How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
The sky was dark with clouds. They walked for almost an hour, down streets Parvana didn't recognize, until they came to one of the areas of Kabul most heavily destroyed by rockets. There wasn't a single intact building in the whole area, just piles of bricks, dust and rubble.
Bombs had fallen on the cemetery, too. The explosions had shaken up the graves in the ground. Here and there, white bones of the long-dead stuck up out of the rusty-brown earth. (10.4-10.5)
The more Parvana sees of Kabul, the more she notices that it is in ruins—even the cemetery seems more dismal. We think the imagery here of the skeletons unearthed from their graves is really great, though—it reads like a horror movie.
Quote #8
"How can we be brave?" Nooria asked. "We can't even go outside. How can we lead men into battle? I've seen enough war. I don't want to see anymore."
"There are many types of battles," Father said quietly.
"Including the battle with the super dishes," Mother said.
Nooria is right—she can't win the battle going on outside the house, so Mother jokingly reminds her there are small, everyday battles they need to fight inside the house to keep the family strong, even if it's just doing the dishes. The idea is that to be brave in any battle is to keep pushing, even though it feels useless.
Quote #9
"The Taliban is in Mazar," Homa repeated. "They went from house to house, looking for enemies. They came to my house. They came right inside! They grabbed my father and my brother and took them outside. They shot them right in the street. My mother started hitting them, and they shot her, too. I ran back inside and hid in a closet. I was there for a long, long time. I thought they were finished killing people at my house. They were busy killing at other houses." (14.42)
Uh-oh… While it totally stinks for Homa and her family and the residents of Mazar, this is exactly where Mother and the rest of the family are headed in hopes of Nooria escaping the Taliban's rule through marriage. The political climate has changed, it seems, and for the worse.