The Breadwinner Reading Log

The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis is set in war-ravaged Kabul, Afghanistan during the Taliban’s rule of the country. The quote, “There had been a war going on in Afghanistan for more than twenty years”(13) indicates that it probably took place in the Taliban’s early rule between 1996 and 1998. The protagonist is a young eleven year girl named Parvana who has spent most of her life witnessing and suffering from the turmoil in her country.

At the beginning of the story, she appears to be a naive and ordinary girl in the sixth grade who innocently believes that, when the Taliban close down the girls’ schools, she is getting a short holiday from school. Throughout the novel Ellis attempts to concentrate on Parvana’s personality rather than physical appearance by refusing to describe Parvana’s physical features. This gives the reader the impression that Parvana can be any Afghani girl.

Parvana undergoes substantial mental and physical torment in the duration of the plot; along with being made to shoulder the responsibility of running her family’s household, she emerges as a considerably more mature and responsible character at the end of the book. The author of this paper believes that most of the novel is centered around Parvana and her other siblings being robbed of their childhood. This tells the reader that this was the happening in lots of households throughout Afghanistan. Some physical characteristics of Parvana are described after her transformation into a “boy”.

Her hair that is described as “thin and stringy” is cut to a soft fringe. Her determination and courage are also regularly displayed over the course of the books as she takes over responsibility of earning for her household. Her affection towards her younger siblings is also indicated by her taking care of Ali when Fatana was in depression and complimenting Maryam’s art work. Nooria is one of the few secondary characters in The Breadwinner; she is Parvana’s older sister and is indicated to be around the age of 17.

Her physical characteristics have also not been provided in detail, though we are told that she already has a woman's figure and also has long, beautiful hair (which Parvana is jealous of). Nooria’s reaction to the closure of girls schools indicates that she enjoyed her school. Like her mother, take great pride in her education and dreams of becoming a teacher. Her relationship with Parvana was the classic elder sister-younger sister relationship, with jealousy and affection for each other in equal measure. She usually treats Parvana with disdain.

Nooria’s entrapment in the single room apartment, caused by Taliban restrictions on women's mobility, results in her becoming even more irritable. However, she does demonstrate her affection towards her family by helping her mother in most family chores and later by tending to Parvana’s injuries. The incidents of the story, especially where Parvana decides to sacrifice something (accompanying mother to the prison, agreeing to cut her hair etc), bring them closer together and when Nooria eventually leaves for Mazar for her unexpected marriage towards the conclusion of the book, both girls are saddened by their parting.

The Breadwinner like many other narratives about the rule of Taliban (Khalid Hosseini’s books) describes the Taliban’s practice of punishing criminals in public. The chapter describing the punishments in the stadium is important in my opinion as it highlights the ignorance of the Taliban and their Despotism. It depicts a real event that apparently takes place every Friday. Friday is a holy day in the Muslim week. Muslims attempt to be even more pious, patient and generous than usual. The Taliban violate the sanctity of Friday my committing such heinous acts.

Many other countries, monarchies even, like Saudi Arabia, where the author has lived also have laws relating to capital punishment. These countries use capital punishment as a method to deter criminals or criminal activity . On the other hand the Taliban, ignored abou the purpose of these laws use them to sate their appetite for savagery. The incident in the stadium also reveals to Parvana and Shauzia the complete horror of living under such a regime and haunts Parvana for the next few days. As a Muslim, the writer believes that the actions of the Taliban like the one’s depicted in this novel disgrace Muslims in the present times.

Islam is a peaceful religion that promotes morality and generosity among all people, not the twisted version portrayed by the Taliban. This book brings to my mind quite a few questions. One of the more obvious ones is: why have so many powerful nations and empires attempted to conquer Afghanistan? In ancient and medieval times it was a gateway to East Asia, but why in this age too? Why are countries where great and technologically advanced ancient and medieval civilizations once flourished lagging behind in the modern world?

Why has the world let two military powers fight each other all over the globe and in territories of other nations? Why are economic and military superpowers selling arms to groups in unstable regions of the world for paltry profits? Above all, why is there such a difference in quality of life in different parts of the world?

The Breadwinner plot is set over a period of a few months. Though the reader is introduced to new locations such as the prison and the graveyard there is no overall change of setting in the story. Most of the story is played out at Parvana’s home and in the marketplace.

The novel has a general air of seriousness and gravity seldom broken by a few quips and jests, which relates to the atmosphere in most Afghan households during the Taliban reign. The relentless succession of terrifying scenes Parvana has to witness, experience and endure are testament to the gravity of the book. The abduction of father (chapter 2) ,the beating she received at the prison along with her mother (chapter 4), and the scene at the stadium (chapter 11) are exemplars. Mrs. Weera and Fatana are two characters who are similar - yet different. They are both educated and articulate women.

They also appear to be feminist and oppose the Taliban. However, Mrs. Weera has a more direct and a stronger approach than Fatana. While Fatana refuses to leave home and is content to wait until the Taliban’s governance ends to denounce their rule, Mrs. Weera wants to take immediate action by starting a magazine about life under Taliban rule. Fatana falls into depression after losing her husband; on the other hand Mrs. Weera has lost most of her family but still remains strong-willed. This shows that in Mrs. Weera and Fatana’s case, the physical description match their personalities.

Mrs. Weera is described as a strong, athletically built while there is no proper physical description provided in the book, one would assume she does not have a domineering physical description. There were numerous examples of conflicts in The Breadwinner: i) Character vs. Character: Fatana and Father had regular arguments over a couple of specific topics. While Fatana wanted to leave Afghanistan to lead a better life elsewhere, her husband refused, arguing that as educated Afghans it was their duty to remain and possibly rebuild Afghanistan after the Taliban were removed from power.

