The Breadwinner

Parvana’s father remembers a time when Kabul was “a city of lights, progress, and excitement” (147). He is unwilling to flee Afghanistan when the Taliban begin to take control of the country; he is determined that they should stay to support the institution of a fairer and more just government and contribute to the repair of the country. For this reason, the family remains in Kabul, even as the homes they live in are continually destroyed, leaving them destitute. At the opening of the story, the father brings in a meager income for the family by reading and writing letters for illiterate Afghans at one of Kabul’s markets, as well as selling whatever possessions the family decides that they can live without.

Parvana’s father is an intellectual; he was a teacher before the school where he worked was destroyed. He lost the lower part of one of his legs in that incident. He was educated in a British university and believes that Afghans should know about their own country’s history as well as learning language, culture, and ideas from other places. For this reason, he is arrested by the Taliban, who resent his foreign education and intellectualism. When Parvana’s father is eventually released from prison, he and Parvana travel to refugee camps on the outskirts of Mazar to look for his wife and other children.

Parvana’s mother, like her husband, is an intellectual. She worked as a writer at a Kabul radio station until being removed from her post by strict Taliban laws that forbid women to occupy roles in public life. At the beginning of the story, she occupies her time cleaning their small apartment and cooking for the family with the help of her eldest daughter, Nooria.

Parvana’s mother suffers from a bout of depression after her husband is arrested; she will not eat or rouse herself. Eventually, with Mrs. Weera’s help, Parvana’s mother is able to recover somewhat. Mrs. Weera arranges for Parvana’s mother to write for a magazine that aims to reveal the realities of living under Taliban rule. This motivates Parvana’s mother, as does her work at a secret school for girls that they establish out of the small apartment. At the end of the story, Parvana’s mother’s whereabouts are not known after the Taliban’s violent takeover of Mazar, where she traveled to accompany Nooria to her wedding.

Shauzia used to attend school with Parvana. Now, like Parvana, she disguises herself as a young boy to work to support her family. She delivers tea in the market and then sells products on trays after a stint digging bones from a graveyard to sell. Shauzia lives with her mother in her father’s parents’ unhappy home. She feels that she can’t live as a woman in Afghanistan, so she is determined to leave before her body noticeably matures.

Shauzia’s grandfather discusses arranging a marriage for her imminently; the family can receive a large bride-price because she is young. Even though it would mean abandoning her mother, Shauzia longs to leave Afghanistan and secretly saves some of the money she earns to help her escape. She and Parvana make a pact to meet at the Eiffel Tower in 20 years. Shauzia’s fate is left ambiguous; the reader does not learn whether she manages to escape the country. Her impossible situation is emblematic of the plights of many young Afghan women, whose options are severely limited because of their gender.