Breadwinner

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ellis, Deborah. 2000. THE BREADWINNER. Toronto, Ontario: Groundwood Books.
ISBN 0888994192

2. PLOT SUMMARY
The Breadwinner is about 11 year old Parvana living in Kabul Afghanistan during the Taliban regime. Parvana and her family live in a one room apartment in a building that has been bombed. Since the overtake of the Taliban, women and girls are not allowed to leave their homes without a male escort, attend school, or hold jobs. One night while the family is sitting around the table, soldiers barge in and arrest Paravna’s father and take him away, leaving the family in a desperate situation. Since Paravan’s mother and older sister are not allowed outside and the other siblings are too young, the family makes a desperate decision to transform Parvana into a boy so that she can earn enough money to support and feed the family. While working as a boy, Parvana meets another girl working as a boy, and together they work different jobs to meet the needs of their families in a time of danger.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Debora Ellis has written a story that portrays the culture in the Middle East. Through Parvana, the main character, readers will understand the different emotions of fear, hunger, desperation and hopelessness that children in the Middle East feel as they live each day. Kabul, Afghanistan is the setting for this story during the Taliban take over. Ellis helps to give the reader a visual image of how Kabul is by describing how Norria remembers it being beautiful with lights that changed color, evening trips to restaurants and cinemas and browsing in fine shops for clothes and books. Parvana on the other hand, being born after the Taliban siege, describes Kabul as a city in ruins due to the bombings. Throughout the story Ellis shows the cruel treatment of women and girls by the Taliban soldiers. An example is when Parvana and her mother go to the jail to find her father, and they are beaten with sticks across their backs outside the jail by the soldiers. Women and girls are not allowed on the streets without a male escort and must be covered from head to toe by burgos. Ellis does not spare the readers when she describes beatings, imprisonment, amputations and mass killings in the book, which help to further create the reality and authenticity of the characters and plot.
The language that Ellis uses helps the readers to connect to the Middle East through descriptions of nan (bread), chador (cloth worn by women and girls to cover their hair and shoulders), burgo (tent-like garment worn by women and girls to cover them completely), and toshak(narrow mattress) which exposes them to a powerful and authentic vocabulary.
At the beginning, Parana’s father goes into the city to work to keep his family from poverty and hunger, but when the Taliban soldiers come to arrest him, Parvana’s mother falls into depression leaving her and her siblings with no means of support and desperate for help. As a friend of the family joins them and brings encouragement to them, the decision is made to transform Parvana into a boy so that she can go out and work to help feed the family. As the transform begins we also see Pavana’s character develop into a well rounded person as the need for survival becomes a necessity for her and her family. This story will certainly bring up discussions about the culture of the Middle East and the harshness that was brought upon the people of Kabul and other communities around.



4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Horn Book Guide: “The obstacles faced by women under the repressive regime are convincingly and sympathetically portrayed as Parvana's story unfolds.”

Voice of Youth Advocate: “The oppressiveness of the Taliban government and the war-torn devastation of Afghanistan are clearly illustrated by Parvana's family situation. The realistic ending of the novel invites a sequel and offers some hope for Parvana's survival.”

Booklist: “The Breadwinner is a potent portrait of life in contemporary Afghanistan, showing that powerful heroines can survive even in the most oppressive and sexist social conditions.”


5. CONNECTION
Ellis, Deborah. PARVANA’S JOURNEY. ISBN 9780888995193
Ellis, Deborah. MUD CITY. ISBN 9780888995421