The Breadwinner

Parvana is shocked when the Talib cries on her blanket upon hearing the letter addressed to his dead wife: “Up until then, she had seen Talibs only as men who beat women and arrested her father. Could they have feelings of sorrow, like other human beings?” (80). She realizes that members of the Taliban are capable of emotion and that even those who actively participate in the Taliban regime were affected by the years of war and destruction. The development of these nuanced reflections doesn’t negate the violence the soldiers perpetrated against her and her family, but it does add a sense of empathy and humanize them.

Mrs. Weera is characterized as capable and kind. She gives Parvana’s mother a renewed sense of purpose by starting the magazine, and her firm instructions that the family members should go outside bring about positive change, particularly for the children, who are delighted to see the outside world for the first time in 18 months: “The children seemed livelier than they had in a long time. The daily sun and fresh air were doing them a lot of good […] they had more energy and always wanted to go outside” (91). Mrs. Weera’s medal, which she proudly shows Parvana, reminds readers that the loss of women’s rights is a brutal recent development: “Here’s something they didn’t get […] I won this in an athletics competition. It means I was the fastest woman runner in all of Afghanistan” (85). The medal symbolizes a more egalitarian time in Afghanistan when women could compete in sporting competitions and pursue their own passions. Mrs. Weera is pleased that this medal survived the bombing of several of her old houses because it reminds her of a more liberated time and inspires her to find ways to work toward improving her homeland. Her school for girls is an outgrowth of this determination and provides purpose in her own life, as well as the lives of Parvana’s mother and Nooria. Mrs. Weera’s ideas for the magazine and the school, which constitute dangerous dissension, represent the determination of brave Afghan men and women to rebel against the repressive regime. Other such individuals are alluded to when Mrs. Weera tells Parvana that “some of our members have husbands who support our work and will help us” (101). All these individuals, including Parvana’s mother and Nooria, are risking their lives because they believe in the importance of education and freedom of expression.

Parvana’s relationship with her older sister is characterized as strained and combative. When Parvana returns home after her first day at the market alone, Nooria says, angrily, “Father would have made much more” (84). Nooria seems to direct her pain and frustration with her limited life at her younger sister. Parvana’s growing maturity allows her to view her sister’s rudeness as a consequence of her difficult life: “For the first time, Parvana noticed the tired lines on Nooria’s face. She looked much older than seventeen” (73). Nooria is on the cups of adulthood with no prospects for education or a career, and her hopes and dreams for the future have been dashed.

Parvana’s mother’s grief over Hossain’s death is highlighted by Parvana’s dressing in his clothes: “‘You’ll wear Hossain’s clothes.’ Mother’s voice caught, and for a moment it seemed as though she would cry, but she got control of herself again” (64). The catch in her voice illustrates how raw her grief still is that her son will never wear his clothes again. Parvana clearly resembles her older brother when her hair is cut and she is wearing his clothes: “‘Hossain,’ her mother whispers” (69). Seeing Parvana looking so similar to him is painful for her mother; it seems that almost seeing him heightens the pain of his absence.

Parvana’s discovery of Shauzia in the market suggests that many young girls are masquerading as boys. Death, illness, and arrest characterize Afghanistan, and despite the threats inherent in breaking the Taliban’s rules, families are taking risks because death is their only other option. The strict rules prohibiting women from participating in public life, coupled with other societal issues such as migration from the city in search of work and the loss of many of their other relatives, left many families with no option other than disguising their daughters as sons so they can earn enough to stave off starvation.

Both the immense poverty and the stagnation of industry in Afghanistan provide important context that helps understand Parvana and Shauzia’s digging up bones from the bombed cemetery. The populace must degrade themselves to survive, selling their meager possessions—including their own prosthetic limbs. There is little production of new products. Thus, although the girls do not realize it, the bones they sell can be used to make buttons, soap, or oil. The cemetery bombing presents an opportunity for desperate people to find a new type of work and increase their wages.