The two primary mentions of food in Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, show a notable lack of overall community, and more specifically the support one would expect from one. The question of what foods are eaten in Iran remains unanswered throughout the book, however, looking at social interactions through the lens of food shows a great deal about the compassion within Iranian society.
The first one occurs on page 26, when Marji is having a conversation with her grandmother about what her life was like after the Shah’s father took everything from her and her family. Her grandmother describes how she would pretend to cook so that the neighbors wouldn’t suspect that her family was poor. Based on the rest of that panel, it really doesn’t work, considering that one of Marji’s mom’s friends clearly doesn’t believe her when she mentions her mom “cooking something good” (Satrapi 26). To me, this panel very clearly shows the lack of willingness from the community to help each other out, to the point of scorn when one member is unable to provide for themselves completely.
The second example is from page 87 - Marji and her mom go out to buy food, and they see some women arguing over what I assume to be the last of some food item. Marji’s mom calls them out, saying “If everyone took only what they needed, there would be enough to go around!” (Satrapi 87). She then directly contrasts this statement, noting that they only managed to get two boxes of rice, and they should check other stores for more. This behavior is nearly identical to that of many Americans at the beginning of the pandemic. Millions of people were hoarding food and other necessities, most infamously toilet paper, creating a semi-artificial scarcity due to the ‘every man for himself’ mindset.
Both of these examples show the heavy influence of individualism on Iranian society. There are many instances of people banding together for a common goal or ideology, shown in all the protests, but when it comes to more “minor” personal/interpersonal issues, people seem fairly hesitant to assist each other. In the instances shown in Persepolis, the community that Marji lives in seems to lack the compassion needed to even be willing to share something as simple as food when the people around them need it.