How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Parvana gave Shauzia a nudge, and they looked out over the mounds of dug-up graves, at the boys, sweaty and smudged with dirt, at the piles of bones beside them, gleaming white in the sudden sunshine.
"We have to remember this," Parvana said. "When things get better and we grow up, we have to remember that there was a day when we were kids when we stood in a graveyard and dug up bones to sell so that our families could eat." (10.55-10.56)
Parvana and Shauzia are digging up people's remains for money, because their families are that poor—and yet they still believe that one day things will change. There will be a time in their lives when they look back on this and chuckle to themselves about how hard their lives once were.
Quote #8
Parvana was fresh out of hope. She did what her mother had done. She crawled onto the toshak, covered herself with a quilt and resolved to stay there forever.
For two days she stayed on the toshak. "This is what the women in our family do when we're sad," she said to Mrs. Weera.
"They don't stay there forever," Mrs. Weera said. "They get up again, and they fight back." (14.50-14.52)
When Parvana learns that the Taliban are in Mazar, she loses all hope—Nooria moved there for freedom, and Mother and the little ones are there with her. Mrs. Weera tries to be positive as always, but Parvana doesn't feel like it, and just like her mother did when Father was kidnapped, she wants to wallow in her despair. There will be none of that on Mrs. Weera's watch, though—she snapped Mother out of her depression and she will do the same for Parvana.
Quote #9
"Are they dead?" Parvana asked.
"No, no, not dead. They may look scraggly and dying now," he said, "but the roots are good. When the time is right, these roots will support plants that are healthy and strong." He gave the earth a final pat, and Parvana and one of the others helped him up. He smiled once more at Parvana, then walked away. (15.58-15.59)
Have you checked out the "Symbolism" section? You should totally check out the "Symbolism" section… wink wink… nudge nudge.