--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The novels have done so well because the…" description: "\"The novels have done so well because the drawings are abstract, black-and-white. This adds to the universality of the story. \"Persepolis\" also has drea..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aad/marjane-satrapi-1702_abstract_the-novels-have-done-so-well-because-the_1311254.jpg" --- # The novels have done so well because the drawings are… ![“The novels have done so well because the drawings are abstract, black-and-white. This adds to the universality of the story. "Persepolis" also has dreamlike moments, and the drawings help maintain cohesion and consistency.” quote by Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aad/marjane-satrapi-1702_abstract_the-novels-have-done-so-well-because-the_1311254.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aad/marjane-satrapi-1702_abstract_the-novels-have-done-so-well-because-the_1311254.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aad/marjane-satrapi-1702_abstract_the-novels-have-done-so-well-because-the_1311254.jpg) > “The novels have done so well because the drawings are abstract, black-and-white. This adds to the universality of the story. "Persepolis" also has dreamlike moments, and the drawings help maintain cohesion and consistency.” [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The black‑and‑white art creates a universal, dreamlike feel that unifies the story. **In simple terms:** Simple drawings make the story feel universal and cohesive. Key Takeaway Use minimalism to highlight core themes. Themes art universality storytelling Mood reflective analytical Type artistic educational When to use this quote - graphic novels - educational settings - cross‑cultural communication Key Concepts visual narrative abstraction Questions to Reflect On - How does black‑and‑white art affect emotional impact? - Can abstraction dilute cultural specifics? A Different Perspective Minimalism may oversimplify complex narratives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstract](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) [Black and white](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-and-white/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Cohesion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cohesion/) [Comic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comic/) [Consistency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consistency/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Universality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universality/) ## Related quotes > [ The most natural thing for us is drawing. The characters \[in Persepolis\] are hand drawn. We're not technical people. We don't know how to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/the-most-natural-thing-for-us-is-drawing-the-characters-in-persepolis/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [With live-action I think we'd have lost the universal appeal of the Persepolis story. With live-action, it would have turned into a story of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/with-live-action-i-think-we-d-have-lost-the-universal-appeal-of-the/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [Always keep your dignity and be true to yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/always-keep-your-dignity-and-be-true-to-yourself/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [ I wrote the plot \[for the Persepolis \]and Vincent \[Paronnaud\] and I wrote and discussed the shooting of the script. Vincent then took care… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/i-wrote-the-plot-for-the-persepolis-and-vincent-paronnaud-and-i-wrote/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [I'd heard so many stupidities about my country since I left Iran. People had watched this stupid movie Not Without My Daughter \[in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/i-d-heard-so-many-stupidities-about-my-country-since-i-left-iran/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [“and the onion-shaped minarets of Persepolis in the distance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-j-rose/and-the-onion-shaped-minarets-of-persepolis-in-the-distance/) [M.J. Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-j-rose/) > [“Persepolis Rising Table of Contents By James S. A. Corey”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-s-a-corey/persepolis-rising-table-of-contents-by-james-s-a-corey/) [James S.A. Corey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-s-a-corey/) > [in reference to Persepolis and all palaces, cities and temples of the past: could these wonders have come into being without that suffering? without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryszard-kapuscinski/in-reference-to-persepolis-and-all-palaces-cities-and-temples-of-the/) [Ryszard Kapuscinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryszard-kapuscinski/) > [“There is nothing sacred about universality which makes the shared automatically better than the unshared.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rorty/there-is-nothing-sacred-about-universality-which-makes-the-shared/) [Richard Rorty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rorty/) > [Universality of the UN is a worthwhile thing in its own self because it means that every country belongs, feels it has a stake,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashi-tharoor/universality-of-the-un-is-a-worthwhile-thing-in-its-own-self-because/) [Shashi Tharoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shashi-tharoor/) > [What the gears cannot do the computer might. The computer is the Proteus of machines. Its essence is its universality, its power to simulate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seymour-papert/what-the-gears-cannot-do-the-computer-might-the-computer-is-the/) [Seymour Papert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seymour-papert/) > [ \[The aim of science is\] to explain what so far has taken to be an explicans, such as a law of nature. The task… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/the-aim-of-science-is-to-explain-what-so-far-has-taken-to-be-an/) [Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/) > [Christians are supposed to love each other. Communists are supposed to share bonds with all proletarians and other communists. Every ideological group proclaims universality,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-north/christians-are-supposed-to-love-each-other-communists-are-supposed-to/) [Gary North](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-north/) > [The ethic of Reverence for Life is the ethic of Love widened into universality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/the-ethic-of-reverence-for-life-is-the-ethic-of-love-widened-into/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [One cannot understand... the universality of laws of nature, the relationship of things, without an understanding of mathematics. There is no other way to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-p-feynman/one-cannot-understand-the-universality-of-laws-of-nature-the/) [Richard P. Feynman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-p-feynman/) ## More by Marjane Satrapi > [I became the voice of a generation in a very surprising way, because many Iranians recognize themselves in it. But that is not what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/i-became-the-voice-of-a-generation-in-a-very-surprising-way-because/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [With live-action I think we'd have lost the universal appeal of the Persepolis story. With live-action, it would have turned into a story of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/with-live-action-i-think-we-d-have-lost-the-universal-appeal-of-the/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [I don't like the word 'autobiography.' I rather like the term 'autofiction.' The second you make a script out of the story of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/i-don-t-like-the-word-autobiography-i-rather-like-the-term/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [I don't think that I have ever been rebellious. The thing is that I don't believe in people - what people tell me. