Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in I Am Malala, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Women’s Rights
The Power of Education
Islam and Its Interpretations
Goodness
Fame, Power, and the Importance of Role Models
Summary
Analysis
In the late summer of 2010, a math teacher at Malala’s school, Miss Shazia, tells Ziauddin that she’s had a nightmare. In the nightmare, she saw Malala walking around with one of her legs badly burned. Miss Shazia thinks that this is a sign for Ziauddin to give food to the poor (a common Pakistani remedy for a bad “premonition”). Ziauddin gives money to the poor, but Miss Shazia finds the gesture unsatisfactory. Although Malala’s considers Miss Shazia’s anxiety a little comical, she begins having bad dreams as well—she can sense that something bad is going to happen to her.
By this point, we’re well aware that Malala will be shot, but it’s also unclear whether or not she believes in prophecies or superstitions. She dismisses this particular prophecy, but in such a way that makes very clear that she thinks some prophecies are possible. Or perhaps Malala herself recognizes that she’s going to be attacked by the Taliban, even if she has repressed this realization.
Themes
Malala, convinced that danger is coming her way, begins praying more often. It’s absurd, she notes, that the Taliban think she’s not a Muslim, when she’s actually a very pious Muslim. Malala continues studying for her exams. In October 2012, she’s feeling nervous about her upcoming exams, as last year she came in second to Malka-e-Noor.
Again we’re reminded that Malala is still a teenager who must study for exams, and feels nervous about competing with classmates. She may have lofty goals, but she also has ordinary, day-to-day responsibilities.
Themes
Malala’s exam season begins. Her first exam is in physics, and she performs well on it. Her next exam on is in Pakistan studies, and she struggles with her essay question. On the way home from school that day, two men stop the bus, and one of them climbs aboard. He demands to know “who is Malala,” but then he easily identifies her since she isn’t wearing a burqa. Strangely, the last thing Malala remembers before she’s shot in the head is the list of chores she’s supposed to complete by the end of the day.
Malala’s day is a disorienting blend of the ordinary and the extraordinary. She finishes her exams and does fairly well, but she also endures a shot to the head from a Taliban assassin. In a fitting encapsulation of the contradictions of Malala’s life, her last thoughts before being shot are of her chores—a detail so strange it must be the truth. She’s a good, obedient daughter, as well as an advocate for women’s rights and a powerful political “threat.”
Themes
