Comparative Perspectives (DP IB English A: Language and Literature: HL): Revision Note

Conceptual links

Born A Crime

Persepolis

Society vs the individual

Trevor’s existence challenges apartheid ideology because his mixed-race identity legally categorises him as “illegal”:

• Noah demonstrates how this affects Trevor’s everyday experiences, including schooling, friendships and mobility

• This shows how identity becomes something shaped through negotiation with social structures rather than something stable or fixed

Satrapi presents Marji’s struggle as a conflict between individual thought and ideological expectation:

• Through educational experiences and exposure to propaganda, Satrapi demonstrates how political systems attempt to shape identity from childhood, forcing individuals to either conform or question authority

Social norms as power

Noah presents apartheid as operating not only through law but through social expectations:

• Trevor learns that survival depends on understanding unwritten social codes, particularly through his use of language to move between communities

• This suggests power operates through everyday behaviour as much as legislation

Satrapi presents ideology as a form of power maintained through cultural expectations and education:

• The veil becomes symbolic of how political authority extends into private identity

• Satrapi suggests that conformity becomes a tool through which regimes sustain power.

Power and control

Noah shows how apartheid laws controlled movement, relationships and opportunity:

• However, he also shows how individuals developed strategies to navigate restrictions, suggesting that agency can exist even within oppressive systems

• Satrapi shows how revolutionary authority controls education, expression and gender roles: Through Marji’s schooling experiences, Satrapi demonstrates how political power attempts to shape identity through ideological control

Identity through struggle

Trevor develops identity through adaptability, learning to navigate multiple cultural environments:

• Noah suggests identity can be strengthened through adversity and shaped by resilience

• Marji develops identity through exposure to competing influences such as family values, Western culture and political ideology: Satrapi presents identity as something formed through questioning authority

Resistance to oppression

Noah presents resistance through humour, education and communication skills:

• He shows resistance not as open rebellion but as the ability to survive and progress within restrictive systems

Satrapi presents resistance through everyday acts such as maintaining individuality and questioning authority:

• She demonstrates how resistance often occurs through small personal acts rather than dramatic political opposition

Born A Crime

Persepolis

Society vs the individual

Trevor’s childhood is shaped by the legal reality that his birth is criminalised:

• Noah demonstrates how this legal framework influences Trevor’s experiences of education, mobility and social belonging

• Through retrospective narration, Noah shows how identity becomes shaped through navigating restrictions

Satrapi shows how political change reshapes childhood through educational reform and ideological expectations:

• Marji’s early experiences demonstrate how political ideology becomes embedded in everyday life through schooling and cultural expectations

Authorial purpose

Noah aims to demonstrate how apartheid shaped identity and opportunity through lived experience, humanising a historical system often discussed abstractly

Satrapi aims to challenge simplified Western perceptions of Iran by presenting a nuanced personal narrative of revolution and its human consequences

Authorial choices

Narrative perspective

Noah uses retrospective first-person narration combining childhood experience with adult reflection:

• This allows him to balance humour with critical social commentary

Satrapi uses first-person autobiographical narration:

 combined with visual storytelling:

• Child focalisation combined with adult reflection highlights her developing political awareness

Setting in the domestic sphere 

Apartheid South Africa is presented as geographically divided through racial segregation, reinforcing the structural nature of inequality

Tehran is presented as a society undergoing ideological transformation, showing how revolution reshapes everyday life 

Indirect characterisation

Patricia Noah represents independence and moral resistance

Marji represents intellectual curiosity and resistance to ideological control

Literary methods

Episodic structure reflects identity development through experience

Graphic memoir form juxtaposes childhood innocence with political violence

Symbolism and motifs

Language symbolises mobility and adaptability, representing Trevor’s ability to cross social boundaries

The veil symbolises ideological control and loss of personal freedom, highlighting the tension between individuality and conformity

Impact on the audience 

Emotionally, Noah encourages empathy through personal storytelling:

• Intellectually, he develops understanding of systemic racism

• Morally, he highlights resilience and education as tools of empowerment

Emotionally, Satrapi encourages empathy through childhood perspective:

• Intellectually, she challenges simplified political narratives

• Morally, she emphasises the importance of independent thought

Evidence

• Trevor being hidden as a child due to apartheid laws

• Trevor navigating racial communities through language

• Patricia’s independence and defiance of racial expectations

• Trevor’s education as a means of opportunity

• Introduction of compulsory veil in schools

• Closure of bilingual schools

• Marji questioning ideological teaching

• Marji’s cultural conflict during education abroad

Identity  focus

Born A Crime

The Handmaid’s Tale

Society vs the individual

Trevor exists outside racial classification systems, forcing him to constantly negotiate belonging

Offred exists within rigid gender hierarchy, losing personal identity through enforced roles

Social norms as power

Race determines opportunity and belonging

Gender determines social function and identity

Identity through struggle

Trevor develops identity through cultural navigation

Offred maintains identity through memory and storytelling

Comparative angle

Born A Crime

Text for comparison 

Possible link 

Individual versus society

Trevor’s mixed-race identity places him outside apartheid racial categories and forces him to navigate conflicting social expectations

1984

Both texts explore how individuals attempt to maintain personal identity within societies structured by rigid systems of classification and control

Authorial purpose

Noah aims to show how apartheid shaped everyday life and how education and resilience allow individuals to navigate systemic inequality

Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe

Both writers present the human impact of large social systems and show how individuals are affected by periods of social and political change

Authorial choices

Noah uses episodic memoir, retrospective narration and humour to present serious social issues through personal experience

The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini

Both writers use retrospective first-person narration to explore how childhood experiences shape adult identity and moral development

Impact on the audience 

Noah encourages readers to understand apartheid through lived experience, creating empathy for those affected by systemic racism

Lord of the Flies – William Golding

Both texts explore how social hierarchies and power structures influence behaviour and determine social position