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/i-don-t-think-that-i-have-ever-been-rebellious-the-thing-is-that-i/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [Drawing is the first language of the human being before writing. It's a transcription of how the human being sees reality, not reality itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/drawing-is-the-first-language-of-the-human-being-before-writing-it-s/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [I was a westerner in Iran, an Iranian in the West. I had no identity. I didn't even know anymore why I was living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/i-was-a-westerner-in-iran-an-iranian-in-the-west-i-had-no-identity-i/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [I'm not a politician. I don't know how to solve the problems of the world. But as an artist, I have one duty: to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/i-m-not-a-politician-i-don-t-know-how-to-solve-the-problems-of-the/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [A cat can never be well-trained because they're too independent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/a-cat-can-never-be-well-trained-because-they-re-too-independent/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [It's fear that makes us lose our conscience. It's also what transforms us into cowards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/it-s-fear-that-makes-us-lose-our-conscience-it-s-also-what-transforms/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [I am absolutely not a feminist, I am against stupidity, and if it comes from males or females, it doesn't change anything. If it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/i-am-absolutely-not-a-feminist-i-am-against-stupidity-and-if-it-comes/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [I was a child who had a life, who had hopes, and I wished that a bomb would not fall on my head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/i-was-a-child-who-had-a-life-who-had-hopes-and-i-wished-that-a-bomb/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [There are things that I love in Iranian cinema and things that I don't. In Iranian cinema, you have to use metaphor because you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/there-are-things-that-i-love-in-iranian-cinema-and-things-that-i-don/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [I had learned that you should always shout louder than your aggressor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/i-had-learned-that-you-should-always-shout-louder-than-your-aggressor/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [In the West, people don't have any real problems. It's all based on bad conscience, a very Christian notion. I don't have any bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/in-the-west-people-don-t-have-any-real-problems-it-s-all-based-on-bad/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [When we're afraid, we lose all sense of analysis and reflection. Our fear paralyzes us. Besides, fear has always been the driving force behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/when-we-re-afraid-we-lose-all-sense-of-analysis-and-reflection-our/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) [Explore all 204 Marjane Satrapi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) ## More Abstract quotes > [Love is like that, fragile and light. No wonder it rests upon our hearts in intangible moments, bids us follow fleeting thoughts and ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-like-that-fragile-and-light-no-wonder-it-rests-upon-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/wisdom-is-the-abstract-of-the-past-but-beauty-is-the-promise-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Where human eyes have never seen, where human beings have never been, I build a world of abstract dreams, and I wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/where-human-eyes-have-never-seen-where-human-beings-have-never-been-i/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [A little too abstract, a little too wise, It is time for us to kiss the earth again, It is time to let the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/a-little-too-abstract-a-little-too-wise-it-is-time-for-us-to-kiss-the/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [“Happy is very abstract, you can't touch it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-veal/happy-is-very-abstract-you-can-t-touch-it/) [Julius Veal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-veal/) > [Abstract Expressionism was invented by New York drunks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/abstract-expressionism-was-invented-by-new-york-drunks/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [The more horrible this world (as today, for instance), the more abstract our art, whereas a happy world brings forth an art of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/the-more-horrible-this-world-as-today-for-instance-the-more-abstract/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [Describing comic sensibility is near impossible. It's sort of an abstract silliness, that sometimes the joke isn't the star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-carvey/describing-comic-sensibility-is-near-impossible-it-s-sort-of-an/) [Dana Carvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-carvey/) > [For people of color - especially African Americans - the idea that racist cops might frame members of their community is no abstract notion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/for-people-of-color-especially-african-americans-the-idea-that-racist/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [The word of the Lord never comes to us as an opinion, no attempt is made to support it by argument, it comes as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-w-ivins/the-word-of-the-lord-never-comes-to-us-as-an-opinion-no-attempt-is/) Anthony W. Ivins > [A mobile is an abstract sculpture made chiefly out of sheet metal, steel rods, wire and wood. 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Stuck in a prison of abstract ideas and overpowering emotions, I have this personality that makes it really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natsuo-kirino/i-m-this-superphilosophical-kind-of-person-stuck-in-a-prison-of/) [Natsuo Kirino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natsuo-kirino/) > [Future lawyers should be more aware that law is not a system of abstract logic, but the web of arrangements, rooted in history but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/future-lawyers-should-be-more-aware-that-law-is-not-a-system-of/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [The trouble is that when you read criticisms about the other films that I've made you get the impression that they're all about themes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-haneke/the-trouble-is-that-when-you-read-criticisms-about-the-other-films/) [Michael Haneke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-haneke/) > [Painting is... a richer language than words... Painting operates through signs which are not abstract and incorporeal like words. The signs of painting are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-dubuffet/painting-is-a-richer-language-than-words-painting-operates-through/) [Jean Dubuffet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-dubuffet/) [Browse all 1,403 Abstract quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The novels have done so well because the drawings are abstract, black-and-white. 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