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  I think that Satrapi started the book the way she did to set a tone for the book. She used the veil not only to show the changes the Islamic revolution has caused, but to illustrate the particular struggle she had as a child going through it.  The image at the bottom of the first page show that the children couldn't comprehend the need for the veil, and didn't want to wear it.  I think that there are two important factors of her story that are revealed in the beginning.  One is the push of culture and religion on youth, which is shown by the veil. This is also shown in the book on pages 95 to 102 in "the key" where the students were ordered twice a day to mourn the dead and beat their chests, and young boys were trained to fight and offered a 'key to heaven' in return. The other factor that she introduces is her family's attitude on current situations. On the first square on page 6 she shows herself split between what she's taught in school and at home. I think Satrapi used that image and others throughout he book to show her difficulty in deciding what is right and what is wrong.
If I were to begin a memoir of my life, I'd probably start when I was 10. I say this age because I had a sort of near-death experience, and I feel like my time in the hospital caused me to mature. I started doing creative things around then too, so I'd be able to elaborate on that I guess. I don't know, I wouldn't want to write a memoir of my life.