Also, to remove them from power, he reasoned that Fatana needed to use her education and skills as a writer to inform people. Fatana refused to do this, citing that her work would not be published anyhow. ii) Internal Conflict: Initially in the story Parvana was reluctant about performing chores even though she realised the water’s importance to her family. She was also opposed to being transformed into a boy and having to earn for her family. Later, after getting used to her new role as the breadwinner of her family, she meets Shauzia who introduces a new idea to her mind, of leaving Afghanistan.

She also fights the urge to leave with Shauzia and leave her tough life and family behind. iii) Character vs. Society: Parvana’s struggle against the governing Taliban is in the author’s opinion the principal conflict in the story. Even prior to the commencement of the story Parvana was defying the Taliban by leaving home alone as a girl and accompanying her father in the market. Her resistance of the Taliban increases in intensity after the capture of her father by the Taliban. She protests for her father’s release at the prison alongside her mother and later disguises herself as a boy and begins working in the market.

She also helps support Mrs. Weera and her mother’s magazine and towards the end of the book rescues Homa from their clutches. The Breadwinner is written in third person form but from Parvana’s point of view. The narrator is an external entity, specifically Deborah Ellis, who can give us an insight only into Parvana’s thoughts. The narrator does not surface or interfere in the story. By writing the story with Parvana’s point of view, the author In the opinion of the author the abduction of Parvana’s father is an intriguing event. There appeared to be no grounds for his abduction.

The event occurs very suddenly and the only reason given by the Taliban the kidnapping appears to be Father’s foreign education. Perhaps the Taliban did abduct people with links to the West, but the timing appears to make very little sense. Prior to his capture, there is no indication of Father being wanted by the Taliban. The writer of this paper believes that this event is a sort of a catalyst in the plot and the reader should have been given more background on this event by Ellis. It would have added to the plot and made the book more interesting and believable.

The writer of this paper finds this advice, “Go home and remember better things. ”(122), uttered by an anonymous man, to be significant because it is seems to be the solitary option left for children for most children from third-world countries, who have witnessed and experienced terrible atrocities which have left them with mental scars. All they can do now is attempt to forget. Parvana is so traumatised by what he had seen that she refuses to leave her home for the next few days. Only attempting to forget the incident prompts her to return to the market again.

The author of this paper is from Kashmir, where atrocities committed by the Indian Army have made this a common phrase. Almost every family has been affected by the turmoil and everyone has something to forget.

Deborah Ellis gives the reader a glimpse into Afghan culture and language by using several words from Afghani languages that relate mostly to clothes and furniture. The writer of this paper believes that she could have used a few more words, especially ones used in relation to people, which would help us relate to Parvana further.

It helps in immersing the reader completely in the book and giving them the feeling of being on the scene. Some examples of foreign words with their English equivalents are: Chador - clothing worn by women to cover their hair and shoulders, Kebab- Pieces of meat on a skewer cooked over a fire, Toshak- Narrow mattress used in many Afghan homes instead of beds. Ellis’s refusal to name a single adult male character in the book underlines her attempt to focus solely on the women of Afghanistan and their plights and is excellent use of symbolism by her.

The Talib’s affection for his wife in chapter 7 is in the author's opinion an example of irony. It demonstrates that an organisation that oppresses women has members have loved ones of that gender. Mother’s comment about battles (29), Parvana’s jest about the outcome of Nooria’s marriage (141), and Parvana’s reply to her father “I just brought home onions. ” (157) are a few instances where the author has used humor. There is no definite climax in The Breadwinner, possibly because it is part of a trilogy. It concludes with no clear indication of what happens to Parvana and leaves the reader with several unresolved questions.

The reader is only told that she and her father will leave to look for the rest of her family and that she has promises to meet Shauzia at the Eiffel Tower in France in twenty years. The writer of this paper found several possible themes for The Breadwinner. A few of the important ones are: Determination,perseverance and courage: Parvana displays great courage by taking up the role of breadwinner in her family. She agrees to being disguised as a boy and risk her life to earn for her family. Her determination to make living conditions better for her family drive her to work as a grave digger.

Standard of living in turbulent countries: The state of Parvana’s house and the the lack of facilities including the lack of easily accessible drinking water highlights the living condition in Afghanistan. The fact that a substantial part of the population were forced to either beg or sell all their possessions in marketplaces is a result of the seemingly endless fighting and bombardment in Afghanistan. Life of women under Taliban rule: Throughout the book Fatana, Nooria and Maryam can not leave their home without Father’s written permission.

The only way they could earn a living after Father’s abduction was by disguising Parvana as girl and sending her to work. Women could not work during Taliban rule. Girls were also not allowed an education. Some other themes in the book were: Life of children under the Taliban: Many children were forced into begging or working. Sometimes this work was done in terrible conditions like the bone diggers. Social Situations in third world countries Family: The Breadwinner lays emphasis on the bonds of family. The underlying reason for Parvana’s labour was to provide for her family.

The family had to stay together and look after each other through Father’s capture and Fatana’s subsequent depression. The Breadwinner taught the writer that even in the worst circumstances, determination and perseverance can help you survive. The author of this log also learned about the poor condition and quality of life in third world countries like Afghanistan and the plight of people living there. The oppression women have to face under some despotic rulers also was also revealed to the author. The writer of this paper also learned about the usage of stylistic devices such as symbolism from this novel.