Difficult choices made by Parvana

Although I've already discussed this in my blog, I'm going to make a post about it. Within this storyline, Parvana is forced to make many tough decisions. She has to choose to save Hassan. She has to choose to allow Asif to accompany her. She has to make a decision to steal and eat, or do right and go hungry. She has to choose whether to go along with Leila or be suspicious of her. There is a challenging decision in nearly every chapter. Whether its concerning Parvana's safety, or happiness, she must make many difficult choices. Thanks for reading! I have nothing more to say!

Lego Movie!

After a browse through some results from a search on Youtube, I stumbled across this video. Although I admit its so random its almost comical, its also a good way to sum up the plot. I've attached the link and I hope anyone that watches finds it rather entertaining!

Parvana's Journey- Lego Movie

Human Rights

Parvana's Journey is full of many human rights issues. One of them is the fact that the Taliban is bombing innocent people for no apparent reason. Its also is inhumane because people are staying in this camp- unhealthy, hungry, tired, cramped, crowded, and unsanitary. That goes against human rights by all means. Parvana stuggles throughout the book, wanting things to be fair for her but they never are. Cities are bombed for the mere reason of hatred. Also, no one is fair to females! Girls have their hands/fingers cut off just for having nail polish. They cannot have jobs outside of the home. They are judged, and verbally abused. All in all, this book has many human rights issues.

The Plot

The main plot of the text is one that keeps you on your toes. You never know when the plot is going to take a new twist and many unexpected things happen. In this blog post, I will be providing a summary of the book Parvana's Journey. The book starts out with summarizing what happened in the prequel- Breadwinner. It then goes on to describe Parvana's journey with her father, and the fact that he taught her to read, and her times tables. In the following chapters Parvana finds an infant named Hassan crying under debris from the bombing. She saves him from the Taliban and continues on her journey. She later comes across a boy in a cave named Asif. Asif is rather bitter and grumpy at the time, but he comes around in the end. They continue walking as they come across many obstacles-one of them being a mine field. When they reach the mine field they meet Leila; she's a girl a bit younger than Parvana. Leila invites her new friends into her home where they lived happily, well-fed, and safely for months. But one day, the area is bombed. They are forced to flee to safety, leaving Leila's helpless grandmother behind for death. They come to find a camp in which they stay for days as Hassan is nursed back to health from his previous ill state. One day, food packages start falling from the sky and everyone in the camp rushes to get some. Of course, there are many packages dropped in the mine field so Leila decides to run and get one. A horrific explosion occurs and Leila's life ends tragically. As heartbreaking as this is, it leads to Parvana finding that her mother is living in the same camp as her. After an emotional roller coaster, the book ends with the happy thought that Parvana has been reunited with her family.

The Reason for the Road

At first glance, the blog title "On This Road" may not seem to be relevant to the book title "Parvana's Journey" except for the obvious relation of journeying on a road. I chose to use this title because of not only that reason, but also because of everything thats behind the word "road." The terms "fork in the road" and "crossroad" both relate to Parvana's story because a fork in the road is a metaphor for a challenge, or obstacle, which occurs a lot in this book. Parvana comes across many challenges such as hunger, weariness, thirst, pain, sickness, fear, and many others. Also, a crossroad in life could symbolize making a tough decision, which Parvana has to do often. She must choose to save Hassan, she must choose to be brave and courageous, she must making decisions that could affect the fate of her and her companions. She also does a lot of walking on long roads which causes her to get tired, emotional, and discouraged. That's the reasons behind my choice for the blog title "On This Road."

Main Themes of Parvana's Journey

The book Parvana's Journey  by Deborah Ellis if full of concepts like courage, perseverance, friendship, adventure, and many others. However, the main theme of this book in my opinion is courage. The main character, Parvana, must be brave in everything she does. It took courage to dress up as a boy when girls had their hands cut off for simply having nail polish on their fingers. It took courage to venture out on a journey ; a journey of danger. It took great bravery to save a young infant from rubble and save him from the Taliban. It took bravery to allow Asif, a young boy,  to accompany her along her journey. It took courage for Parvana to be such a great leader and make Hassan and Asif to feel safe. It took courage to steal eggs so that there would be food to eat. It took courage for Parvana to believe that some day, in time, she would find her mother and family. Everyone knows that wasn't guaranteed. Although there are many prevalent themes within this text, courage makes its way into the plot of the story throughout the whole book. Therefore, it is the main theme of Parvana's Journey.