Have you ever looked at the big picture and realized something that you wouldn’t have realized otherwise? In this modern era it is hard to look deeper into the meaning of truth because it is much more complex than we realize. When Marji was ten years old, she began to notice the differences between her childhood and those of the children she read about in her books. These children had spent their entire lives working, while she was getting an elementary education and playing with her friends. It was then that she realized that she was in the higher social class and was more privileged than others. This had been the source of her shame while riding in her father’s Cadillac.
Constantly hearing about the high poverty rates in Africa doesn’t have the same affect as seeing this devastation first hand. It is hard to realize how difficult other people’s lives are when you are so used to your own. People often use the phrase ‘I’ll believe it when I see it’ to descried how they feel when they hear something that doesn’t seem realistic. Seeing other people’s struggle tends to be more powerful than hearing about it. Take a look at the following clip, then read the link. Which one effects you more?
Sometimes just looking at the big picture isn’t enough. Often the truth of the matter is hidden in the details like puzzle. However there might be more than one truth in each situation. What do you see when you look at this picture?
At first the image appears to be a forest scene, but if you look closer, you might notice several faces hidden in the foliage. Once you see the faces it is impossible to unsee them
This concept can be seen in Persepolis, when Marji realizes that there are different social classes, once she realized this truth, she saw it where ever she looked, especially in the case when Mehri couldn’t see her lover anymore because they were from different social classes.
This realization affected her the most because it was personal and struck a sensitive chord in her heart the way the video of the African slum did. What truths and realizations have you come to discover in your lifetime? How have they effected the way you see the world around you?
Posted by: Cara & Emily
Exploring Persepolis 
After watching the African Slum video, I noticed how lucky I am to live in The US. People all around the world live like that, But I am lucky enough to have a home. After watching that video it made me realize how people arnt satisfied with what they have, but when you see someone with nothing they are happy. This shows how people are ungrateful for not having everything they want, But it also shows how some people are grateful for having almost nothing. In the book Marji saw that Mehri couldnt marry her love because of their social difference, Which showed her how lucky she was to be able to express herself without silly limitations like social classes.
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I have been in many situations where I will focus on one thing more than another and I’d realize it later.. Sometimes you don’t know what’s in front of you until you look all around. I also have to agree with Danny because after watching the video, I have come to realize I live in a really great country with a good family to support me. Also, about him saying that some people are ungrateful.. I agree 100% because people will complain about the littlest thing when someone has much bigger problems and it makes me irritated.
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It is easy in our everyday lives to get caught up on so many different things. That text or post may seem catastrophic to you, but like in the video of the slums in Africa, the majority of the world struggles to meet basic needs to live. When I was little and I used to walk around New York City with my parents we would always walk by a couple homeless people with cups begging for money. As I walked past them, I felt ashamed for myself and for them. Similar to how Marji feels driving in her father’s car. As a child, the feelings that I felt when I looked at these poor people always confused me. What made me have everything and them nothing? How does that happen. Still to this day when I encounter things like this the feelings I have still confuse me. Today (Sunday) I was at a volunteer even with some special needs kids and I couldn’t help but think to myself about who ends up healthy and who doesn’t. Living in a country like America we see so little struggling and hardship. Our struggles are hills, other people’s in other countries are mountains. The rare occasions when I do see true struggle it makes me stand up a little straighter, smile a little bigger, and be a little more thankful for how lucky I am.
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Thinking about which format most influences my thought i realize that you guys are correct that for most people you need to see to believe. I feel that the video shows the issues in Africa really well. The picture of the landscape and faces really shows how the mind can interpret things after they are pointed out to you. People would not now much about the deprivation in Africa if others didn’t point it out to them. If there were no videos or articles or any form of media showing the issues of anywhere in the world nobody but the people affected would know. This post really makes you think about the way you really think. If it wasn’t all laid out for you would you really see the issues people face on a regular basis?
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I agree that until people know what they are looking for they can never find it. People who lead “normal” lives and have money, food, a house, etc. don’t see the other side of the world because they either choose to ignore it or they just don’t see it. People can be very haughty in the fact that they always think that they are right or their way is the only way. I’m guilty of that too. Part of being a member of the human race is opening up your heart and seeing the world without blinders on.
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After seeing the struggle in some peoples everyday lives leaves me with with knowing how luck i really am. I love the saying,”you never know how great something is until it is taken away from you” because its so true and its happened to me. About 6 or 7 years ago i remember taking a family photo for christmas, I hated taking them but I had to do it. In the picture it was my mom, my dad, my sister, my aunt, my uncle, my grandpa, my grandpa, my 2 cousins and me. “1,2,3 CHEESE!” my mom yelled as the timer went off. The picture was perfect with all 10 of us. On April 12th, 2012 my grandpa passed away. That december we took another family photo, but to me it would never be the same. 9/10 was not good enough for me, that 1/10 was taken away. We really should open our eyes and appreicate what we have.
