Suheir Hammad & Marjane Satrapi on War

One line that stuck out to me was, "I will not hate for you or even hate you. I will not kill for you. Especially, I will not die for you." I liked this line because she was taking a stand, but at the same time being respectful to the person she was disagreeing with. Often times people who say that hate is wrong, will hate anyone who thinks hate is right. This just demolishes their point. Even though she was not agreeing with some people, she was standing by her own philosophy in not hating them. Another line that struck me was, "Everyone can be wrong." I liked this one because I agree with what she is saying. I like how even though she is preaching her own opinions she recognizes that there is room for mistakes in anyone, including herself. By recognizing this I feel like people can only become wiser. I also really liked the line, "This heartbeat is louder than death.Your war drum aint louder than this breath. huh" I like this one because it makes you feel like love really is stronger than hate, and the good in the world can overpower the evil. Like one kindhearted soul can be more relevant than a thousand of those who are chanting mean things. The final line that I really appreciated was, "Do not fear what has blown up. If you m‬ust, fear the unexploded." I really enjoyed this one. I think that she is trying to tell us that what has happened has happened and there is nothing we can do to change that, but the only way to turn a negative experience positive is to learn from it. Learn that how and why we should prevent it from repeating. That's why we should "fear the unexploded."

I feel like both Marjane and Suheir were simply fascinated by the world. Not necessarily disgusted by the morbid acts people can bring themselves to do to others. But genuinely interested in people, and thoughts, and feelings, and human connection, and love. Between parents and children, and husbands and wives, and anywhere else it could be found. They both seemed to be curious. I got the feeling both of them had "seen war", not just Marjane. They both seemed very emotional and very passionate about society and politics. I think they both disapproved of war and couldn't find a reason for it.

In Suheir's work, I really did find the way that she put each word together very perfect. The way in which she chose to decorate her thoughts and ideas with different words and the order she placed them in was very effective and beautiful. I also felt like because she read it with a different emotion for every concept, and so much passion behind each one, it made it so that her ideas were more relatable and you could really take on her perspective behind the things she was telling you. What struck me about Persepolis was not the details in the story, or the way it was crafted, but a part of the story itself. It really got me thinking about what it must have been like for everyone involved when Marjane had to move away from her parents. There must have been others in situations similar to hers and that entire part of the story was very enlightening.