Entry #2: Passage Analysis

“He tried desperately not to think about the treacherous consonants lying ahead of him, just waiting to trip him up and stick in his throat, but when he spoke, the words came out fluently like beautiful butterflies taking flight. His voice did not boom like his father’s, but his passion shone through and as he went on he gained confidence” (39).

            This passage in the memoir depicts Malala Yousafzai’s father’s first attempt at participating in a public speaking contest. Prior to this event, her father, Ziauddin, had a stutter that made it impossible for him to voice his ideas without feeling insecure. In order to prove to his father that he had a son to be proud of, he seeks to overcome his inability to speak without stuttering by making a public speech. During the passage, Ziauddin is able to take the seemingly unhopeful situation he is in and turn it around into a moment of triumph as he succeeds in overcoming his stutter and fear of speaking.

            Malala Yousafzai, the author, uses figurative language throughout the course of the novel and to particular effect in this passage. She uses personification to talk about consonants by giving them human qualities like the ability to wait, trip things, and get stuck places. By personifying consonants, Yousafzai makes Ziauddin’s experience more relatable. She gives the reader a representation of how it felt to be in Ziauddin’s position, rather than blandly stating his emotions. Additionally, the use of a simile to compare Ziauddin’s words to the flight of a butterfly helps the reader imagine the transformation of his speaking skills. The placement of these two figurative devices in the same sentence also portrays the transformation Ziauddin goes through in a very short period of time. By putting the uses of figurative language right next to each other, Yousafzai is able to contrast what Ziauddin fears might happen at the competition and what actually happens. This contrast emphasizes how triumphant Ziauddin is because of his persistence.

            This idea of persistence is found throughout the entire memoir; not only in Ziauddin’s actions, but in Malala’s as well, which is why the passage is particularly significant. It suggests a theme of defiance, although on a small scale, because Ziauddin is able to defy his father’s expectations and his own expectations of himself by overcoming his detrimental attribute. Malala Yousafzai is defiant, on a much larger scale, in speaking against the Taliban and their actions, to the point where her life was put at risk. Even after she is shot, she continues to speak out against them by putting her words in a book and appearing on television and other media platforms. In this sense, Malala’s experience mirrors her father's experience in the passage. This mirroring effect is also shown in the last line of the passage when Yousafzai states, “but his passion shone through and as he went on he gained confidence”(39). Malala’s journey and fight for education would have never captured the world's attention if it weren’t for her passion on the subject, just as her father would not have been able to get through the speech without his passion. This passage is significant because this portrays this idea and addresses the ongoing theme of defiance in the novel.