50 pages • 1 hour read
Malala Yousafzai, Patricia McCormickI Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World (Young Readers Edition)
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | YA | Published in 2014A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Part 3, Chapters 11-15Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 3: “Finding My Voice”
Chapter 11 Summary: “A Chance to Speak”
Malala’s mother worries about continued threats to the family and even makes an emergency plan in case the Taliban come to their home. In school, Malala and the other upper-class students want to make a difference in the conflict. Under the guidance of Madam Maryam and Malala’s father, the girls write speeches against the Taliban’s efforts to eradicate girls’ education. They schedule an assembly for their “peace rally” and are surprised when a television crew arrives. Every girl speaks about how important school is to her. Malala’s friend Moniba declares that while the Pashtuns are peaceful and love their religion, now the world thinks they are all terrorists because of the Taliban. Malala is initially nervous about speaking but finds that the words come naturally to her as she talks about how girls are being deprived of their rights. She vows that they will all keep learning.
Malala feels as though she is “speaking to the whole world” (71). She practices making speeches in the bathroom mirror of their crowded little house. She is embarrassed when her mother interrupts her privacy but wonders if someday, she really will be speaking to the whole world. Throughout 2008, Malala speaks out for girls’ education to local and national media.
Chapter 12 Summary: “A Schoolgirl’s Diary”
In December of 2008, the Radio Mullah announces that no girl of any age is allowed to attend school after January 15, 2009. Malala, an optimist, thinks the Taliban cannot enforce this edict, but friends point out that not even the government has been able to stop the Taliban. Over half of the girls in Malala’s class stop attending school because the men in their family forbid it. Malala wonders how she will achieve her dream of becoming a doctor if she cannot go to school and has no books or TV and must stay indoors.
The Taliban’s violence continues. Now, two or three people—including women—are killed each night. A BBC correspondent asks Malala’s father to find a teacher or older girl to write a diary of life under the Taliban for the BBC website. The teachers are too fearful, and the one student who agrees is prohibited by her father. To support her father and promote education rights, Malala, now only 11, volunteers. Her mother agrees that the truth must come out.
For her safety, Malala writes under the alias Gul Makai, or “cornflower,” the name of a Pashtun heroine. Malala describes the bombings, the killings, and the fear of walking to school. It is hard to keep her online identity secret. Malala’s father accidentally lets it slip, and that ends Malala’s online writing. Malala is glad that her diary entries raise international attention about the plight of girls’ education under the Taliban.
Chapter 13 Summary: “Class Dismissed”
Malala gives more television interviews, scandalizing her mother’s friends when she refuses to wear a veil. Even Malala’s friends wonder why she shows her face on TV. Malala declares that she is proud of her identity and has nothing to hide—unlike the Taliban, who wear masks because they are “criminals.” Malala is comfortable giving interviews and talking about education rights, but she does not like to watch herself on TV because she is self-conscious about her appearance.
Malala and her father meet with two New York Times journalists in Peshawar who want to film a documentary of the last school day at Khushal School. For the cameras, Malala bravely insists that she will not be stopped in getting an education but privately worries that if her schooling ends, then she will face a life of cooking and cleaning. She does not realize that her interview will be heard by many people—including the Taliban.
Only a third of the students attend school on the last day. Malala and her friends are sad and do not want the day to end, so they stay late and play games from their younger days. Although Malala and her mother cry, her father reassures her that she will go to school. With the girls’ school closed, her family faces financial loss. They discuss leaving Swat but decide to stay and support their homeland.
Chapter 14 Summary: “Secret School”
Malala’s father wants her to improve her English, so she watches two illegal television shows. Malala enjoys Ugly Betty and loves seeing the different freedoms of women in the United States, though she thinks that women there are still not completely equal to men. Malala also watches the comedy Mind Your Language, which is not good for learning English but makes her laugh. Malala feels trapped inside her home as Fazlullah destroys more girls’ schools. Her little brother Atal plays Army vs. Taliban with his friends, making weapons and acting out battles. The army, meanwhile, gains no ground against the Taliban.
Fazlullah unexpectedly announces that girls 10 years and younger can attend school. Girls over ten must stay at home in purdah. Madam Maryam tells the upper school pupils that if they want to attend, she will open the school, but they should try not to draw attention to themselves. Malala knows she can pass as a 10-year-old and is excited to return. Though it is scary walking through the mostly shuttered city streets, Malala is thrilled to be back in class. The school is their “silent protest.” Madam Maryam praises their bravery, though Malala knows Madam Maryam is brave, too: The consequences of defying the Taliban would be much worse for an adult.
