In the novel The Breadwinner, Parvana is a young girl who lives a relatively normal life in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan with her family. However, after the Taliban invade the city, strict and radical religious customs are forced upon its citizens. Many of these customs are oppressive toward women, such as not allowing women to venture outdoors without a male counterpart, forcing women to wear clothing that covers their entire bodies, and forbidding women to go to school. As seen in the quote below, Parvana at first considers this ban on education to be a blessing.
“When they first took over the capital city of Kabul and forbade girls to go to school, Parvana wasn’t terribly unhappy. She had a test coming up in arithmetic that she wasn’t prepared for, and she was in trouble for talking in class again. The teacher was going to send a note to her mother, but the Taliban took over first!”- Chapter One, The