Paper Example - Gaps and Silences From the Novel Parvana by Deborah Ellis

Parvana's father's arrest was not given much consideration; hence we will be discussing what he went through during his time in imprisonment. Activities that went on during his jail period were concealed as we are only told of only when he left, and when he came back (Prastiwi, 2019).

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Parvana’s Father Arrest

Parvana's father had acquired foreign education that was a threat to the current leaders who got power from either inheriting or fighting to obtain power Parvana's father's ability to read a write gained him good a relationship with most of the locals as he was able to read and interpret the writings to them. The right links gave him a mass following, and therefore if at all the thought of opposing the current government came to his mind, then he would have a reliable backup. The Taliban leader ordered the arrest of all elites, and he fell, victim.

That day, when he was at home, Taliban soldiers stormed into his arms and grabbed him. He tried fighting them but was kicked and forced to leave (Ragavan & Mireles, 2005). The entire family cried, “Why would a father go?” cried the children. That day the soldiers went on arresting other people, and finally, in the night, they were all brought into the prison. The following day, people were flooded outside the prison, crying and pledging for the release of their people. Parvana back home was still worried. Fatima did not sleep. She wept the entire night, imagining what could have happened to his husband. "Why now?" she yelled every time amid her cry. Her cries persisted as days went by with no sign of father coming back. She fell into depression with her life partner gone. Father, inside the prison, thought about Mum and us every evening as he lay on the prison floor trying to get some sleep.

Life inside Prison

The first night was hard; the father couldn't sleep. He was exhausted, thinking about how he had failed his family. He further tormented himself unto why he went the extra mile to work hard and acquire foreign education if it would affect his children. "Free me!" he yelled in the midst of all that, but this was not his house where the wife and children were at his beck and call. A whip from the soldier holding a cigarette made him have blurred vision as he fell asleep. Life in the prison became more accommodating as the prisoners now started living in peace. They took the escaping idea out of their minds. They were assigned duties such as cleaning. One day, Mother and I went to visit Dad inside the prison to plead for his release to at least get a reduction in the sentence. Still, we were chased out and beaten up for being very outspoken and we felt men enough to confront the prison administration, yet we were females.

Walk To Freedom

Inside the prison, the father became sick from the harsh conditions he was subjected to. He fell ill because of the beatings and could no longer be of any use to the prison (Ragavan & Mireles, 2005). The administration set him free to go back to his home as they thought that his family must have died from hunger, given that there was no breadwinner. The women were not allowed to go outside as the community was turned into male-dominated surroundings. He was left free to die out there. Eventually, he was released sick and beaten. He came home to his family. He received the worst; two foreigners and their daughter who dressed like his long-deceased son. What a surprise! Due to his condition, there were very minimal things he would do.

References

Prastiwi, W. (2019). THE STUDY OF GENDER INEQUALITY FOUND IN DEBORAH ELLIS’S NOVEL “THE BREADWINNER” (Doctoral dissertation, University of Muhammadiyah Malang). http://eprints.umm.ac.id/46934/

Ragavan, S., & Mireles Jr, M. S. (2005). The Status of Detainees from the Iraq and Afghanistan Conflicts. Utah L. Rev., 619. https://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/utahlr2005&section=20