Malala Yousafzai declared, “I don’t want to be thought of as the ‘girl who was shot by the Taliban’ but the ‘girl who fought for education’ (309). This statement proves the bravery and fearlessness that Malala has after facing a struggle that no teenager should have to face. In her memoir, I Am Malala, Malala tells her story about the battle between her and the Taliban. After her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, opened up a school that allowed women to attend, the Taliban tried to prevent it, but Malala and her father was not going to let it happen without a fight.
They both put heavy targets on themselves after going against the Taliban and standing up for what they believed in which was the right for women’s education. I Am Malala is an emotional memoir that sparks the reader’s attention all the way through. Malala Yousafzai expresses the struggles of her battle against the Taliban for the women of Pakistan’s education through her memoir I Am Malala, which brings out emotion in the readers with the structure, setting, and diction.
Malala Yousafzai helps bring out emotion in her memoir through the structure it is written in. She tells the story of the shooting in the prologue, as well as at the very end. By telling the story and giving the ending result in the very beginning, Malala draws in the readers by making them want to know what events led up to it. At the end of the prologue she states, “Who is Malala? I am Malala and this is my story” (9). This declaration provides the readers with just enough information to bring out their emotions and want to find out more.
The memoir being written in chronological order also builds up suspense to entice the audience to continue reading. Even though the end result is known, Malala still had a way of making her writing into something that could not be put down. This style of writing pulled the readers in and made it easier to have an emotional attachment to her story. Altogether, the structure of the memoir played a strong part in bringing out reader’s emotions of curiosity and suspense. Malala Yousafzai uses the setting in I Am Malala to bring out the emotions of the readers.
She tells about Swat Valley before the Taliban as “a heavenly kingdom of mountains, gushing waterfalls and crystal-clear lakes” (15). Swat was a paradise before the invasion of the Taliban. Rich people from all over Pakistan would come to come to enjoy all of the beautiful scenery and fun festivities that went on. The Queen of England even came and stayed in the White Palace (16). There was so much beauty and hospitality to this land until the valley of Swat turned into complete and utter chaos.
Tim Craig who was a writer for the Washington Post pointed out, “Here in Pakistan’s Swat Valley, known for gorgeous sunsets and the calming sound of river rapids, there has been plenty of misery over the past decade” (1). This tragic invasion was an emotional time for all of those involved, and readers can feel that empathy too. Swat turned into an army base that everyone ran from instead of a place for people to call home. Hearing how this valley went from paradise to hell really brings out the emotions of heartache and empathy in the readers.
Malala uses the diction of the text to bring out the emotion in the readers. All throughout her memoir, Malala uses strong words to express the trials and tribulations she and her family went through. After Malala got shot, her father made a very strong statement: “They wanted to kill two birds with one stone. Kill Malala and silence me forever” (247). This assertion is one of the most powerful lines in the whole memoir because it is true. The Taliban thought killing Malala would have a bigger effect on her father and shut him up forever; however, it did not.
It only encouraged him to fight harder. All throughout chapter twentytwo, it is evident the pain and suffering Malala’s parents went through after the shooting. Her father struggled with the choice of going with Malala overseas to get the treatment she needed and staying at home with her mother and brothers. He finally decided to stay with the rest of his family because he knew Malala was in good hands, and he could not abandon his wife and other two kids in Swat (268-269). While Malala was overseas, her parents still ached knowing they were not there for her.
At this point in the story, the readers were emotional for her and her family. The way it was all described helps the readers feel like they are actually involved in the tragedy and is a heartbreaking experience for everyone who reads about it in this memoir. Another part of the memoir that uses diction to bring out emotion in the readers is when she uses the metaphor to refer to her father as a falcon. Malala told about a statement her grandfather made: “He’d boast, ‘Ziauddin is a shaheen’—a falcon-because this is a creature that flies high above other birds” (39).
This metaphor really expresses how great of a man Ziauddin was. He went above the rest, and it makes it deeper for the readers to get this kind of understanding for him as a person. Ziauddin went above and beyond the rest to achieve his goals, and that is amazing for readers to comprehend. Malala’s memoir reached out to people all over the world. On April 17, 2014, Craig Kielburger, Malala Yousafzai, and Shiza Shahid had a 24 hour pledge of silence for those without a voice.
There is a YouTube video about it that has multiple famous actors who are acting as Malala and declare, “I believe that education is a universal human right. I believe that one child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world. Schools were attacked. I still went and I spoke out. We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced… one bullet… one gunshot heard around the world, but here I stand: I Am Malala” (“We Are Silent”). Malala influenced people from all nations, even enough to get many people to take a pledge of silence.
This proves that she really impacted people everywhere and brought out their emotion to take this leap and stand up for her. As a whole, I Am Malala brought out the emotions of readers in several different ways. The structure of telling the shooting in the Prologue and at the end pulls the readers in and encourages them to read more to find out why this happened. The setting of her hometown starting out as a paradise and turning into complete chaos helps the readers to feel the trouble and homesickness the people of Swat encountered.
The diction of the memoir was very empowering and helped the readers to feel empathy towards her and the situation by expressing the issue of her parents when she got sent overseas and hearing about how her father is represented as a falcon for going above and beyond for everything. The YouTube video, “We Are Silent” expresses the impact Malala’s story had on the entire nation and not just the valley of Swat as a whole. I Am Malala pulls out the emotion of all who read it, influencing them to stand up for what they believe in.
