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Satrapi begins Persepolis as a child, sure of who she is as an individual, and by the end of the novel declares her independence from her mother and father through the ritual of smoking a cigarette. In the end, Marjane's parents force her to leave her war torn home for her safety. Throughout the novel Marjane must come to terms with her own beliefs and understanding of the world with the strict cultural rules of the Islamic regime. Much of her identity is shaped by outside influences she has no control over. For example, her parents' political views and actions conflict with each other; her father tells Marjane the maid and the neighbor could never marry because of their social class, despite claiming to believe in class equality. This causes Marjane to see the injustice in her countries class system. Another example of Marjane's shift in identity is her abandonment of her faith. As a child she sees herself as a prophet, sent by God to stand up for love and justice. As she grows older and witnesses the injustices caused by fundamentalism, the execution of her uncle in particular, she breaks from her faith.


I've always believed in nurture over nature. Most of our identity is shaped more by what we see and what we're taught. I would have completely different political views if my parents weren't democrat. Perhaps I wouldn't be so critical of religion if my father wasn't.


Here's an interesting read on identity if anyone's interested.
http://www.jodidavis.com/pdfs/excerpt_identity.pdf