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The Breadwinner takes place in Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan, around the year 2000. It follows 11-year-old Parvana and her family as they attempt to survive in a city that has, for the last 20 years, been gripped by conflict that hasn’t changed life for the better: the Soviets invaded in 1979, left a decade later, and the country then fell into civil war. In the novel’s present, the Taliban controls the country—and Kabul, a once-thriving metropolis, is now mostly rubble and poverty. Though Parvana’s family very clearly sees these conflicts as wholly negative, their pride in their country, their city, and in their identity as Afghans shines through the novel. Thus, The Breadwinner proposes that even as war and conflict dramatically change what Afghanistan looks like and how its people live, people must maintain their sense of pride in themselves and in their country if they wish to survive and stay true to their identity as Afghans.
As Parvana and Father explain, Afghanistan’s long history is marked by conflict and invasion—but every time, the Afghans expelled their invaders and emerged stronger and prouder than ever before. This is a point of pride for Parvana and her family in particular, but it’s also a pride that she suggests is shared by all Afghans. Parvana’s family, which was upper-middle class before bombings decimated the city of Kabul, is also proud of their educational achievements. Both Mother and Father are highly educated and spent time abroad to earn their degrees. For a long time, the family saw itself as a proud and essential part of the modern, intellectual world. In the present, however, Parvana must grapple with the knowledge that the current invaders aren’t invaders in the same sense as historical invaders like Alexander the Great—the Taliban are Afghans, just ones with “very definite ideas about how things should be run.” Their assumption of power, which began about a year before Parvana’s story picks up, resulted in girls being kicked out of school, women being forced to wear burqas (long garments that cover the wearer from head to toe) and give up agency and jobs, and many families descending into poverty. For Parvana, the issue is as much that the invaders are her own countrymen as it is that everything she once took pride in about her country no longer exists.
Despite this, though, Parvana and her family learn that through telling stories that help them remember their history and by undertaking small acts of resistance, they can continue the legacy of their predecessors and maintain their pride in their country and cultural identity. For Mother; Parvana’s older sister Nooria; and Mrs. Weera, an old friend with whom they reconnect, this means outwardly obeying the Taliban—while secretly starting a school for girls and putting together a magazine chronicling the experiences of Afghan women under the Taliban. With this, they can recreate the sense that Afghanistan values its women for their intelligence, their drive, and their stories, with the added bonus that the magazine will enlighten others worldwide as to what’s really going on in the country. For Parvana, resistance takes a different form. Following Father’s arrest, which leaves them with no man able to support the family, Parvana assumes the identity of a made-up cousin, Kaseem, and takes over her father’s spot in the market to write and read letters for people who are illiterate. As Kaseem, Parvana is understandably terrified of being found out—but she also realizes that assuming this identity is the only way she can keep her family alive and enable her other family members to engage in their own acts of resistance. Survival, and all the actions and deceptions that survival entails, becomes its own act of resistance. Though Parvana seems to understand on some level that Afghanistan is never going to be the same country that Nooria or their parents remember from their childhoods, she nevertheless has the power to resist the Taliban—and in doing so, she can discover a sense of purpose and pride in her nationality.
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Afghanistan, History, and Pride ThemeTracker
The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Afghanistan, History, and Pride appears in each chapter of The Breadwinner. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.
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Afghanistan, History, and Pride Quotes in The Breadwinner
Below you will find the important quotes in The Breadwinner related to the theme of Afghanistan, History, and Pride.
Chapter 1 Quotes
History was her favorite subject, especially Afghan history. Everybody had come to Afghanistan. The Persians came four thousand years ago. Alexander the Great came too, followed by the Greeks, Arabs, Turks, British, and finally the Soviets. One of the conquerors, Tamerlane from Samarkand, cut off the heads of his enemies and stacked them in huge piles, like melons at a fruit stand. All these people had come to Parvana’s beautiful country to try to take it over, and the Afghans had kicked them all out again!
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While Parvana thinks about missing school, she gives the reader a brief overview of Afghanistan’s history. Her description suggests that Afghanistan’s history centers around conquest—and that, historically, the Afghans always come out on top. For Parvana, this is a point of pride. She’s proud to live in a country that has fought for its independence and autonomy for millennia, especially against such vast and intimidating powers as Alexander the Great and the British. However, this all changes in Parvana’s present, as the current invaders, the Taliban, are Afghans. This makes it much harder for Parvana to fit what’s going on Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus
For most of Parvana’s life, the city had been in ruins, and it was hard for her to imagine it another way. It hurt her to hear stories of old Kabul before the bombing. She didn’t want to think about everything the bombs had taken away, including her father’s health and their beautiful home. It made her angry, and since she could do nothing with her anger, it made her sad.
