Week three. Topic 3

There are lots of themes and issues in Parvana but I think the biggest one is how women cannot go outside unless they are accompanied by a husband or other man. When reading this my first thought was to the novel 'Once.' It is about a young Jewish boy who is forced into hiding because of the consistent threat of the nazis. Similar to this, the women of Afghanistan are almost eternally forced into hiding in their home, like how Fantana has not left her house in 1 and a half years. She or the other women of the neighbourhood are scared of going outside because of the Taliban, who pretty much have a licence to do what ever they want to who ever they want. Another issue is when one of the Taliban members hits a woman just because they are slightly disobeying the rules. This brings me back to my favourite childhood book called 'The Call of the Wild.' When the dogs were being trained, if they did not do exactly as their owner said, he would hit his dog with a metal club. In his case it worked, because after the dogs were trained they were very obedient but not for the women of Afghanistan. When the soldiers hit the women it is supposed to strike fear into the people so they are too scare to do anything wrong, but for some people it makes them furious and try to rebel against the government and this is how civil wars start. 

Week three. Topic 1

Hello dad it is me Parvana,

I am writing to you to let you know how we are doing now that you're in prison. After you were taken away mother and I walked all the way to the prison to find you. We were obviously unsuccessful and mother got very depressed. She sat on the toshak for days and we were running out of food and I was starving. I had to go outside and buy food all by my self. It was the most frightening thug I have ever done in my life. I was caught by a Talib but he only hit me one before I got the chance to run away. Thankfully I ran into Mrs. Weera on my way home and she got mother back on her feet. Mrs. Weera, mother and Noori all had an idea they thought was a good one. Seems that there was no man in the house to earn money, they thought to turn me into a boy so I could sell and read to get money for our family. I could not believe it and at first i would not do it. I almost cried at the thought of me loosing all my hair. It has been a few weeks since i was turned into a boy, and I am getting used to it easier than I thought I would. Every day I go out expecting someone to stop point and scream, 'it's a girl,' but they never have. I am using Hossain's old clothes and it took mother a while to get over it. The memory of him still lingers in the back of her mind every time she sees me, and I don't like the looks she gives me. I have now been selling and reading enough stuff to buy food for our family and we are doing okay without you. I still miss you so much and can't wait for you to come home. 

From Parvana.

Week two. Topic 3

Parvana and her family live in north-west Afghanistan in the capital city of Kabul. Kabul is Afghanistan's largest town or city which also has the largest population. A lot of Kabul is run down or blown up because of the Taliban and their strict rules. There are a lot of beggars on the street and poor people living in partially blown up buildings because they don't have enough money to live anywhere else. There is no running water in the houses so they have to make trips to the water tank which is a long walk away. 

The main marketplace at Kabul is where Parvana's father used to go to sell his merchandise and where Parvana goes now to earn money for her family. It is big and filled with shops with workers selling what ever they can find around the house. It is packed with beggars and people using every single spare square centimetre of space to use for there stall. It is very heavily packed and very hard to sell things. 

Kabul prison is where Parvana's father is being kept. This is also where Parvana and her mother unsuccessfully went to try and get Parvana's father out of prison. It is very heavily guarded at every entrance and the prisoners are not treated well. The prison guards can pretty much do what ever they want to the prisoners without killing them.

Week two. Topic 1

This weeks read started off with Parvana's mother very depressed and sad because she could not get over loosing her husband. It later gave a flashback of when the father was their and Fantana, Parvana's mother, was very stubborn about how she didn't need to go outside and experience the world to write her book. After Parvana and her mother got back from the prison, where Parvana's father was being kept, mother's feet were extremely torn up and had blisters all over them. She then went into a sort of depression where she just laid face down on the toshak and wouldn't speak to anyone. If it was not of a lucky encounter with Mrs. Weera by Parvana, she would not have gotten up and the family would have come upon even more extreme troubled times. After mother preposed the idea of Parvana wearing Hossain's clothes, her voice caught and she had an emotional change to being sad in the memory of Hossain. Later that night Fantana was caught in the memory of him when she whispered to Parvana "Go to sleep Hossain... Go to sleep my son." Because of all of Fantana's ups and downs in her emotional roll-a-coaster, I think that by the end of the novel there will be a big circumstance where she is overjoyed with excitement or happiness. For example maybe her husband returns home from prison or Noori gets married. 

Week one

I have been reading Parvana and so far it's been great. It takes you back only a few years ago in a corrupt Afghanistan. Parvana is in a poor family struggling to get by week by week. Because of her dad not being able to walk, after stepping on a land mine, she has had to escort him to and from the marketplace everyday. Parvana has to where a chador when she is in public with her father because if the Taliban caught her uncovered they might take her away or severely punish her. The Taliban are members of the ruling party in Afghanistan who have a licence to do what ever they want. After they took over in government, things have changed for Parvana and her family. Parvana's parents strongly believed in being educated because they both when to university. Parvana's father went to London to get his degree and when the Taliban found out they thought it was suspicious so they forcefully took him, wrecked the home and locked her father in Prison. Even though Parvana's father was the only male in the house besides a baby it is hard because no women can go outside without a male. Today the Taliban are still in power over Afghanistan and things have not changed much. Taliban are even making their citizens grow beards which makes it very hard to recognise a man or even a close family member. Parvana and her family are going to have to take great risks and be very cautious if they are going to survive.