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.
Themes
The Power of Education
The importance of education is one of the central themes of Malala’s memoir and the focus of her advocacy. Malala recognizes that knowledge is the key to individual independence: Without education, one’s life possibilities are limited, and even controlled. From an early age, Malala sees the gender disparity inherent in education and focuses on girls’ right to attend school. A passionate learner herself, Malala literally risks her life to attend school. As an exemplar of benefits of education, Malala uses “knowledge as her weapon” in her mission to ensure that everyone has the same opportunity to learn (191).
As a young child, Malala observes both the power of education and the consequences of functional illiteracy. Malala’s father is educated. He is a successful teacher and school founder. Personally, and through his work, he models daily the benefits of education. Malala loves and admires her father, and he nurtures her passion for learning. From an early age, Malala adores school. Malala’s mother, in contrast, presents an example of the limitations that come from a lack of education. Raised in a mountain village where many women are illiterate, Malala’s mother cannot read. Watching her mother have difficulty understanding prices in the shops, Malala says, is “an unspoken sadness for us both” (23). Malala sees how illiteracy reduces her mother’s confidence and abilities.
School is everything to young Malala. It is “a heaven,” a “sanctuary,” a place of peace, and a democracy. School offers intellectual freedom from the cultural constraints placed on girls outside its walls. In school, she, and other girls, can be themselves, and through the power of education, become who they want to be. Her education contributes to Malala’s confidence and sense of self. Malala’s role model, Miss Maryam, exemplifies how education enables one to achieve independence.
Many girls’ access to education is restricted, however, by Pakistan’s dominantly patriarchal cultural norms. Girls’ education is considered pointless for their expected future roles as wives. Malala has heard men declare that a daughter “doesn’t need an education to run a house” (24). The Taliban’s war on girls’ education, going to the extreme of bombing girls’ schools, stems from a similar need to restrict women’s independence. Malala understands that independent thought and knowledge threaten Taliban control and defies their fundamentalist interpretation of Islam.
In her advocacy for girls’ education, Malala calls for an end to gender inequality. She knows that without an education, girls’ life choices are few. When Malala’s mother begins learning English in Birmingham, Malala sees her mother’s confidence increase, and limitations vanish. Malala believes that education is the foundation for economic freedom and gender equality, saying, “Because how can we fight inequality and poverty when so many are denied the right to education?” (200).
The Fight Against Gender Inequality
Even as a young girl, Malala perceives the disparities between women and men in Pakistani culture. The arrival of the Taliban exacerbates these inequities. Over the course of the memoir, Malala shares her observations—and outrage—at women’s lack of equal rights. Malala’s campaign for gender equality is as important to her as her crusade for educational rights.
Malala’s father declares: “Malala will live as free as a bird” (18). In a male-dominated society where girls are less valued than boys, Malala’s father’s support is nonconformist. Malala understands that she is an exception to the norm and is fortunate to have her father’s affection and regard. Despite her father’s assurance that he will protect her freedom to be and do what she wishes, Malala worries that she “could see a future that would be cut down just like those kites—simply because I was a girl” (18).
Pakistani girls are faced with restrictive cultural expectations. Malala knows that as she and other girls get older, they will be expected to do housework for their brothers. When they become teenagers, girls will “disappear behind veils” (17). Many girls are married off before the age of 15, after which their purpose is to care for their husband’s household. One of little Malala’s favorite games to play with her friends is “Wedding,” where they act out a bridal ceremony, complete with the bride crying and other girls consoling her—which suggests that marriage does not necessarily hold high appeal.
Malala understands that these culturally prescribed restrictions of freedom result in women being dependent on, and deferent to, men. She bristles at the injustice, asking her father why women are “treated so poorly in our country” (24) Malala believes that the Taliban’s harsh implementation of sharia further victimizes women by denying them an education, which is the foundation of independence. The Taliban isolate women intellectually and physically keeping them hidden, at home, cut off from society, and reliant on male family members. Malala bitterly feels that “The Taliban want to turn the girls of Pakistan into identical, lifeless dolls.” (75) The Taliban do not want independent, thinking women like Malala.
Malala’s father “always treated her as an equal” (117), and Malala does not face as many barriers as other girls her age—until the Taliban attempt to restrict her access to education. Malala, like her father, defies injustice and inequality. In her refusal to wear a veil or to cover her face during her television interviews, Malala reveals pride, independence, and her refusal to be hidden away by the Taliban. Malala’s work for girls’ education is also a fight for gender equality.
Influences on Self-Identity
The Taliban assassin’s question is the essence of Malala’s memoir. Her narrative answers his simple query with complexity as she describes her life’s journey before and after the pivotal attack. Family, faith, cultural heritage, and contemporary role models and heroes are all formative factors that influence Malala’s core sense of self and help shape her into the young adult activist she becomes.
Malala stands out among her peers even before she begins her career of social activism. She is self-assured as a young child. The children in Shangla view her as different, “modern” and “sophisticated.” As an IDP, Malala causes a stir in the country school because she does not cover her face and “talked freely in class and asked questions” (100). Malala’s upbringing is a significant influence on her early self-assurance. Her parents wholeheartedly support Malala in following her dreams. They foster her curiosity and nurture her confidence. Her father’s unconditional love and support free Malala from traditional cultural restrictions that limit other girls. Her education frees her intellectually. Malala is proudly outspoken and opinionated.
