How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
She wasn't supposed to be outside at all. The Taliban had ordered all the girls and women in Afghanistan to stay inside their homes. They even forbade girls to go to school. Parvana had had to leave her sixth grade class and her sister Nooria was not allowed to go to her high school. Their mother had been kicked out of her job as a writer for a Kabul radio station. (1.3)
One of the Taliban's first items of business is to take away women's rights—no school, no work, and no roaming the streets without a man. This is particularly hard for the women in Parvana's family because they are raised to value their education and independence. In general, though, restricting women's freedom is the Taliban's way of keeping them submissive.
Quote #2
Parvana rushed after her. She had to run to keep up with her mother's long, quick steps, but she didn't dare fall behind. There were a few other women in the street and they all worse the regulation burqa, which made them look all alike. If Parvana lost track of her mother, she was afraid she'd never find her again. (3.38)
The burqa restricts women's freedom, and it also makes them lose their individual identities. This poses a problem for Parvana here because if she loses her mother on the way to the prison, she will have no idea how to find her. Mother, however, is a woman on a mission, and she not about to let a burqa get in her way of finding her husband.
Quote #3
Parvana had never been inside a prison, but she had other relatives who had been arrested. One of her aunts has been arrested with hundreds of other schoolgirls for protesting the Soviet occupation of her country. All the Afghan governments put their enemies in jail.
"You can't be truly Afghan if you don't know someone who's been in prison," her mother sometimes said. (3.9-3.10)
The Afghan people know that speaking out against their oppressors may land them in prison, but they do so anyway because freedom is that important. We think of prison as a place to punish criminals, but in their country, prison is a place to contain those who fight for their rights. Mother jokes about it being a part of their lifestyle, but making light of the situation is probably her way of coping and helping Parvana feel less afraid.
Quote #4
Fetching water took a very long time. Maryam had seen nothing but the four walls of their room for almost a year and a half. Everything outside the door was new to her. Her muscles were not used to the most basic exercise. Parvana helped her up and down the steps as carefully as she'd had to help Father. (8.37)
Can you imagine being a child and not being able to play outside for nearly eighteen months? No sunshine. No exercise. When Maryam finally sees the light of day, her body is in shock, and she's so weak and fragile that just walking is strenuous.
Quote #5
For Ali's sake, Nooria went along with the idea. Every day after lunch, Parvana, Nooria, Ali and Maryam went outside for an hour. Ali had been only a few months when the Taliban came. All he really knew was the little room they had been shut up in for a year and a half. Nooria had not been outside, either, in all that time.
They would walk around the neighborhood until their legs got tired, then they would sit in the sunshine. When there was no one around, Parvana would keep watch, and Nooria would flip up her burqa to let the sun pour down on her face.
"I'd forgotten how good this feels," she said. (8.51-8.53)
Nooria isn't thrilled that she has to have Parvana-the-boy escort her outside, but since she isn't free to walk about on her own, she has no choice—plus it's Ali's only chance to see what the outside looks like. While she is hesitant at first though, Nooria thoroughly enjoys her hour a day of sunlight. Sure someone might see her, but it's worth the risk to feel sun on her face.
Quote #6
"There's only my mother and me and my two little sisters left," Shauzia said. "My mother doesn't go out. She's sick all the time. We're living with my father's parents and one of his sisters. Everybody fights all the time. I'm lucky to be able to get away from them and go to work." (9.30)
Confinement isn't easy on any family, but Shauzia's situation is much worse than Parvana's, since she doesn't get along with her father's family so her home life is stressful and combative. Dressing up like a boy and roaming the marketplace is Shauzia's break from the drama at home, and though the situation is dangerous, anything is better than being stuck in cramped quarters with people you can't stand.
Quote #7
"As soon as I get out of Taliban territory, I'm going to throw off my burqa and tear it into a million pieces." (13.37)
Nooria is moving to Pakistan to get married, and while she's probably not a huge fan of an arranged marriage, it offers her more freedom than she currently has, so she's totally on board. And as soon as she possibly can, she is ditching her burqa for good. You go, girl.
Quote #8
"Do you really want to do this?"
Nooria nodded. "Look at my life here, Parvana. I hate living under the Taliban. I'm tired of looking after the little ones. My school classes happen so seldom, they're of almost no value. There's no future for me here." (13.7)
Parvana questions Nooria's decision to marry a man she's never met, but Nooria will do anything for freedom. Sure she's not living in prison per se, but she's basically a prisoner in her own home—and Nooria is willing to do whatever it takes to liberate herself, even leave her family and country if she needs to.
Quote #9
"We found him on the ground outside the prison," one of the men who had brought him home said to Mrs. Weera. "The Taliban released him, but he was unable to go anywhere on his own. He told us where he lived, so my friend and I put him on our Karachi and brought him here."
Parvana was down on the toshak with her father, clinging to him and weeping. She knew that the men stayed to tea, but it wasn't until they were getting up to leave, to make it back to their homes before curfew, that she remembered her manners.
She got to her feet. "Thank you for bringing my father back," she said. (15.2-15.4)
The Taliban's idea of freeing Father from prison is tossing him out on the street, though he clearly can't get himself home—if it weren't for the help of those two nice men, who knows if Father would have ever made it home. For Parvana's part, Father's release is nothing short of a miracle. She had seen what the soldiers do to prisoners (remember the hand-chopping scene?), and understands deeply that Father is one of the lucky ones.
Quote #10
The men left. Parvana started to lie back down beside her father, but Mrs. Weera stopped her. "Let him rest. There will be time to talk tomorrow."
Parvana obeyed, but it took days of Mrs. Weera's careful nursing before Father even started to get well. Most of the time he was too ill and weary to talk. He coughed a lot.
"That prison must have been cold and damp," Mrs. Weera said. Parvana helped her make a broth and fed it to her father hot, off a spoon, until he was able to sit up and eat. (15.4-15.7)
Since this novel is written from the limited perspective of Parvana, we don't know anything about Father's stay in prison, but when he returns, Parvana can only imagine what he endured—beatings, humiliation, and horrible living conditions, to say the least. Imprisonment is the ultimate way to take away someone's freedom, but somehow Father is able to survive.