy. This corrupts the American dream by be concerned of wealth and fame. Gatsby’s power to transform his dreams into reality is what makes him “great,” to Nick. Even though Gatsby got so close to fulfilling his dream, Nick knew it was over before he started. The American dream of happiness and individualism has down grated into the pursuit of wealth. Nick reflects that both Gatsby’s dream and the American dream is over. The social and moral values are evidenced of greed and empty pleasure.