82 pages • 2 hours read
N. H. SenzaiShooting Kabul
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2009A 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 Taliban’s Transition from Afghanistan’s Savior to Its Oppressor
The Taliban are an Islamic fundamentalist political and military organization. They ruled most of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, during the years the novel takes place. Rather than paint a one-dimensional portrait of the Taliban as an evil enemy, Shooting Kabul gives the reader a nuanced portrait of a group that, after September 11, 2001, became synonymous with terrorism.
The book first depicts the Taliban as the dangerous group from which Fadi and his family are trying to escape. Soon, however, we learn that when Habib returned to Afghanistan in 1996, the Taliban—a hopeful group of young men eager to revitalize their country—helped him clear the poppy fields used for producing opium. We also learn that most of the Taliban are Pukhtuns like Habib, a detail that gives the reader insight into the culture of the Taliban, which includes codes of honor. Habib’s description of the Pukhtunwali tenet of melmastia—hospitality—gives insight as to why the Taliban protect Osama bin Laden. The narrative reveals that bin Laden took advantage of this code to gain the Taliban’s protection.
Through dialogue, Senzai informs the reader that in 1996, the Taliban got rid of “the corrupt and brutal warlords that took over the country after the Soviets left” (345). Once they gained power, their tactics changed. Within a year of the Nurzais’ return, the Taliban were closing schools and banning education for girls. In one scene, members the Taliban visit Habib and asks him to be their representative to the United Nations (294-301). Habib understands that the request is a thinly veiled threat and that he has no choice but to comply. Senzai provides specific details rather than generalizations to show the extent of the Taliban’s repression: Gulmina, Mariam’s Barbie doll, is a banned toy because it depicts a human figure; Zafoona takes her children to buy books on the black market. In possibly the most political statement in the novel, the imam where Fadi and his father worship says that the Qu’ran forbids killing another human being. The statement is political because after September 11, 2001, some in the United States conflated Islam with terrorism. Filtering the dialogue through Fadi’s point of view keeps the moment from being a direct challenge or rebuke to American readers.
Photography as a Means of Connecting Cultures
Photography is Fadi’s passion. It is the only activity that connects Fadi to his new American culture. On a deeper level, photography occupies an important place in the narrative because it can transcend time and space. It gives the viewer a portal into human emotion that they could not access otherwise. Even though Fadi focuses most of his energy on finding Mariam throughout the novel, he is really searching for himself, and for a place where he belongs.
The Taliban banned photography, putting an end to Fadi’s shooting and developing photos with his father. Thus, photography represents freedom and a way of seeing the world that oppression forbids. When Fadi finds a photography club at his school, therefore, it is as if he is being given another chance to express the point of view that was taken from him. Ironically, by the time Fadi has the freedom to take and develop as many photos as he wants, his mind is stuck in a well of guilt that clouds his view.
When the bullies Ike and Felix break Fadi’s Minolta XE, Fadi is forced to confront his fears about losing the competition and, by extension, his sister. The camera literally and metaphorically connected him with Mariam. Without the protection of the camera lens, Fadi feels exposed. The culmination of the theme of photography occurs when Fadi discovers that Mariam is in one of Clive Murray’s photos. In this way, photography is a source of hope: If something is captured in a photograph, it is never truly lost.
9/11 and Islamophobia in the United States
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 are the central event in the novel. The attacks reveal the undercurrent of anti-Islamic racism in the United States, and Senzai shows its danger and consequences. As with Senzai’s portrayal of Afghan politics and the Taliban, she portrays hatred toward Muslims within the context of Fadi’s personal experience and the experience of his community.
The first example of Islamophobia comes from the school bullies, Ike and Felix. They have been looking for ways to pick on Fadi, and after the attacks, they use racism as a means of intimidation. They corner Fadi by the bathroom and shout: “Look! It’s Osama!” (1332). They call him a “camel jockey” and other insults. Fadi is powerless to retaliate because there is no equivalent insult that he can hurl at them. Ike is White, and Felix is Filipino. Even if Fadi wishes to insult them racially, it is a level to which he does not stoop. When Fadi and his friends ambush the bullies, Carlos, who is Mexican, tells them, “If you’re going to be a bigot, at least get it right” (2093). This statement shows that so-called Islamophobia is often an expression of racism toward anyone who appears different.
Carlos’s statement echoes an earlier example of misplaced Islamophobia when Fadi discovers that their Sikh ice cream man, Mr. Singh, has been attacked by men who assumed he was Muslim. This example of violence shows the ignorance of attackers who cannot distinguish the different cultures. Senzai makes it clear that Islamophobic sentiment—or any form of racism—is wrong. Through these depictions of violence, the reader can see their destructive impact on individuals, families, and communities. A subtler point that Senzai makes is that racists are rarely punished. Fadi knows that he cannot be honest about his attackers because doing so will only put him in more danger. Mr. Singh’s attackers are never brought to justice. The only justice that takes place is when the boys surround the bullies and throw them in the lake. This gesture, which is comical, underscores the futility of addressing Islamophobia through law.
