43 pages • 1 hour read
Yasmina KhadraThe Swallows of Kabul
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2002A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 9-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 9 Summary
Qassim Abdul Jabbar rides in a large truck back to Kabul after visiting his home village. The driver spots Nazeesh climbing a ridge. Nazeesh struggles to get to the top of the ridge, where he looks back at Kabul, lamenting the downfall of the city. Nazeesh throws stones back at Kabul to ward off evil, and he avoids a large lizard coiled in its tail. The driver asks Qassim why they did not stay in his village, and Qassim laments that he missed his mother’s funeral the previous day.
Qassim did not know his mother well. He notes that she was both deaf and mute, and that he is one of 14 children. His only memory is of his mother’s smile, which changed size depending on her mood. Qassim says she may have been a saint, since she neither heard nor spoke evil. The driver agrees, adding that his own mother died in childbirth at the age of 14, which tormented his father for years. The driver adds that he has been married three times in the past year, though Qassim does not understand the relevance.
Approaching Kabul, Qassim sees Mohsen in a cemetery on the edge of town. The driver is hungry, and they agree to go to Khorsan’s food stand, where they find Atiq. Qassim tells Atiq he is worried about Atiq’s mental health. He invites him to Haji Palwan’s, where old war buddies meet to talk and arrange business deals. Atiq insists that he does not need money, and Atiq leaves with his food. Musarrat looks at herself in the mirror, struggling to accept that she is dying. She laments that she will miss her fifties, noting how her hair is falling out and she can no longer use makeup to make herself desirable. She struggles to make it across the room, crawling and in pain. When Atiq arrives, he finds Musarrat on the floor barely breathing, and he sits against the wall staring at her.
Chapter 10 Summary
For 10 days after Mohsen and Zunaira went on their walk, Zunaira has not removed her burqa, and she avoids Mohsen at all costs. Mohsen is losing touch with reality, spending all his time in the cemetery wavering between uncontrollable anger and sadness. Mohsen returns home, and Zunaira retreats to her room. Mohsen follows her, demanding to know why she is upset with him for what the Taliban did, noting that he could not have fought off all the Taliban agents outside the mosque.
Zunaira tells Mohsen she never wants to see him again, and Mohsen grabs Zunaira before withdrawing. Mohsen says he will leave for a while, but Zunaira repeats that she never wants to see him again. Mohsen invokes their traditions under Islam, telling Zunaira she cannot reprimand her husband this way. Zunaira implies that Mohsen is not her husband, telling him to confront the Taliban. Mohsen tries to forcibly remove Zunaira’s burqa, and she scratches his face. Mohsen hits Zunaira, then pulls away, ashamed of himself. When Zunaira insults Mohsen again and tries to leave, Mohsen grabs her, she pushes him, and he lands, hitting his head on the wall. Zunaira realizes Mohsen is no longer moving, and he is bleeding from his nose.
Chapter 11 Summary
A militiaman tells Atiq to stay in the prison and wait for Qassim Abdul Jabbar. Kabul is full of excitement, as Commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, one of the leading military leaders opposing the Taliban, is reported to be surrounded by the Taliban military. Atiq is apathetic, wishing the militiaman would leave, and he asks about Qaab, a former soldier. The militiaman thinks Atiq is joking. He tells Atiq that Qaab died two years prior in a munitions accident and adds that both he and Atiq attended Qaab’s funeral. Atiq is confused. The militiaman leaves, thinking Atiq is still joking. Qassim arrives with a new prisoner, a woman who killed her husband. Qassim says the prisoner’s execution is delayed until Friday when there is a rally. Qassim is concerned about Atiq, noting that Atiq did not go to Haji Palwan’s. Atiq does not want to talk, and Qassim tells him to improve his demeanor.
Chapter 12 Summary
Atiq is shocked when he enters the prison and finds Zunaira has removed her burqa. He steadies himself, seeing that Zunaira is praying, and takes up a position against the wall, watching her. Atiq has not seen a woman’s face in years. He notes how he dreamt of women before the Taliban took control, seeing a woman’s beauty as a glimpse into paradise. Time passes, and Atiq does not move. Eventually, Atiq finds himself at home. Musarrat tells him he keeps salting his rice and grabbing his cup, but he neither eats nor drinks. Atiq feels “fine,” and Musarrat laughs when he salts his rice again. Suddenly, Atiq realizes he did not give Zunaira any food, and he leaves without his whip or turban. Atiq buys Zunaira some food with his own money, but he cannot bear to wake her up.
Back at home, Atiq explains Zunaira’s beauty to Musarrat, who is amused by Atiq’s sudden poetry. Musarrat is not jealous, saying she is glad Zunaira managed to overcome Atiq’s sadness and anger. Musarrat asks what Zunaira did to deserve a death sentence, and Atiq says he never talks with the prisoners. Musarrat offers to make some food for Zunaira, saying she will do anything for Atiq.
Chapters 9-12 Analysis
The text further develops The Role of Love and Beauty as Forms of Resistance. Zunaira’s appearance recalls Atiq’s recollection of childhood, pleasure, and happiness. The sight of Zunaira without a burqa evokes a comparison to the swallows, which have long since fled Kabul: “For him, women are only ghosts, voiceless, charmless ghosts that pass practically unnoticed along the streets; flocks of infirm swallows—blue, yellow, often faded, several seasons behind” (144). The swallows, like women, are “infirm,” or injured. This follows Zunaira’s analysis of the damage the burqas do to women’s sense of identity. Her refusal to wear the burqa in prison influences him. He provides his perspective, in which burqas invalidate women, removing them from consideration.
Musarrat recognizes Atiq’s change in demeanor following his experience with Zunaira. She remarks on his positive energy, thinking: “His eyes are sparkling, dazzled from within, and his agitation is almost unbelievable in one who never shakes, except with indignation, and then only when he’s repressing his anger” (147). In this way, Atiq represents the population of Kabul, perpetually torn between intense sadness and anger. Zunaira’s beauty cuts through his emotional turmoil, bringing him back to a sense of happiness and peace. Musarrat, seemingly without jealousy, is glad to see how Zunaira affects her husband. She even encourages him, offering to make food for Zunaira. If Zunaira’s beauty is a representation of resistance, then Atiq is realizing his own desire to oppose the Taliban rule in his love for her. Musarrat, seeing herself in the mirror and lamenting her inability to make herself beautiful for Atiq, represents the results of internalized misogyny and longstanding oppression and abuse.
Both Mirza and Qassim are explicit misogynists. Mirza encourages Atiq to divorce Musarrat despite her illness, and Qassim asserts that women have no value. Atiq refuses their offers because he knows that they represent the continuation of the oppression brought on by the Taliban. By contrast, Zunaira seems to offer Atiq a way to escape those oppressive forces.
Qassim’s mother illustrates how many of the novel’s men seek a passive woman. Qassim’s mother could neither speak nor hear, making it difficult for Qassim to get to know her. However, his driver agrees with Qassim’s joke that his mother was a saint. He decides that, by virtue of her inability to speak and hear, she is perfect. Qassim’s mother could not ask questions, and she devoted herself to having children and tending the house—an ideal woman under Taliban rule. For many of the men in the novel, women, especially ill ones such as Musarrat, are a burden. As the driver rejects his wives, he exposes how women are disregarded and discarded under the social structure put in place by the Taliban. Zunaira counters these perceptions, showing how women, like men, are complete human beings.
