How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"And that, my young friends, is the story of our country, one invader after another […] Now the Soviets. But we're like those walls up there. Battered, and nothing looks pretty to look at, but still standing." (2.21.10)
Afghanistan has seen its fair share of conquerors over its long history. This has been a huge strain on the country, but it gives its citizens a resilience that they wouldn't have developed otherwise.
Quote #2
The Mujahideen, armed to the teeth but now lacking a common enemy, had found the enemy in each other. (2.23.135)
This is a story as old as time. A coalition of different groups with different goals joins together to fight a common enemy. They emerge victorious, but then they fall apart because they can't agree on a future direction for the country.
Quote #3
It wasn't so much the whistling itself, Laila thought later, but the seconds between the start of it and impact. […] Like a defendant about to hear the verdict. (2.24.1-3)
Every day Laila spends in war-torn Kabul is a risk, and the image of herself as a "defendant" symbolizes this. It just so happens that the "judge" is a crazy person, handing out punishments indiscriminately and without any regard for human life.