Persepolis, being set in Iran during the Revolution, social classes are bond to be a part their culture and standings of Iran. A perfect example of this is when Marji's maid is not allowed to be with the person she loves because he is in a higher social class. When Marji asks her father why, his explanation was that, “in this country you must stay within your own social
class” (37). Having said that, this confused Marji on her families political views. The social classes within Persepolis are shown throughout and accepted throughout Iran.
Similar situations occur in Asch's In Search of America. In Persepolis, they are extremely noticeable. In In search of American, being in the United States, they are not as noticeable. Asch’s narrator ventures to various poverty-stricken areas throughout the entire piece. The places he ventures are places in hopes to find more out about the working classes of each location. As he ventures to these different places, he encounters a worker who has extremely strong feelings against those in the higher standing. He says “you tell that purchasing agent if he ever comes to camp 2, i’ll cut him into
pieces and make him over again” (301). Hearing these feelings about lower standing workers towards those in the higher standing, shows the social class in the United States.
It is obvious that social classes are a huge role in society and are present in different time periods
regardless of location and politics after reading Asch's and Satrapi's pieces. It was clear that there was more distinction in Iran, but they were still present in the United States as well.
I find it interesting that you point out the social classes in the United States, because they often seem to be a lot less noticeable to one who does not pay much attention to them, whereas if one only looks a bit closer, they become incredibly apparent. While the social classes in Persepolis are made apparent, the social classes in In Search of America seem to be emphasized less. Regardless, they do still exist. One could actually argue America's wish to have less social barriers causes them to be too hasty about saying they've fixed it, and simply pretend it does not exist rather than actually try to fix the differences in quality of life, causing problems such as those seen with the workers in Asch's narrative. That was a bit of a political tangent. Anyway, social classes are apparent parts of both narratives, and dislike for said social classes comes up in both narratives--the worker in Asch's story dislikes his situation, and Marji's family's maid is unable to be with the boy she loves due to a difference in their social class.
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