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Summary: Chapter 1 (A Daughter Is Born)
Malala Yousafzai introduces herself to the reader and gives background about her life. She explains that she was born in Mingora, the largest city in the beautiful Swat Valley, located in northwest Pakistan. She is a member of the largest Pashtun tribe, the Yousafzai, who live by the Pashtunwali code of hospitality and honor. Her father celebrates her birth, which is unusual in a country that doesn’t value girls, and he names her after a courageous Afghan heroine. Malala introduces her small family—her educated, forward-thinking father Ziauddin, who founded and runs the Khushal School; her beautiful and pious mother, Toor Pekai; and her younger brothers Khushal and Atal, with whom she sometimes fights.
Malala details her parents’ background and the love they have for each other. She also presents the history of her region, telling how it thrived under the two father-son kings and how Swat became a part of Pakistan in 1969. Malala makes clear that she considers herself Swati first, then Pashtun, and finally Pakistani. She introduces her neighbor friend, Safina, and highlights the difference between the freedom of the boys and the restrictions on the girls. She knows her father supports her freedom, but she wonders if freedom will be possible for her.
Summary: Chapter 2 (My Father the Falcon)
Malala describes her father’s background, bookending the chapter with the story of her father entering a public speaking competition in order to conquer his stutter and finally win his father’s approval. Malala’s grandfather, or Baba, Rohul Amin, is an impatient, learned theologian and imam who is famous for his speeches.
In relating the history of Pakistan, Malala details the military coup and rule of General Zia, the man responsible for the Islamization of Pakistan. Under his regime, religion gains prominence and women’s freedoms are restricted. Initially, General Zia is shunned by the international community, but after the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, Pakistan is seen as pivotal to the Western fight against communism and an inspiring model for other Islamic countries. General Zia makes joining the jihad—the fight against enemies of Islam—an important religious pillar. Ziauddin believes he wants to be a jihadi until the more secular, pacificist views of his future wife’s family change his mind. Despite how hard Baba is on Ziauddin, he gives him a good education and the proudly nicknames him Falcon. But Ziauddin, who becomes more generous than his father, rejects the nickname because this high-flying bird is cruel.
Summary: Chapter 3 (Growing Up in a School)
Malala’s mother, like millions of Pakistani women, is uneducated. Her father, Ziauddin, believes that the education of children is vital to Pakistan’s success, and he passionately pursues his own education, though his efforts are sometimes thwarted by financial problems. He is finally able to attend college thanks to the kindness of his wife’s relatives, who he becomes very close to. In college, after a plane crash kills General Zia and Benazir Bhutto becomes the first female prime minister of Pakistan, Ziauddin gets involved in politics.
After college, Ziauddin starts a school in Mingora with a college friend, Naeem. They struggle financially, and their friendship falters. Ziauddin finds a new investment partner in his college friend Hidayatullah. While trying to launch the Khushal School, they experience many financial hardships, such as fighting bribery demands from corrupt officials and weathering a flood. When Ziauddin marries Toor Pekai, it’s a real partnership of love. Later, Toor Pekai gives birth to a stillborn girl, but when Malala is born on July 12, 1997, the family’s luck turns. With Ziauddin’s hard work and optimistic determination, the school grows. From a young age, Malala spends all her time at the school. Life begins to change after 9/11, marking the beginning of war in Swat.
Analysis
Malala’s entire autobiography is written in simple, unassuming language that reflects how she approaches everything in her life. She describes her great accomplishments in activism and her traumatic and brave moments alike in direct, straightforward language. In the first section of the book, Malala describes a happy and safe childhood and the awe she felt for education from the time was a toddler. While the family does not experience violence firsthand in this section of the book, Malala shares the tumultuous history of Pakistan to lay the groundwork for her own story. She views her own experience in the context of this difficult past, so when violence later enters her life, it is not altogether unexpected as she knows she lives in a volatile place with a complicated history.
Malala’s precise, adoring descriptions of the lush beauty of Swat Valley are bittersweet. Malala describes Swat Valley like the Garden of Eden to emphasize her admiration as well as her expulsion. Malala’s nostalgic description uses glowing terms to describe a place tied to so many happy childhood memories. She recognizes the unique nature of this place, not only for its beauty but for its diverse cultural and religious history. She proudly relates how Alexander the Great traveled through the valley in 327 BC with thousands of elephants. The valley was her playground as a child, but now Malala writes of it with the pain of someone who might never be able to return. While the adoring tone conveys how much pleasure and pride Malala feels in her culture, it also reveals her anguish at being separated from her homeland by distance and violence.
Malala’s description of her parents’ upbringing and character shows her deep respect for them in terms of what they’ve accomplished on their own as well as what they have done for her. She inherits her appreciation for education and high political ideals from her parents, and they allow her to live differently from her peers even when it causes conflict. This freedom allows her to dream of a future that is generally impossible for Pakistani girls. The first person that Malala writes about in Chapter 1 is her father, presenting him as a heroic figure in her story. His reaction to her birth establishes early that Malala will be different from other girls in that she will be celebrated, not hidden. Her careful description of her namesake, Malalai of Maiwand, illustrates a fierce pride in her history and heritage. However, she already hints that her father’s view of Malala is at odds with their culture when she relates that only one cousin visited to help Ziauddin celebrate her birth. This detail foreshadows the struggle that Malala will have gaining support for her beliefs about women’s equality.
