Let me start as saying that Parvana is one of my favorite characters! Sheās a wonderful protagonist who shows flaws and makes mistakes. Both the movie and book show Parvana as a very interesting character overall. But both book Parvana and movie Parvana have slight differences from each other. But this is mostly about movie Parvana but I really want to highlight some differences.
The breadwinner by Deborah Ellis
Parvana in the start of the book is a very sad and grumpy girl, she wishes to move and explore, to just get away from her crammed life, Parvana craves for the same boring ordinary and happy life she had before the Taliban and reflects that on her thoughts
The breadwinner - āIt wasnāt her fault she wasnāt in school! She would rather be there tooā
Parvana feels alone and sad for not having any friends or anyone to lean on and talk to. She soon starts to change her attitude slightly and becomes more comfortable and gain more confidence even when she witnessed horrible situations. Parvana constantly proves herself as a stubborn and independent smart girl who is risking her life for her family. Yet in the other books you see her flaws, she continues to be angry (but what teenager isnāt?) and defensive to others. Parvana in conclusion Iām the book has a more outgoing and louder personality than the movie.
(Iām only going to do her relationships in the movie and all character interactions Parvana had with other characters soā¦ā¦yeahš)
Parvana and Narullah: Parvana and Narullah have a very sweet and close relationship. Narullah was teacher before the Taliban and seems to often tell Parvana stories about their culture and people. Parvana seems to find comfort and peace in her fatherās presence from an outside perspective. After her father is taken away she becomes determined to get him back obtaining hope in finding him and when she does, she tells him the last story he had told him as a way to show her love and appreciation for him and his stories. Narullah sees potential in Parvana as a storyteller and wants to see beer be a child but itās hard to do that under the Taliban. Narullah is caring and gentle man with a good heart who Parvana sometimes might get annoyed by his soft ways but clearly shows she loves him because of her dedication to get him back. ā¤ļø
Parvana and Fattema: (Both of them had a different relationship from the book but Iām just doing the movie) Fattema seems as a soft spoken and wise woman, she loves her family and is very willing to protect them, she seems closer to her oldest daughter but she seems protective of Parvana
By shielding her so that the man wouldnāt hurt Parvana in the first prison visit. Parvana seems to also worry about her and her sake very often. Though she is sometimes called by her older brotherās name from her mother, she clearly shows lots of love and affection for her mother even if her hopeless demeanor does not match Parvanas hopeful one. ā¤ļø
Parvana and Soraya: Parvana and Soraya have what every sibling relationship has, a lot of teasing, Soraya is quiet and graceful which Parvana dislikes and both often bump heads with Soraya often demanding Parvana for her to either be quiet or to get water. Since Soraya is stuck inside all the time she does seem to take out some frustrations on Parvana. But Soraya obviously loves Parvana,
Both grow closer to the events that unfold through out the movie showing their unity, she also worries for Parvana, Parvana doesnāt agree with Soraya a lot because of her lack of faith in getting their father back, But Parvana does show love and appreciation to Soraya for convincing their mother to let Parvana go back to the prison. š¦
Parvana and zaki: This is short because Zaki obviously loves Parvana and Parvana loves him, she often pulls on her hair and loves her stories. Zaki did not recognize and trust Parvana when she dressed up as a boy but soon realizes that itās his sister. Overall, theyāre adorable.
Sulaymann and Parvana: Sulaymann and Parvana do not interact in the movie but in Parvanaās story she is portraying her grief through a story made from her brother. Parvana and Sulaymann may have had a close relationship because Parvana is expressing her sadness over his death during the movie. Sulaymann was a very important character in parvanas character development.
Parvana and Razaq: Razaq is my favorite character because we see something as tragic as the death of his wife hit him hard which Parvana did not expect. Razaq shows compassion to Parvana and her situation even if it cost him his life just because a little girl showed him kindness. Parvana and Razaq symbolizes men in Afghanistan who donāt always have the same opinion and Razaq was like a second father to Parvana (maybe thatās why he looked a lot to Narullah) Parvana saw good in him and Razaq proved it to her. What else is there to say? šš
Parvana and Idrees: These are two opposite characters since Idrees is the antagonist and a representation of the Taliban especially young men. Idrees was an old student of Narullah who joins the Taliban. He was the sole reason why Narullah got arrested and why Parvana had to dress as a boy. Idreesās first interaction with Parvana wasnāt really an interaction and very creepy.
āSheās old enough to marry, Iāll be looking for a wife soon.ā
This line got Narullah mad and Idrees mad from his rejection, later on Parvana and Idrees have another encounter with this one ending with a brick on his face. Heās then sent away to fight never to be seen again. Parvana and Idrees were characters that seem worlds apart, Parvana obviously harbors hate for him because of he did and no one could blame her. Parvana is rightfully reasonable for hating him and hitting with a brick. And Idrees from what we could get is that heās a stupid boy who doesnāt realize the situation heās in until he fires a gun, it kinda summons sympathy for him since he looks no older than 17 but heās still a horrible person who did horrible actions. I personally for some reason think Idrees and Parvana would have gotten along or shared interest if he had been a normal boy with no relationship to the Taliban and he wouldnāt have been such a violent boy. In the Art of the breadwinner book, in the character design part in page 160 it says for Idrees āIn a decent, simpler world, Idrees would have gotten to know Parvana, he would have heard her voiceā.
Parvana and Shauzia: The best for last, Parvana and Shauzia had a great friendship, both connected from their shared situation and shared parts about themselves they couldnāt share to anyone. They supported and helped each other in many ways and I will always cry when parvana says goodbye to Shauzia. Parvana was quiet and wiry while Shauzia was energetic and free, both were friends with different perspectives and lifeās but they had connected and remained close.
Shauzia and Parvana were the 2 main leads and they showed an excellent example of friendship, survival and struggle and parvana seems to really appreciate her and Shauzia seems to enjoy being with Parvana which is really heartwarming. ā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļø
Iām sorry it was long. Since the book and movie are very different I think of different events that happened after the movie in my own way which includes the books and all of these characters but again for another time. I would have included Asif and other characters but they donāt appear in the movie I couldnāt but this was actually really fun to writeš©µš
