By Fariah Fawziah
“I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up For Education and Was Shot by the Taliban” is an autobiography written by Malala Yousafzai. Malala describes her family and the happy childhood she experienced. Her father is a teacher who believes girls should be given the same educational opportunities as boys — he worked hard to build his own school. Malala also explains how outspoken she was, in her early years, about girls having a right to have an education.
Her persistence threatened the Taliban, a religious group that has very different perspective about the roles of women in Pakistani society. One day, on the way home from school, Malala was shot in the head. Because she moved the moment the bullet entered her face, it traveled down to her neck. Immediately, she was taken to the hospital, and then to Britain.
Malala’s family dreamed of going home but feared the Taliban would attack them. In October 2014, when she received the Nobel Peace Prize, she became the youngest person to win that award. In October 2015, a documentary film was released called “He Named Me Malala,” directed by Davis Guggenheim.
This book has taught me that education is a lot harder to achieve than what we experience here in the United States. Education is not free in a lot of countries. Girls, in other countries have to be relentless in their quest to gain the right to an education. This book is important because it displays a different perspective. As Malala wrote, “We were scared, but our fear was not as strong as our courage.” She also wrote that her father believed that lack of education was the root of all of Pakistan’s problems: “Ignorance allowed politicians to fool people and bad administrators to be re-elected.” That’s one reason why Malala had a blog while she was in Pakistan. Her blog was about her views and the atrocities of Islamic militias. This was one of the other things that caused the Taliban to fear and hate her.
Malala uses many literary techniques throughout the book that captivates the reader. One of the devices she uses was foreshadowing, a literary device that gives the reader a hint about events to come. Malala says, “I’d had a strange, gnawing feeling that something bad was going to happen.” In fact, the shooting happened the next day. Another literary device Malala uses is simile: “My father is like a falcon, the one who dared to fly where others would not go.” Malala’s father takes on the Taliban by writing a letter to a newspaper. He was as outspoken about women’s rights as Malala was. Malala also uses metaphor: “You have put the first stone in standing water.” The water represents the Taliban, the stone is Malala.
Malala uses imagery and flashback really well. For instance she quotes, “I remember that inside the dyna [a van or a truck] it was hot and sticky…only the faraway mountains of the Hindu Kush had a frosting of snow. The back where we sat had no windows, just thick plastic sheeting at the sides which was flapped and too yellowed and dusty to see through” This was a flashback to the day the shooting happened. She described her surroundings so well that I felt the fear and discomfort Malala might have felt while in that bus.
This book is appropriate for readers of high school age. It might especially be useful and empowering to girls because it shows an example of a girl taking a stand on human and women’s rights. That can encourage others likewise to make a world a better place for current and future generations. This book might also interest someone who enjoys reading about activists, countries that differ from the USA, or someone who wants to stay away from the clutter of the media and hear an actual, reliable account of a life of a girl in Pakistan.