The Breadwinner

by

Deborah Ellis

Father Character Analysis

During the bombing in Kabul, Parvana’s father lost one of his legs and suffered internal damage that Parvana doesn’t entirely understand, so he is often tired. Because he sold his prosthesis, he relies on a walking stick to travel short distances and Parvana to help him travel longer distances. Though the novel never explains what Father did before Kabul fell to the Taliban, he now earns money writing and reading letters for the many illiterate people in the market. He’s highly educated and earned his degrees abroad, so the Taliban target and ultimately arrest him. His focus was on Afghan history, so he often tells the family stories from history in the evenings. One of his favorites is the story of Malali, a young Afghan girl who led Afghan troops to victory against the British. He tells his daughters her story to inspire them to be brave and to figure out ways to resist oppression. In this way, Father is very progressive. He doesn’t believe in taking away women’s agency, so he encourages Mother to work despite the Taliban’s ban on women working. He also thinks that it’s their responsibility as educated Afghans to remain in the country and rebuild it into something better, so he and Mother often fight about whether to leave Afghanistan or stay. The entire family is distraught after his arrest, but Parvana often thinks of Father and of Malali as she navigates the market undercover as a boy and takes over Father’s reading and writing business. He’s finally released from prison at the end of the novel and soon regains his sense of humor. Since he’s extremely loyal to his family, he and Parvana set out to find Mother, Nooria, and the little ones in refugee camps outside Mazar, even though Father fully admits that he’ll never be well enough to travel.

Father Quotes in The Breadwinner

The The Breadwinner quotes below are all either spoken by Father or refer to Father. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Afghanistan, History, and Pride Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

History was her favorite subject, especially Afghan history. Everybody had come to Afghanistan. The Persians came four thousand years ago. Alexander the Great came too, followed by the Greeks, Arabs, Turks, British, and finally the Soviets. One of the conquerors, Tamerlane from Samarkand, cut off the heads of his enemies and stacked them in huge piles, like melons at a fruit stand. All these people had come to Parvana’s beautiful country to try to take it over, and the Afghans had kicked them all out again!

Related Characters: Parvana, Father
Page Number: 18
Explanation and Analysis:

There were a lot of false legs for sale in the market now. Since the Taliban decreed that women must stay inside, many husbands took their wives’ false legs away. “You’re not going anywhere, so why do you need a leg?” they asked.

Related Characters: Parvana, Father
Page Number: 22
Explanation and Analysis:

For most of Parvana’s life, the city had been in ruins, and it was hard for her to imagine it another way. It hurt her to hear stories of old Kabul before the bombing. She didn’t want to think about everything the bombs had taken away, including her father’s health and their beautiful home. It made her angry, and since she could do nothing with her anger, it made her sad.

Related Characters: Parvana, Father
Page Number: 22-23
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 2 Quotes

Other people lived in the part of the building that was still standing. Parvana saw them as she went to fetch water or went out with her father to the marketplace. “We must keep our distance,” Father told her. “The Taliban encourage neighbor to spy on neighbor. It is safer to keep to ourselves.”

Related Characters: Father (speaker), Parvana, Nooria, Mother, Maryam
Page Number: 28
Explanation and Analysis:

“How can we be brave?” Nooria asked. “We can’t even go outside. How can we lead men into battle? I’ve seen enough war. I don’t want to see any more.”

“There are many types of battles,” Father said quietly.

Related Characters: Nooria (speaker), Father (speaker), Parvana
Related Symbols: Malali
Page Number: 33
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4 Quotes

“You are a writer. You must do your work.”

“If we had left Afghanistan when we had the chance, I could be doing my work!”

“We are Afghans. This is our home. If all the educated people leave, who will rebuild the country?”

Related Characters: Father (speaker), Mother (speaker), Parvana
Page Number: 46
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

She kept hauling water. Her arms were sore, and the blisters on her feet started to bleed again, but she didn’t think about that. She fetched water because her family needed it, because her father would have expected her to. Now that Mrs. Weera was there and her mother was up, things were going to get easier, and she would do her part.

Related Characters: Parvana, Father, Mrs. Weera, Mother
Page Number: 58
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

When she had gone into the market with her father, she had kept silent and covered up her face as much as possible. She had tried her best to be invisible. Now, with her face open to the sunshine, she was invisible in another way. She was just one more boy on the street. She was nothing worth paying attention to.