Faith is also a powerful motivating force in Malala’s life. She is a devout Muslim and frequently shares pieces of her conversations with God in her narrative, notably asking for courage and help to make the world a better place. Her faith gives her both courage and certainty in her campaign. To Malala and her parents, the Taliban’s fundamentalism and violence spread “falsehood.” Malala’s mother encourages both her husband and Malala to speak out for truth, believing that God will protect them because their cause is just. Following the attack on her life, Malala agrees. She is convinced that God spared her, giving her the responsibility to continue her mission and “make the world a more peaceful place” (193).
Malala and her family are also influenced by their cultural heritage. They are proud Pashtuns, and the Pashtunwali code helps govern their lives. Malala’s family is deeply connected to the Swat Valley: They feel a “responsibility to stand up for our homeland” (77). This connection drives them to defend their home, valley, and way of life by speaking out against the Taliban. As both an IDP in Shangla and later a Pakistani exile in England, Malala feels stripped of her heritage and keenly feels the loss of her “true home.” Malala’s identification with the land and centuries of family history ground her and give her a sense of belonging.
Contemporary role models like headmistress Madam Maryam, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and her own father are inspirational examples for young Malala. Madam Maryam and Bhutto are strong, intelligent women each working in different ways to resist oppression and effect positive change. Malala admires them and aspires to their independence and influence. Malala’s father is her greatest hero. From a young age, she strives to win his approval and make him proud. Ziauddin is educated, ethical, passionate, and brave, all qualities that Malala embraces and folds into her identity.
While all these social factors influence and help mold Malala’s identity, she also actively works to define herself. She rejects being labeled as a victim—the girl who was shot by the Taliban—and instead takes the offense, defining herself as a fighter for peace and education. Following her attack, Malala recognizes that she has become a role model herself, observing that she “must really be good” because of public expectation (179). Like her namesake, Malalai of Maiwand, Malala goes on to inspire others but remains grounded and secure in herself, declaring, “I was still me” (190).
Being a Heroine: Speaking Out and Standing Up
Throughout her memoir, Malala stresses that meaningful change requires speaking out and standing up for one’s beliefs, even if that means putting oneself in harm’s way. She is, her father’s friend exclaims, “pakha jenai,” or “wise beyond her years” (92). At just 15 years old, Malala’s conviction and desire to help others, her self-sacrifice, courage, moral integrity, and empathy, mark her as a contemporary hero. These qualities set Malala apart and show how an ordinary girl can be an extraordinary heroine.
Even before the arrival of the Taliban, Malala expresses a strong desire to help others. She wishes for a magic pencil to make the world better so she can help children who are not as fortunate as she. Moved by Bhutto’s assassination, Malala discards her plans to become a doctor, deciding to follow a path of politics and activism to effect more widespread change. By 11 years old, Malala sees it as her “duty” to speak out to news reporters to advance and protect both peace and the educational rights of girls.
Malala never wavers in her cause. She sees her crusade as her calling, saying it was “what I was meant to do” (118). Further, Malala believes that she epitomizes her cause: When people say they support her, Malala asserts, they are supporting girls’ education. Malala also believes that her cause is even greater than herself, and, like her father, she is willing to hazard her life to advance her beliefs, accepting the possibility of becoming a martyr, like Bhutto. Malala declares that “our voices will only multiply, even if we are dead” (119). In nearly sacrificing her life, Malala does advance her cause: Millions hear her message. Malala believes that God endorses her efforts and, with her second chance at life, has given her the responsibility to help others. Malala asserts that “I am still here for a reason, and it is to use my life to help people” (188). Her passionate conviction, self-sacrifice, and use of her influence to aid others are all heroic traits.
Malala also exhibits great courage and mental resolve, additional heroic characteristics. Malala shows her bravery at 11 years old by supporting her father and writing the anonymous blog for the BBC. Her public interviews, her blunt defiance of anyone who would threaten her education, and even her covert attendance at the “secret school” reflect Malala’s boldness and determination. Her actions make her a target, but she refuses to back down. She rejects fear in her focus on her cause. Malala writes that “Some powerful force had come to dwell inside me, something bigger and stronger than me, and it had made me fearless” (119). Even alone in a hospital thousands of miles from her home, Malala shows her fortitude, refusing to cry despite her fear and pain. Malala also displays great emotional tenacity as she begins a new life in a strange country, painfully leaving home, friends, and family behind.
Finally, Malala possesses a strong moral compass. Influenced by her principled father, Malala acts with integrity. She is guided by her faith and sense of justice. She pursues truth in the face of the Taliban’s lies, and equality over discrimination. Malala is at heart a humanitarian. She believes that all humans deserve respect, dignity, and equal opportunity. She empathetically sees the world as one big family, complete with familial obligations to support one another. Malala also embraces a non-violent response to injustice and oppression. She realizes that she must fight the Taliban on a higher level, using “peace and dialogue” rather than physical violence (119). Malala’s empathy and strong sense of right and wrong are yet further qualities that make her a modern heroine.
Related Titles
By these authors
