Character Clues

Character Analysis

Actions

You know that old adage actions speak louder than words? Well it definitely applies in this book, and when you consider the actions any one character takes, you can learn a whole heckofa lot about them. Since Parvana's our main girl, let's use her as an example. Parvana:

• helps her crippled Father to the market every day, so we know she's a nice kid; 
• fights with her big sister, so we know she's a pretty typical kid; 
• risks her own life to buy food for her family, which lets us know she's super brave; 
• finds smiling skulls and makes them mascots, showing us know she's (some) kind of funny; 
• and refuses to go to Pakistan with her family because she doesn't want to leave Father, thereby demonstrating her loyalty.

Considered all together, we start to get a pretty clear picture of our main character. Can you think of other actions Parvana takes that give us insight to the kind of person she is?

Clothing

Want an easy way to analyze the characters? Look at what they are wearing. It's one of two things: the burqa or the shalwar kameez.

Only women have to wear burqas, so if there's a burqa around, then you know there's a woman around too. Taliban law mandates that women wear these garments—which cover them completely—and we can gain some insight into characters based on how they respond to this rule.

Nooria hates the burqa, and vows to shed hers once she arrives in Pakistan, whereas Mother and Mrs. Weera see burqas more as nuisances that they won't let get in their way (remember when Mother zips through the streets to the prison to rescue Father?). And this clues us into the perspective each of these characters possesses. In Nooria's life, the burqa is an actual burden, a problem in its own right that she looks forward to freeing herself from. This isn't so for Mother and Mrs. Weera though, which lets us know that these two have bigger fish to fry.

When it comes to shalwar kameezes, though, everyone has one. In fact, they're so prevalent in this book that they take on symbolic importance—so we're gonna stop right here and ask you to please hop on over to the "Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory" section for the lowdown on these super comfy-looking garments.