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That video made me realize that maybe what I thought was a hard life in the U.S is nothing compared to what is going on in other places. In that way my eyes were opened to reality. Sure I knew people did have a hard life in other countries but not that bad. Those kids don’t have what we have, water, education, food, shelter and etc. When my family goes through a hard time, I tend to think that it’s a huge deal. But it’s nothing compared to other issues around the world. We should feel blessed that we have all this without a cost and we should help those in need.
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I agree that life is much tougher outside of America. Many countries don’t even have the simple necesities we get sometimes even for free. But what I always think about is, we should be blaming our country for the distress we cause the other countries. I mean not all of the blame towards USA but we were a big part of making slavery worse for the natives and africans, such as Columbus and the gruesome things he did to them. Americans were cruel to other races. Instead of feelingbad for other countries not having what we have, we should help. It was afterall, part of our fault.
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After reading the article ‘You Can’t Handle The Truth’ i realized how lucky i am to ve living the life i do, reading the article actually gave me more of a picture about Kenya’s slum’s. It wasn’t because it had pictures in between some paragraphs it was because i had travelled to West Africa and i had walked through villages and places where people would get excited for a water bottle, and it wasn’t because they wanted it to drink they wanted the empty bottle to fill with water to bring to their families. I kind of felt like Marji in that moment because i was upset with myself because my family has cars and enough money to buy me water and get almost everything i want while over in irher countries people are barely making it by each day.
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After reading the article and watching the video, I realize the luck I have to be living the way I do. I have more than what I need, while children in other countries are starving everyday. It made me feel like I was spoiled rotten because I am always asking for more, I am never satisfied with what I have and theses children cherish everything they recieve. People these days just take things for granted.
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After watching the video I realize how lucky I am. You never know how lucky you are until you see something you never seen or something you wouldn’t expect in your life. It makes me apreciate what I have, seeing other children struggling to survive. Those children don’t even have access to food or water. I thought my family work hard to provide for me but these children live a more harder life them I do.
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When I watched the video of the slums in Kenya it honestly really made me realize how lucky I am to have everything I have. People around the world affect my life daily. Knowing that there are people that are in a situations worse than mine makes me very sad. In the book Persepolis Marji is affected when she finds out about the different social classes. At her young age it bothered her a lot the same way it bothers me seeing he slums in Africa. Marji didn’t want the different social classes. This is the same way I wouldn’t like to see others in poverty.
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This video made me reevaluate what i should value in life and it made me appreciate what i am lucky enough to have. In both this video and the book “persepolis” the children are faced with things that they can’t change. Things that hold them from reaching their full potential and creating a healthy life for themselves. In the video that anchor is poverty, while in the book, it is war. Both things kept the children from leaving the country to create a successful future for themselves. There are some things in the world that are distressing but it is us only that can work to change them.
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After reading this post i definitely realized how lucky i am to be living in the United States out of poverty. People have one little issue and they think it’s the end of the world. When in reality there are people out in Africa for example who have it much worse. People in more developed countries take things like food and water for granted. I think it’s important that we all learn the status of other countries so that we don’t take these luxuries for granted.
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The video about the kids in Africa and the slums made me think about my own life. I am able to go day to day thinking about how my problems are minuscule compared to these kids. It also lets me reflect on how I live in Connecticut and have a roof over my head. So the next time when something doesn’t go my way I will think about how those kids have nothing. That makes my problem look like nothing in comparison.
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I completely agree with scott. Here in the US, I am able to live my life with minimal worries. But i can imagine how these kids live in Africa, worrying everyday might be their last. I think we are lucky to live in the US, Because things like this doesn’t go through the average persons head.
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I have come to realize in my life so far that there’s truths yes, but there are also times when a lie is needed. And I’m not talking about when you forget to do something you were supposed to do and you just kinda tell a little fib. Because those aren’t important and you should always try to keep yourself honest. I’m talking about the big things that would avoid people from getting hurt, both emotionally and physically. Sometimes people can’t handle the truth, that is the truth. And that’s okay I think. Also I realized that being a good person and giving back to the community will bring so much happiness not just for other but for your self. In the African slum video you saw those people helping the people who needed it, the children, ultimately making the world better. I think Marji will realize that the truth isn’t so superficial and it can cause unfixable damage, but it also cause unbreakable happiness and relief, you just have to know when to use it.
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After reading and watching about the African slums I noticed how different my life is from theirs and how i was fortunate enough to have grown up in a country where i didn’t need to worry about those problems that they face. The slums video affected me more than the article because it showed me video clips of the slums rather than reading or seeing pictures of the slums which is a major difference on how i view it. The video made me see more than any picture could.
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I Feel like we take a lot of things we have for granted and that can easily be seen after watching the clip and reading Persepolis. I’m sure Marji felt the same way after realizing some are not as fortunate and treated equally and that their are rules and ranks depending on a person’s social class. How would you feel if you realized a close friend of yours was treated differently because of their social class? I would feel horrible.
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