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'The Breadwinner' by Deborah Ellis - A Young Adult in Afghanistan

The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis - A Young Adult in Afghanistan

- Sonali Daryanani

Set in the challenging historical background of Kabul, Afghanistan; this young adult novel puts forward the troubles of a young girl trying to face the Taliban law that has taken over and help her family out of the grave financial situation it has been put in. In the novel, the Taliban government imposes various dehumanizing and sexist restrictions on the women in Afghanistan, for instance: women and girls of all ages are forced to be entirely covered in a burqa from head to toe, not “allowed” to talk back to the elders or men of any age, do what they have been asked, not leave the house without a man, and so on. It focuses on the way women have been treated in an inferior manner since ages and also on what women would do to fight their way out of struggle for themselves and for their family. The novel involves a well-educated father who is arrested early in the novel leaving the entire family in a desperate condition, a well-educated mother (who is not allowed to work because of the imposed restriction), Parvana (the eleven-year young protagonist), Shauzia (Parvana’s schoolmate who, like Parvana, understands the situation her family is in and why she has to help instead of just acting like a normal kid her age), Mrs.Weera (women’s activist and physical education teacher who becomes friends with Parvana’s mother), Nooria (Parvana’s older sister) and Ali (Parvana’s baby brother). Parvana becomes the breadwinner of her family when she decides to disguise herself as a boy by chopping off her hair and dressing up in the clothes of her deceased brother Hossain (who passed away in a landmine explosion) and using that to get groceries for her family and continuing her father’s business. This reverses the traditional roles that adults have in a family, that is, to earn the bread and look after the family but Parvana, at the age of eleven, takes upon a responsibility and does everything in her power to meet the same. She goes through and does what no one her age should have to face and what gives her a big ounce of courage is the fact that she knew she was a Malali (Malali was a strong woman in the 19th-century who inspired Afghan troops in the war and led them towards victory). Parvana heard stories about Malali from her father:

"The lesson here, my daughters," he looked from one to the other, "is that Afghanistan has always been the home of the bravest women in the world. You are all brave women. You are all inheritors of the courage of Malali."

The Breadwinner shows war, sexism, poverty, patriarchy, misuse of power by the authorities, terror, grief and suffering, so, rightly, the novel has been considered depressing with a dash of beauty because it weaves courage, loyalty, family, friendship and strength together in the most beautiful way in the most difficult of hardships. It displays the necessity of freedom, the grave severity of confinement, the necessity of education, especially education for women. Even though the ending of the novel brings uncertainty and sorrow, it brings the readers hope in the difficult times.

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