Tragedy will, unfortunately, affect us at some point in our lives. The time will be different for everyone, but it is most important to deal with the tragedy emotionally. Marjane, the central character in Persepolis, is able to overcome a tragedy in her home country. She uses love, courage and fear to battle a horrible situation.

In Iran, fear was used by government to control others. Some gave into the fear, but others used courage to defeat it. Marjane feared many things: her family members getting hurt, her uncle being recaptured, and her personal safety in a time of violence. She was able to overcome fear, but with the help of love and courage.

Courage and love are the 2 most important emotions in overcoming fear, and Marjane already had great love for her family. As an act of love, her family sent her to a ’safer’ place: Vienna, Austria. She spent some time there, always with the knowledge/belief that she didn’t fit in. Eventually, she couldn’t take it, and moved back to her family in Iran. This took great courage, because Vienna was a much safer place than Tehran. Marjane chose emotional comfort over a safe physical environment. This was a great act of love, which required courage.

There are certain human emotions which are developed during a tragedy: Fear, Love and Courage being a few of the many. Although tragedy is an extremely difficult situation to be in, it is most beneficial to developing human emotions.