A Changed Life In the historical fiction novel A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, a boy named Salva escapes from his village after the rebels attack. Before the rebels took over Salva’s village he went to school everyday. Each day after school his mother would always be waiting for him at home with a bowl of warm milk. In the historical fiction novel The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis, a girl named Parvana lives in Kabul, Afghanistan, during the Taliban rule. Before the Taliban took over Parvana’s town, it was a very beautiful city with restaurants, movie theaters, and shops.
Parvana and her sister Nooria went to school, and both of her parents worked. Parvana’s family was very rich and lived in a mansion with servants. Parvana’s father was healthy, and only became sick once the Taliban bombed the school that he was teaching in. In the book A Long Walk to Water, after the rebels attacked Salva’s village, life the way he knew it changed. Salva had to run away from his village and he got separated from his immediate family. During Salva’s journey he met his uncle. He also made a friend, Mariel. Tragically, a short time after Salva met him, Mariel got eaten by a lion.
Salva’s luck just kept on getting worse. His uncle was shot right in front of Salva’s eyes. After the death of Salva’s uncle, the men that Salva was walking with were mean to Salva because, they had looked up to his uncle, but now that he was dead they thought that Salva would just slow the group down. Finally, after a lot of walking, Salva made it to the Itang refugee camp, only to be chased out by an army six years later. The army brought everyone to a river and started shooting. Luckily, a boy grabbed Salva’s neck, which brought Salva under the water.
If this boy ouldn’t have done this the bullet that hit the boy would have hit Salva and Salva would have died. Salva traveled with a group of boys to another refugee camp called Kakuma. Salva hated Kakuma. It was in the middle of a desert, there were fences of barbed wire enclosing the camp and people would often sneak into the camp and steal from the refugees. Since Salva hated this camp so much he decided, after two years, to go to another camp called Ifo. There, Salva made another friend named Michael. Michael taught Salva English and, also, how to play volleyball.
One day Michael told Salva that Salva was picked to go to America and live with a new family. Salva’s new family was very supportive and loving to Salva. One day Salva’s cousin emailed him saying that his father was alive in a field hospital in Sudan. Salva decided to go and visit his father so he arranged a trip to Sudan. After much planning he met his father again! His father told Salva that two of his brother had died in the war. Salva went on to start an organization building wells for the people of Sudan. In the book The Breadwinner, Parvana’s life changed dramatically after the Taliban took over her town.
One of the first big challenges that Parvana faced was that the Taliban arrested her father and took him away because he went to college in England. Because the Taliban didn’t let women go outside by themselves, Parvana’s family never got fresh air, so they were always grumpy, and had no way of buying food. Since women also couldn’t work, Parvana’s family had no way of making money. Because of all of these challenges that Parvana’s family faced, her mother was often depressed and sat facing the wall on her toshak for a long time. One day Parvana’s family had an idea to send Parvana out into the market dressed up as a boy.
Looking like a boy, Parvana was able to bring her family out so they could get the fresh air that they needed, which put them all into a better mood. After a few days of working in the market, Parvana met a girl that was in her class, named Shauzia. She was also dressed up as a boy so she could work. Parvana and Shauzia wanted to make extra money so they could buy small items to sell off of a tray. The only way that Shauzia could think of that would give them a lot of extra money would be to dig up graves. Parvana really didn’t want to, but she and her family needed the money so she did it anyway.
Their plan worked and Parvana earned a lot more money selling small items off a tray. One afternoon, Parvana came home from work and was told that her sister Nooria was getting married in Mazar-e-Sharif because the Taliban weren’t there. Parvana still had hope that her father would come home from prison so she really wanted to stay home. Parvana’s mother finally agreed to allow Parvana to stay at home, but only to avoid having to explain to the rest of her family who she was, because now Parvana was a “boy”. After a few months of Parvana being home by herself, her father came home!
But soon after, Parvana realized that there was trouble in Mazar-e-Sharif, because the Taliban were there too. Parvana decided that even though her father wasn’t well, they would go together to Mazar-e-Sharif to try and save their family. Salva’s and Parvana’s lives were different, but there were also a lot of similarities. Salva lived in Sudan, Africa, while Parvana lived in Kabul, Afghanistan. A big difference between Salva and Parvana is that, Salva was separated from his family and didn’t know where they were for a while, and Parvana went to the market everyday to work to support her family.
Salva embarked on his journey alone, but Parvana lived with all of her family, besides her brother, who was killed, and her father (for a period of time), who was arrested by the Taliban. Despite these differences, Salva’s and Parvana’s lives were also similar. Both Salva and Parvana went to school, and while they were in school they both didn’t like it. After they were deprived of their ability to go to school, they both missed it and wanted to go back. Because Salva was forced to live alone for most of his life, he was very independent.
Similarly, Parvana had to protect herself and make her own decisions while she was at work. Salva and Parvana both made friends throughout their journeys. Salva became friends with Mariel and Michael; Parvana met up with a girl named Shauzia who she knew from school, and they became fast friends. In some cases Salva and Parvana had very different stories, but in others their stories were very similar. The main characters in both books experienced major changes throughout their lives. Before the rebels came to Salva’s village he lived a predictable life where he went to school and came straight home each day.
Salva got separated from his family and went on a long journey, and ended up at a refugee camp, from there he got picked to move to America. Before the Taliban came to Parvana’s town Parvana’s family lived a good, normal, peaceful life. Parvana’s father got arrested and she was forced to make money for her family by dressing as a boy. Salva and Parvana were put in different situations, but their lives were still similar. These books show how tough situations can affect different people in different ways.