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On Parvana and Father’s walk home, the narrator explains that Kabul has been rubble almost as long as Parvana has been alive. One of the problems Parvana faces here is that, in her mind, Afghanistan is a proud, beautiful place. While in many ways Afghanistan is still that place, it’s much harder to believe that when the city is in shambles. It’s also understandably hard for her to know that along with bringing about Afghanistan’s decline, the bombings have also hurt Father physically—and their family in a variety of other, less obvious ways. At this point in the novel, seeing Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibu
Chapter 2 Quotes
Parvana knew she had to fetch the water because there was nobody else in the family who could do it. Sometimes this made her resentful. Sometimes it made her proud. One thing she knew—it didn’t matter how she felt. Good mood or bad, the water had to be fetched, and she had to fetch it.
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Here, Mother and Nooria ask Parvana to fetch water, even though she’s just spent a long day in the market. Since there’s no one else who can safely accomplish this task, it falls to Parvana. This speaks to the precarious state that women find themselves in under the Taliban. Mother and Nooria, as an adult and a young adult, can’t safely leave their homes alone to fetch water for their family, simply because they’re women. The Taliban may seek to protect women by mandating that they stay inside, but in practice, this only pushes families even deeper into poverty. At Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque
Other people lived in the part of the building that was still standing. Parvana saw them as she went to fetch water or went out with her father to the marketplace. “We must keep our distance,” Father told her. “The Taliban encourage neighbor to spy on neighbor. It is safer to keep to ourselves.”
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Parvana thinks about how lonely she is in her new home; all her other siblings tend to pair up with each other, leaving her alone—and Parvana can’t safely befriend any neighbor children either, since the Taliban encourages neighbors to spy on one another. This shows that the Taliban have created a culture of fear that discourages people from forming strong connections with each other and consequently makes them isolated and suspicious of outsiders. It forces people, in other words, to rely only on family. However, this is challenging for someone like Parvana, who doesn’t have any siblings her age and Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque
“How can we be brave?” Nooria asked. “We can’t even go outside. How can we lead men into battle? I’ve seen enough war. I don’t want to see any more.”
“There are many types of battles,” Father said quietly.
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While telling Malali’s story after dinner, Father emphasizes Malali’s bravery, as well as that of his own daughters and of Afghan women more generally. Having spent a year living under the Taliban’s oppressive rule, Nooria is understandably hopeless and isn’t sure how to be brave in the world she inhabits. As far as she sees it, she’s isolated and helpless—from her perspective, there’s not much she can actually do to make a difference. Father, however, alludes to the possibility that there are more ways to resist and be brave than actually leading men into battle, as Malali did. Resistance can Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum volupt
Chapter 4 Quotes
“You are a writer. You must do your work.”
“If we had left Afghanistan when we had the chance, I could be doing my work!”
“We are Afghans. This is our home. If all the educated people leave, who will rebuild the country?”
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After Father is arrested, Parvana remembers arguments her parents had about whether or not to leave Afghanistan; Mother wanted to leave while they still had the opportunity to do so, while Father insisted they had a responsibility to their country to stay. Here, Father is demonstrating the kind of resistance he wants his daughters to learn to engage in and appreciate. To him, staying rather than fleeing in fear is its own quiet form of resistance. By staying, he may have the opportunity to work for a better future in his home country, something they wouldn’t have as refugees or Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Po
Chapter 5 Quotes
“Mrs. Weera!” Nooria exclaimed. Relief washed over her face. Here was someone who could take charge, who could take some of the responsibility off of her shoulders.
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When Parvana returns home from the market with Mrs. Weera, Nooria is relieved and ecstatic to have another adult around to help her. This drives home the fact that though Nooria is 17 and in many ways is treated like an adult, she’s still a child. In this sense, she’s not all that different from Parvana—she just has different constraints on what she can do and how she’s expected to act. With this, the novel highlights how war and conflict tragically robs children of their childhoods and forces them to grow up much earlier than they should. Over the last Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis
Chapter 7 Quotes
Parvana took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Up until then, she had seen Talibs only as men who beat women and arrested her father. Could they have feelings of sorrow, like other human beings?
Parvana found it all very confusing. [...] All day long, though, her thoughts kept floating back to the Talib who missed his wife.
