Chap­ter 3 of The Bread­win­ner inten­si­fies the emo­tion­al and phys­i­cal chal­lenges Parvana’s fam­i­ly faces after the arrest of her father by the Tal­iban. Par­vana is con­sumed by feel­ings of fear and uncer­tain­ty, unable to sleep as the dark­ness of the night mir­rors the dread she feels for her father’s safe­ty. In her rest­less mind, she imag­ines the worst—the ter­ri­fy­ing pos­si­bil­i­ty of her father being impris­oned in a dark and cold place, iso­lat­ed and vul­ner­a­ble. The fear that thick­ens the air around their home is pal­pa­ble, yet as dawn breaks, a sense of urgency takes over. Parvana’s moth­er, Noo­ria, and Par­vana her­self pre­pare to embark on a dan­ger­ous jour­ney to the prison, moti­vat­ed by the slim hope that they might be able to bring her father home. Unlike the sim­ple trips to the mar­ket they once knew, this jour­ney holds the weight of life or death, with con­se­quences far beyond their con­trol. The grav­i­ty of the sit­u­a­tion is clear, and each step they take is filled with both deter­mi­na­tion and fear.

As they pre­pare a rushed break­fast, the pres­sure of time hangs over them, prompt­ing Par­vana’s moth­er to skip tea to save every pre­cious minute. Noo­ria, aware of the seri­ous risks involved, writes a note giv­ing her moth­er per­mis­sion to go out­side, under­stand­ing that the Tal­iban enforces harsh restric­tions on women. Par­vana is filled with appre­hen­sion as she con­tem­plates the long walk ahead, know­ing that, under Tal­iban rule, women can­not ride pub­lic bus­es with­out a male escort. The mere act of being out in pub­lic, espe­cial­ly with­out a male fam­i­ly mem­ber, could lead to seri­ous reper­cus­sions. Yet despite the over­whelm­ing sense of dan­ger, both Par­vana and her moth­er remain res­olute in their mis­sion. As they walk through the streets, Parvana’s thoughts are cloud­ed with visions of the prison—she imag­ines the grim, intim­i­dat­ing envi­ron­ment where her father may be held. These thoughts dri­ve her for­ward, as the weight of her family’s sur­vival rests heav­i­ly on her shoul­ders.

Upon their arrival at Pul-i-Charkhi Prison, Parvana’s anx­i­ety reach­es a new high. The atmos­phere is harsh, and the sol­diers guard­ing the prison make the air feel even more dan­ger­ous. Parvana’s moth­er, how­ev­er, stands firm and holds up her husband’s pho­to­graph, demand­ing his release despite the loom­ing threat of pun­ish­ment. Par­vana, feel­ing a mix of fear and courage, sup­ports her moth­er, stand­ing by her in this dan­ger­ous act of defi­ance. The inten­si­ty of their plea attracts atten­tion from passers­by, but soon the sit­u­a­tion turns hos­tile as the guards grow more aggres­sive. One of the sol­diers tears the pho­to­graph of her father, and vio­lence ensues as Parvana’s moth­er is struck with sticks. The bru­tal­i­ty and cru­el­ty of the guards only empha­size the oppres­sive and dehu­man­iz­ing regime they live under, where even the small­est act of defi­ance is met with extreme pun­ish­ment.

In an unex­pect­ed dis­play of brav­ery, Par­vana, although small and fear­ful, steps for­ward to pro­tect her moth­er. Despite know­ing her own pow­er­less­ness in the face of the sol­diers’ aggres­sion, Parvana’s deter­mi­na­tion to pro­tect her fam­i­ly shines through. This moment, how­ev­er, esca­lates quick­ly, and they are forced to leave the prison, bat­tered and bruised but still hold­ing on to the belief that their efforts were not in vain. The phys­i­cal vio­lence and emo­tion­al exhaus­tion they endure are heavy, but they are not defeat­ed. Parvana’s fam­i­ly is marked by pain, but the thread of hope that keeps them going is not eas­i­ly sev­ered. They leave the prison with the heavy real­iza­tion that their strug­gle is far from over, but the bond they share pro­vides them with the strength to con­tin­ue. Despite the hor­rors they have wit­nessed, there remains a qui­et sense of resilience and deter­mi­na­tion to per­se­vere, under­scor­ing the human spirit’s abil­i­ty to fight against over­whelm­ing odds.

The chap­ter clos­es with the lin­ger­ing effects of the vio­lent con­fronta­tion, but Parvana’s courage remains a bright spot in an oth­er­wise bleak sit­u­a­tion. Her brav­ery, despite the over­whelm­ing fear, illus­trates the emo­tion­al com­plex­i­ty of liv­ing under an oppres­sive regime. As Par­vana and her fam­i­ly make their way back home, she is deeply affect­ed by the vio­lence she wit­nessed, but her deter­mi­na­tion is unwa­ver­ing. The harsh real­i­ties of war and oppres­sion are felt in every step, yet the hope of reunit­ing with her father keeps Par­vana and her fam­i­ly going. The chap­ter encap­su­lates themes of resilience, courage, and the painful sac­ri­fices peo­ple make in the fight for sur­vival amidst unspeak­able hard­ship.