Can The Audience of Nathan Asch Be Found In The Work of Marjane Satrapi?

Considering “In Search of America” by Nathan Asch, one might wonder who its intended audience is. Certainly his writing depicts a harsh reality that might not seem suitable for those younger than a certain age. This idea may be examined in Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. Satrapi gives an account of the effects that an openness about such things has upon a youth, allowing readers an inside look at how this sort of writing might affect a child.

Marjane, ‘Marji’, the narrator of Satrapi’s writing, is a well-read little girl. She has read up on topics ranging from such things as the children of Palestine, Fidel Castro, and other revolutionaries to a comic book called “Dialectic Materialism” (Satrapi 12). However she has also been exposed to more grisly topics such as the slaughtering of “young Vietnamese by Americans” and the ways in which family friends have been tortured while imprisoned by the Iranian government (Satrapi 12, 24, 51). These stories seem to stir a strong curiosity as well as a slightly vengeful attitude in young Marji. Another very apparent result is her fierce sense of determination that things must be changed.

Marji witnesses the plight of others who are negatively influenced by the social system of Iran. Her family’s maid is jilted by the man she loves because of her social class (Satrapi 37). Although Marji is from a seemingly better off family; those close to her are still affected by hardship. Marji’s uncle Anoosh, as well as family friends and neighbors are forced into jail or to go into hiding. These things anger Marji just as similar things anger Asch about America (Satrapi 70 and Asch 288).

What Asch writes is along the lines of what Marji reads in her books and sees throughout her own life. Perhaps Marji is not quite Asch’s intended audience but Persepolis gives readers interesting insight on the effects that Asch’s writing might have on youth. In the character of Marji, Asch’s work might spark activism and readers can definitely be sure that she would campaign for change.

Age does not seem to prepare the aged for what they may encounter. The things that Marji and Asch have seen in their young lives shock and change them both, despite a sizable age and maturity difference.