Chapter 15 Summary: “Peace?”
In February 2009, the government and the Taliban agree on a peace treaty: The government will impose sharia law if the Taliban stop fighting. Sharia means that people’s lives will be governed by “religious judges.” Older girls are allowed to go to school if they stay covered. Malala is so happy to go back to school, she is willing to keep covered.
The peace treaty does not last long, and Malala expresses her dissatisfaction with it during an interview with Pakistan’s largest TV channel. The New York Times documentary airs, and Malala realizes the power of the media. Her family receives supportive messages from around the world.
The Taliban are even more violent and repressive when sharia takes effect. They police the streets with guns and sticks, kill policemen, and beat and threaten people. Malala’s mother is threatened at the market for not wearing the most concealing kind of burqa. When Malala sees a video of a teenage girl in a full burqa being cruelly beaten, she is appalled.
In April, the TNSM leader and Fazlullah’s father-in-law, Sufi Mohammad, organizes a rally in Mingora. Over 40,000 people attend the speech. Mohammad declares that democracy is un-Islamic and urges the Taliban to continue fighting. Malala’s father is horrified. The Taliban target Islamabad, and the army prepares a counteroffensive that puts Mingora in the middle of the fighting. Malala’s family decides to flee to Shangla.
Part 3, Chapters 11-15 Analysis
In these chapters, Malala focuses on her responses to the egregious social injustices she experiences. As she speaks out for education and women’s rights, she begins to see herself as a champion for others. Malala also expands on the growing rift between the Taliban’s interpretation of Islam and that of other Muslims and the impact of that division on peoples’ lives.
Malala’s personal passion for learning drives her to publicly condemn both the Taliban’s mandate denying girls’ education and the group’s violent reprisals. Malala views education as the key to self-reliance. She is willing to risk almost anything to continue with what she views as her right, including attending a “secret school.” At 10 and 11, she dreams of being a doctor. Confronted with losing access to learning, Malala faces a void: Her life would be severely restricted along gender lines. Forced to stay indoors in purdah, cut off from outside influences, she foresees a life of cooking, cleaning, and dependency on men. Malala becomes more acutely aware of how unfairly women are treated in Pakistan, and she disagrees with the cultural expectation that women should not challenge men’s opinions or rules.
Malala sees it as her “duty” to speak out for peace and girls’ rights. She increases her local interviews and television appearances, and her blog for the BBC and the New York Times documentary reach an international audience, garnering widespread support. Malala learns the power of media and the ramifications of censorship. By restricting what people hear and see, the Taliban exert widespread control and ensure compliance. Watching an illicit DVD of Ugly Betty, for instance, opens Malala’s eyes to the generally greater rights and freedoms that women enjoy in other cultures.
Malala reveals a maturing sense of self-identity and purpose. She sees herself as a voice for those who cannot speak out. Practicing speeches in the mirror makes Malala wonder if her future is that of an activist; “the Malala I would become” (72). Similarly, Malala proudly defies cultural expectation and shows her face during her interviews, revealing both her secure sense of self and her courage.
Although she is concerned about Taliban retaliation and fearful for her family, Malala’s outrage at injustice and strong feelings about education dominate her life perspective. She refuses to succumb to fear, instead joining both her parents in their campaign of peaceful, reasoned resistance. Malala gladly helps her father by writing the BBC diary, saying that he “had always stood by me” (76). She reciprocates, emulating his bravery. Malala’s self-talk, and her talks to God in which she asks for courage, show her commitment to her cause.
Similarly, Malala’s mother, the most grounded member of the family, supports Malala and her father’s activism. She quotes the Holy Quran saying, “Falsehood has to die…And truth has to come forward” (76). Malala’s mother’s traditional religious faith stands in counterpoint to the Taliban’s extremism. Similarly, Moniba’s speech at the school assembly emphasizes that while the “Pashtuns are a religion-loving people” (70), their focus is on peace. The comments of these two women suggest the Taliban offer lies and fundamentalist violence instead of truth and falsely characterize all Muslims as terrorists.
Malala, and most of Pakistan, is willing to accept the restrictions of sharia if that means an end to fighting. They quickly discover that the opposite is true. The Taliban are emboldened and encouraged to perpetrate more violence against those who defy them, and against the government. Malala sees the misogyny behind the Taliban’s repression of women. At the same time, Malala and her friends express little confidence in the government, which, despite pleas for aid, is unable even to shut down Radio Mullah, far less stop the Taliban’s violence. Malala continues to offer what amounts to a challenge, saying that no one will stop her from getting her education. Her defiance foreshadows the Taliban’s efforts to silence her.
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