How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Fetching water took a very long time. Maryam had seen nothing but the four walls of their room for almost a year and a half. Everything outside the door was new to her. Her muscles were not used to the most basic exercise. Parvana helped her up and down the steps as carefully as she'd had to help Father. (8.37)
Can you imagine being a child and not being able to play outside for nearly eighteen months? No sunshine. No exercise. When Maryam finally sees the light of day, her body is in shock, and she's so weak and fragile that just walking is strenuous.
Quote #5
For Ali's sake, Nooria went along with the idea. Every day after lunch, Parvana, Nooria, Ali and Maryam went outside for an hour. Ali had been only a few months when the Taliban came. All he really knew was the little room they had been shut up in for a year and a half. Nooria had not been outside, either, in all that time.
They would walk around the neighborhood until their legs got tired, then they would sit in the sunshine. When there was no one around, Parvana would keep watch, and Nooria would flip up her burqa to let the sun pour down on her face.
"I'd forgotten how good this feels," she said. (8.51-8.53)
Nooria isn't thrilled that she has to have Parvana-the-boy escort her outside, but since she isn't free to walk about on her own, she has no choice—plus it's Ali's only chance to see what the outside looks like. While she is hesitant at first though, Nooria thoroughly enjoys her hour a day of sunlight. Sure someone might see her, but it's worth the risk to feel sun on her face.
Quote #6
"There's only my mother and me and my two little sisters left," Shauzia said. "My mother doesn't go out. She's sick all the time. We're living with my father's parents and one of his sisters. Everybody fights all the time. I'm lucky to be able to get away from them and go to work." (9.30)
Confinement isn't easy on any family, but Shauzia's situation is much worse than Parvana's, since she doesn't get along with her father's family so her home life is stressful and combative. Dressing up like a boy and roaming the marketplace is Shauzia's break from the drama at home, and though the situation is dangerous, anything is better than being stuck in cramped quarters with people you can't stand.