'Parvana' Meaningful Quotes

"The lesson here, my daughters," he looked from one to the other, "is that Afghanistan has always been the home of the bravest women in the world. You are all brave women. You are all inheritors of the courage of Malali." (Ch.2 Pg.61)

This to me shows just how much bravery and courage Parvana's father saw within her and Nooria. In such a rough part of the world people need to be brave to survive, and to make sure they could be brave he told them the tales of "Malali: The Bravest Woman in Afghanistan". This aspect of the book seems to be highly under-rated, as without Parvana's father telling his daughters that they were strong, and that they could be independent it is highly likely that Parvana wouldn't have been able to do what she did in the novel. 


Malali wouldn't be afraid, Parvana knew. Malali would form an army and lead it in a storming of the prison. Malali would lick her lips at such a challenge. Her knees wouldn't be shaking as Parvana's were. If Parvana's mother was scared, she didn't show it. She marched straight up to the prison gates and said to the guard, "I'm here for my husband." (Ch.3 Pg.44-45)

Malali was Parvana's hero, and when she needed to be brave she looked to her. This time however Parvana struggled to find Malali's courage and instead found courage in perhaps the strongest woman she knew; her Mother. In this moment her mother went from being her parent, to being her late role model. To me this showed that mother was not just a blank slate in the novel but a dynamic character, not just to the story but also to Parvana's life.


When she came to the shop that sold tea, rice and other groceries, she hesitated for a slight moment, then walked boldly through the door. I'm a boy, she kept saying to herself. It gave her courage. (Ch.6 Pg.64)

I find this one quote to be very relatable. We all find ourselves in situations where we don't feel confident in what we're doing, and sometimes the only thing we need to assert confidence in ourselves, is self reassurance. Once you get into a confident head space there's nothing you can't do, getting into this head space however may just be the hardest thing to do.

'Parvana' by Deborah Ellis: Review

Deborah Ellis is able to take the reader of her novel "Parvana" on a heart wrenching journey filled with excitement and danger. The novel, set sometime between 1995 and 2000, follows the story of a young Afghan girl in the heart of Taliban occupied Kabul. She faces many dangers while just trying to survive in a harsh world, many of which are unheard of in the western world.

I personally found few flaws with the narrative, with these few flaws being: the rather sudden ending and leaving several questions unanswered. Although there is a sequel to the novel; "Parvana's Journey", it seemed unnecessary to leave the several important questions the book left me at its ending, when it could have all been wrapped up nicely in an extra 50 pages.

I however found that these flaws were far outweighed by the mass amount of great aspects to the story. One aspect of the novel that really stood out was just how in depth and detailed Ellis was able to show Parvana's struggle to survive. Overall it was a good read, but it could have been better. I rate it 3.5/5 stars.

'Parvana' Character Studies by Hayden Radford

Character	Description
Parvana	Parvana is the protagonist of the novel as one may have guessed by the title 'Parvana'. She is a young girl living in Afghanistan and when dire circumstances force her to go out onto the street and earn a living so her family can eat, Parvana sheepishly rises to the occasion. As the story progresses we see Parvana slowly go from her shy normal self and become a self dependent person earning a living for her family in whatever way she can.
Nooria	Nooria is Parvana's older sister, like most siblings they fight and argue a lot of the time. Nooria is often making snide comments about Parvana at every opportunity, but in the end they are there for each other. Throughout the novel despite their sibling rivalry they are always trying to help each other, whether it's Parvana working so that Nooria and the rest of her family can eat, or Nooria teaching Parvana at their secret school, at the end of the day they want what is best for their family.
Shauzia	Shauzia, is another young girl living in Afghanistan, and once she bumped into Parvana they became best friends. Shauzia, like Parvana, has to work on the streets disguised as a boy to earn a living for her family, here they team up together to earn as much money as possible, sometimes forcing them to do things their family wouldn't approve of. She holds similar values to Parvana in the will to do anything for her family, although she is slightly more daring than Parvana.
Mother	Mother, is mother to both Parvana and Nooria. Since the Taliban have taken control she has been dis-empowered and made to feel helpless. It was especially difficult for her when she had to disguise her own daughter as a boy and force her to earn money for the family. However Mother wanting to do whatever she can to help the family, regains some of her former independence by starting up and underground school with Nooria, so they can teach all the children of her household. Throughout the novel Mother is constantly displaying her dedication and love to her family.

'Parvana': What I've Learned from the Novel

Deborah Ellis provides an insightful and previously unseen view into life of the people of Afghanistan. Through her novel we are able to see various aspects of life for those in Afghanistan, fear, for those living under the scourge of the Taliban, risk taking, average people risking their lives to help those in need, gender inequality, women and girls force to spend their days indoors, friendship, despite the terror that people are living under they still find others to bond and grow with, hardship, people somehow holding on through the toughest of living conditions in the hardest of times, hope, despite all of the horror and fear in Afghanistan, people still have hope. Ellis portrays these themes with expert penmanship giving an immense feeling of empathy to the people of Afghanistan from anyone who reads this novel.

'Parvana' Theme: Hardship by Hayden Radford

Here in Australia many teenage children find various aspects of life difficult. "I've got too much homework", "Why has nobody liked my new Facebook post?". Parvana must endure hardships unimaginable to most first world children. It is these hardships that create the tension throughout the story. Living in a place where almost everything is trying to make life as difficult as possible for Parvana, whether it's blacking out your windows so nobody can see inside or wearing a Burqa when outdoors so nobody can see your face, all odds are seemingly stacked against Parvana. Sadly this is not just a fictional place but a real part of our Earth where real people are forced to live in these harsh conditions. This is what gives the novel an extra layer of depth with its daunting reality.

This depicts an Afghan child receiving food aid. Within days of an earthquake that hit Afghanistan

'Parvana' Theme: Friendship by Hayden Radford

Faced with difficult challenges throughout the novel, at times Parvana cannot just rely on her hope and courage but instead must turn to a friend. Even when Parvana is knocked down and out of hope, she still has her friends. These friends come to her in many ways, whether it's Shauzia teaming up with Parvana so they can both keep their families afloat, or Mrs.Weera practically becoming a second mother to Parvana, her friends are always there for her. Without her friends Parvana would've given up very early in the story, even when you seemingly have nothing, you still have your friends, this is true not just for Parvana but for all the people of Afghanistan.

This picture shows children that have created a make-shift 'merry go-round' out of an old clothes line.
 Despite the horrible things that are going on around them they still are all friends and find time to enjoy life.

'Parvana' Theme: Hope/Courage by Hayden Radford

Throughout the entirety of the novel the only thing that has kept Parvana going is hope and courage. Even when seemingly everything Parvana once had was taken away from her she still had hope, and this hope gave her the courage to rise to the occasion and be the head of her family. On page 168 of the novel, Parvana wonders about what the future holds for her, eventually concluding "Whatever it was, she felt ready for it. She even found herself looking forward to it" (Pg. 154). This shows how the tiniest spark of hope that Parvana had inside her at the beginning of the story had slowly built up and with it her confidence and courage grew. This courage played an enormous role throughout the novel and it shows just how much she had grow in such short amount of time.

This image shows a woman and a whiteboard with her hope for the future of Afghanistan.
This was a project named 'Messages of Hope' by AfghanAid, it was a project where people from all around the world
 gave their hope for Afghanistan and donated money. This shows how the people of Afghanistan
 aren't alone in their struggle against an oppressive regime.