Related Characters: Parvana, Father
Related Symbols: Hair
Page Number: 67
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

Parvana took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Up until then, she had seen Talibs only as men who beat women and arrested her father. Could they have feelings of sorrow, like other human beings?

Parvana found it all very confusing. [...] All day long, though, her thoughts kept floating back to the Talib who missed his wife.

Related Characters: Parvana, Father
Page Number: 74
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12 Quotes

Parvana remembered arguments between her father and mother—her mother insisting they leave Afghanistan, her father insisting they stay. For the first time, Parvana wondered why her mother didn’t just leave. In an instant, she answered her own question. She couldn’t sneak away with four children to take care of.

Related Characters: Parvana, Father, Shauzia, Mother
Page Number: 109
Explanation and Analysis:
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Father Quotes in The Breadwinner

The The Breadwinner quotes below are all either spoken by Father or refer to Father. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Afghanistan, History, and Pride Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

History was her favorite subject, especially Afghan history. Everybody had come to Afghanistan. The Persians came four thousand years ago. Alexander the Great came too, followed by the Greeks, Arabs, Turks, British, and finally the Soviets. One of the conquerors, Tamerlane from Samarkand, cut off the heads of his enemies and stacked them in huge piles, like melons at a fruit stand. All these people had come to Parvana’s beautiful country to try to take it over, and the Afghans had kicked them all out again!

Related Characters: Parvana, Father
Page Number: 18
Explanation and Analysis:

There were a lot of false legs for sale in the market now. Since the Taliban decreed that women must stay inside, many husbands took their wives’ false legs away. “You’re not going anywhere, so why do you need a leg?” they asked.

Related Characters: Parvana, Father
Page Number: 22
Explanation and Analysis:

For most of Parvana’s life, the city had been in ruins, and it was hard for her to imagine it another way. It hurt her to hear stories of old Kabul before the bombing. She didn’t want to think about everything the bombs had taken away, including her father’s health and their beautiful home. It made her angry, and since she could do nothing with her anger, it made her sad.

Related Characters: Parvana, Father
Page Number: 22-23
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 2 Quotes

Other people lived in the part of the building that was still standing. Parvana saw them as she went to fetch water or went out with her father to the marketplace. “We must keep our distance,” Father told her. “The Taliban encourage neighbor to spy on neighbor. It is safer to keep to ourselves.”

Related Characters: Father (speaker), Parvana, Nooria, Mother, Maryam
Page Number: 28
Explanation and Analysis:

“How can we be brave?” Nooria asked. “We can’t even go outside. How can we lead men into battle? I’ve seen enough war. I don’t want to see any more.”

“There are many types of battles,” Father said quietly.

Related Characters: Nooria (speaker), Father (speaker), Parvana
Related Symbols: Malali
Page Number: 33
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4 Quotes

“You are a writer. You must do your work.”

“If we had left Afghanistan when we had the chance, I could be doing my work!”

“We are Afghans. This is our home. If all the educated people leave, who will rebuild the country?”

Related Characters: Father (speaker), Mother (speaker), Parvana
Page Number: 46
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

She kept hauling water. Her arms were sore, and the blisters on her feet started to bleed again, but she didn’t think about that. She fetched water because her family needed it, because her father would have expected her to. Now that Mrs. Weera was there and her mother was up, things were going to get easier, and she would do her part.

Related Characters: Parvana, Father, Mrs. Weera, Mother
Page Number: 58
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

When she had gone into the market with her father, she had kept silent and covered up her face as much as possible. She had tried her best to be invisible. Now, with her face open to the sunshine, she was invisible in another way. She was just one more boy on the street. She was nothing worth paying attention to.

Related Characters: Parvana, Father
Related Symbols: Hair
Page Number: 67
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

Parvana took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Up until then, she had seen Talibs only as men who beat women and arrested her father. Could they have feelings of sorrow, like other human beings?

Parvana found it all very confusing. [...] All day long, though, her thoughts kept floating back to the Talib who missed his wife.

Related Characters: Parvana, Father
Page Number: 74
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12 Quotes

Parvana remembered arguments between her father and mother—her mother insisting they leave Afghanistan, her father insisting they stay. For the first time, Parvana wondered why her mother didn’t just leave. In an instant, she answered her own question. She couldn’t sneak away with four children to take care of.

Related Characters: Parvana, Father, Shauzia, Mother
Page Number: 109
Explanation and Analysis: