Empathy

In the book The Breadwinner, the author, Deborah Ellis, made me feel empathy throughout the course of the book. I think it is good to make the reader feel empathy because it can get the reader emotionally involved with the book.

The first example of empathy from The Breadwinner is just after Parvana's father was sent to prison. Parvana and her mother attempted to go beg for her father's freedom, but their plan failed. "Nooria tried to help, but Mother just waved her away. She threw her burqa down on the floor. Her face was strained with tears and sweat. She collapsed onto the toshak where Father had taken his nap just yesterday." In this example the author made me feel empathy for Parvana's family because they may never see their father again. The strategy that the authour is using is to make the reader feel empathy by talking about memories of the father. When the author said " She collapsed onto the toshak where Father had taken his nap just yesterday." you can only imagine the thoughts that would be going through her mother's head about how her father lay there just yesterday and now he is gone.

Another example from the Breadwinner where Deborah Ellis made me feel empathy was when Parvana and Shauzia were walking home and Shauzia kicked a wall. " Shauzia kicked at the wall in a rythm, but Parvana stopped her. She'd seen the Taliban hit a child for banging on an old board like it was a drum. The Taliban hated music." The author made me feel empathy for all of the people affected by the Taliban. This example of empathy really shows the readers how restricted the people are in the affected areas of the Taliban. The way the author made me feel empathy in this passage was by describing how few rights the people have, if they can't even hit something in a rhythm. When the author said "The Taliban hated music", that really puts our freedom in prespective. It makes me realize the freedoms we have and how much we take it for granted.

These are just a few examples of when Deborah Ellis makes her readers feel empathy. It is a useful wirting strategy because it makes the reader feel more involved with the characters and their lives. I know from reading The Breadwinner I was able to better understand the situation and struggles of the people in Afghanistan by becoming involved with the characters in the book and their lives, and feeling empathy for them.