Summary: Chapter 6 (Children of the Rubbish Mountain)

Now that her family has a TV, Malala enjoys watching a show about a boy whose magic pencil can bring anything he draws to life. She wishes she had this magic pencil to make people happy. She describes seeing destitute children sorting through a garbage pile. Her father explains that the children cannot go to school like Malala because they must help their families eat by finding things to sell. Malala describes the way her family members, her mother in particular, help their community; they share food, money, room in their home, and free places in her father’s growing school. However, this causes some wealthy families to withdraw their paying students from his school because they don’t like them being around poor students. 

Meanwhile, Malala’s father has become a respected man in Swat, and he promotes education, peace, and the preservation of the environment. Malala listens to her father and his friends talk about politics, especially 9/11, which brings Pakistan into a relationship, often corrupt, with America. Malala describes the varied and complicated attitudes in her country about the Taliban and the war in Afghanistan. Malala asks God to make her courageous so she can help the world. 

Summary: Chapter 7 (The Mufti Who Tried to Close Our School)

Malala tells of the struggle between a local conservative mufti, or Islamic scholar, and her father, Ziauddin. The mufti accuses Ziauddin of committing blasphemy by allowing girls to go to school instead being in purdah, or seclusion. Malala says that she does not like the interpretation of Islam that emphasizes jihad and restricts women’s freedom by requiring that they stay home and wear burqas. 

When men from the community confront Ziauddin about his school, he defends his position by referencing the Quran. He then offers to have his female students enter school through a different entrance. Malala then relates the bloody division of India that created Muslim Pakistan and resulted in the death of millions of Hindus and Muslims. She explains the disagreement between Sunnis and Shias over who is the rightful heir to the Prophet Mohammad. She highlights the subdivisions within the Sunnis in Pakistan. While General Musharraf relaxes constraints on women in Pakistan, Malala’s more conservative Pashtun area elects a mullah government (MMA) that gains support because of America’s invasion of Afghanistan and its fight against the Taliban. Violence breaks out when General Musharraf sends the army to the ungoverned FATA lands and the United States attacks Pakistan. Ziauddin worries about the growing militancy that is coming to Swat.

Summary: Chapter 8 (The Autumn of the Earthquake)

Malala recounts the earthquake on October 8, 2005, the most devastating earthquake in Pakistan’s history. Mingora survives without too much damage, but the northern parts of Pakistan, including Shangla, are devasted, and thousands lose their lives. The Pakistani government responds slowly and ineffectively to this disaster. From over the Afghan border, Americans troops offer aid, accessing remote areas by helicopters. However, much of the practical help comes from conservative religious groups like TNSM, which clear rubble, bury bodies, offer prayers, and take in orphans at their fundamentalist madrasas, or religious schools. As Malala explains, these Islamic groups take advantage of the situation, claiming that the earthquake is the result of God’s unhappiness about Pakistanis not following sharia, or Islamic law.

Analysis

One of Malala’s most beneficial character traits is her ability to find valuable lessons in the most devastating facts. Deeply empathetic, Malala is troubled by the sight of children collecting garbage on the rubbish heap near her home. In a demonstration of her youth, she wishes for a magical, easy fix. Observing that even her father, who seems capable of so much in her eyes, cannot help these children teaches her the extent of the situation. The fact that most people don’t even notice the children motivates Malala. She wants to become an educated adult so she can end the kind of poverty that causes children to sift through garbage and adults to allow it. Malala turns this sadness into gratitude by finding a new appreciation for what her parents do manage to accomplish in their community. The Yousafzais provide strength and generosity in their community. Malala sees their selfless acts and internalizes them, making it easy to understand why she is so affected by the children on the garbage heap. 

Ziauddin’s new involvement in politics deepens Malala’s understanding of the unrest surrounding her. Her thoughtful description of the events following 9/11 shows that although Malala is young, she listens closely to her father’s political conversations and uses the information to process current events better than most adults. She recognizes the hypocrisy when, after September 11, General Musharraf is invited to 10 Downing Street and the White House as an ally even though Pakistan’s intelligence agency was responsible for creating the Taliban. Malala also understands that Musharraf is trying to capitalize on the opportunity to change his image from international piranha. With her incredible intellectual grasp of world events, Malala is a sharp judge of character, so she understands, even from her young age, that no one is coming to save Pakistan. This lesson, compounded many times over the course of the book, creates in her a determination to become a force for change in her country. Knowing that she can only do this if she’s well-educated, Malala’s right to go to school grows even more critical.

Ghulamullah’s attempt to close Khushal School foreshadows the greater tragedies that will befall Malala and her family. While this event does not ultimately impact Khushal School, it is a sign of the times and increasing militancy. Malala uses this incident to underscore the conflict among the many sects of the Muslim religion who disagree about the meaning of the Quran. In a heated debate with Ghulamullah, Ziauddin points out that the holy book never states that girls should not be educated. Since she has listened closely to her father and studied history, Malala knows the truth about her rights, but she also sees the signs of militancy her father warned about around her. In this section of the book, Malala shifts from talking about conflict that occurred in Pakistan’s past to events that negatively affect her country in real time. 

The catastrophic earthquake that hits Pakistan raises the stakes for Malala once again as it allows more corruption to take hold of the country.  Malala notes that in the aftermath of the disaster, the small militant groups are the first to offer aid to the people of Swat, while the Pakistani government makes promises to care for orphaned children that they do not keep. The government repeatedly abandons its people while fundamentalist Muslims capitalize on the disaster, preaching that the earthquake is a warning from God. Malala knows that deceitful leaders of the past have lied about natural disasters being God’s punishment, so she does not believe them. However, some of the uneducated people of Swat believe this is true because they do not know better. This detail helps drive home the connection between education and freedom. These false warnings pave the way for the militancy coming to Swat Valley because people are willing to forfeit their rights out of fear.