The Breadwinner, by Deborah Ellis, is a very
sad, scary, yet entertaining book. Without Parvana, a pre teen girl living in
modern day Afghanistan, her family could not have survived. She transforms
herself into a boy so that she may travel to the market and shop for food and
to read and write for those who are illiterate. It is forbidden for a girl or
woman to go outside without a man by her side and when Parvana’s father is
arrested and taken away to a prison, she has no choice but to travel to the
market each day in disguise.
The
book made me think more deeply about life, and the world. I compared my life to
Parvana’s and it had more differences than similarities. We are both tweens and
we both live in small spaces, although my apartment seems much larger than her
one room for the whole family: her father, mother, her older sister, and her
two young siblings. I do not have to wear certain clothing, but the women in
the Afghanistan do. It is fun to pick out my outfit each day and I can not
imagine having to wear the same thing over and over. In America, it is illegal
for girls under eighteen to get married, but the girls in Afghanistan get
married at a much earlier age. For example: Shauzia told Parvana that her
grandfather was already looking to find a husband for Shauzia (page 158, third paragraph).
Another difference is that Afghanistan does not have a stable government, but
America does. There are no women’s rights in Afghanistan under the Taliban
rule, but in the United States, a woman has the same rights as a man.
From
Parvana’s experiences, I learned that she has a very tough life in Afghanistan.
I used to complain about doing chores, but ever since I read what Parvana has
to do everyday for her family, such as working and doing all the grocery shopping,
it makes me think twice about saying no to a
chore I do not want to do. It bothered me
that Parvana was beaten so many times on the street by men that she did not
even know. The soldiers hit Parvana and her mother when she walked to the
prison to find out what happened to her father. She was also beaten when she
was found in the market without having on a burqa. (A robe that covers the
woman from head to toe)
I
learned a lot about Afghanistan culture and it made me think about how we don’t
have to walk the streets worrying that were going to step on a land mine. It is
sad that Afghanistan has been at war for so long. I liked the story about
Malali, the young girl who gave a pep talk to Afghani soldiers and told them
not to give up. Parvana was like Malali because she never gave up hope that her
father would return from prison. I am thankful that my mom or I don’t have to
walk outside with a man accompanying us all the time. I live in a neighborhood
where I see Muslim woman dressed as if they could be in Afghanistan. There
wearing a chador and a burqa but no there is no note pinned to their burqa,
saying that they have permission from their husband to be outdoors alone. If I
were a Muslim girl in Afghanistan, I would write the note myself! How would anyone
know?
In
conclusion, without Parvana, her family could not have survived the year
without her father. Parvana was not an adult, she was not the oldest in the
family, and she was not really a boy. Her bravery made her the family’s best
chance of survival. She could pass as a boy and take the reading and writing
she learned in school and from her father, and provide food and money for her
mother, brother, and sisters.