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On Parvana’s first morning working alone in the market, a Taliban soldier comes to her with a letter written to his late wife. Parvana is shocked when the soldier sheds a tear and is visibly moved to hear the contents of the letter. In her mind, the soldiers are single-minded—in her experience, Talibs are interested in policing women, beating people for infractions both minor and major, and arresting people for no reason as they arrested Father. There’s no room in her understanding of what the Taliban is for the possibility that its members also have families whom they love and Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas
Chapter 10 Quotes
“Do you think they’d mind us doing this?” Parvana asked.
“Who?”
“The people who are buried here. Do you think they’d mind us digging them up?”
Shauzia leaned on her board. “Depends on the type of people they were. If they were nasty, stingy people, they wouldn’t like it. If they were kind and generous people, they wouldn’t mind.”
“Would you mind?”
Shauzia looked at her, opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again and returned to her digging. Parvana didn’t ask her again.
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While Shauzia and Parvana dig up bones in the graveyard, they discuss whether the people whose graves they’re digging up would mind. Parvana’s question reveals her discomfort with the whole thing. Digging up graves is unsettling for her—it feels disrespectful, and she’s likely not certain whether or not she’d be okay with it if she were one of the dead people whose graves are being disturbed. While perhaps anyone would feel uncomfortable with this, Parvana’s discomfort with the situation is a clear reminder that she’s still a young girl, no matter how much responsibility she’s been forced to take on. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut
Chapter 11 Quotes
“No,” Parvana told her mother.
“I beg your pardon?”
“I don’t want to quit yet. Shauzia and I want to buy trays, and things to sell from the trays. I can follow the crowd that way, instead of waiting for the crowd to come to me. I can make more money.”
“We are managing fine on what you earn reading letters.”
“No, Mother, we’re not,” Nooria said.
Mother spun around to scold Nooria for talking back, but Nooria kept talking.
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After Mother learns that Parvana earned a lot of money digging up bones in a graveyard, she insists that they don’t need that kind of money—but both Parvana and Nooria push back on Mother. In this moment, both Parvana and Nooria begin to assume more agency and responsibility than they have in the past. Both girls have, for the most part, deferred to their mother and acted the part of mostly obedient children. In these difficult times, however, both girls have had to grow up before they’re truly ready to do so—and this gives them the courage to stand up Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Volup
Chapter 12 Quotes
“I need a break,” she told her mother. “I don’t want to see anything ugly for a little while.”
Mother and Mrs. Weera had heard about the events at the stadium from other women’s group mothers. Some had husbands or brothers who had been there. “This goes on every Friday,” Mother said. “What century are we living in?”
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Following Parvana’s horrifying experience at the stadium, where she witnessed Taliban soldiers cutting off prisoners’ hands, she decides to stay home for several days to recover from the experience. It’s important to keep in mind that while what Parvana witnessed in the stadium would be horrifying and difficult for anyone to process and move on from, it’s especially hard because of her youth and her innocence. Though she already saw the Taliban as oppressors who are violent and lash out nonsensically, seeing them make such a spectacle out of cutting people’s hands off is uniquely damaging for her—especially when Father Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero si
Parvana was tired. She wanted to sit in a classroom and be bored by a geography lesson. She wanted to be with her friends and talk about homework and games and what to do on school holidays. She didn’t want to know any more about death or blood or pain.
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As the weeks wear on, Parvana grows increasingly despondent and isn’t amused anymore by her new life as a boy, even if it does offer her freedom. With this, the novel makes it clear that Parvana is truly a child. The thrill of navigating the market alone and making her own choices was certainly real and fun, but it’s starting to lose its appeal. It’s telling, then, that what Parvana craves is to be a bored student who doesn’t have to think about how to make a little more money so she can feed her family. She’d like to have Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum
Chapter 15 Quotes
“Do none of you appreciate nature? This boy has undertaken to bring a bit of beauty into our gray marketplace, and do you thank him? Do you help him?” An old man pushed his way to the front of the little gathering. With difficulty, he knelt down to help Parvana plant the flowers. “Afghans love beautiful things,” he said, “but we have seen so much ugliness, we sometimes forget how wonderful a thing like a flower is.”
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When Parvana attempts to plant some wildflowers in the market to show the Window Woman that she’s not coming back, only one old man in the market steps forward to help and support her. What this man says speaks to the way that the Afghan people have become bitter and changed for the worse over the last 20 years of conflict. They’re no longer able to take pride in their identity as Afghans, people who, according to this man, appreciate beautiful things and the natural world. The violence and conflict, this suggests, not only robs children of their childhoods. It Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Per
