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.