I Am Malala

Malala's father always held education in the highest regard. He felt that education was the only way Afghanistan can move out of the seemingly perpetual cycle of war and oppression. He especially saw the education of girls as a key to the future. In a country where acquiring an education was a luxury, girls were often excluded. Malala's father knew the keen intelligence and drive for education that girls possessed was being a wasted opportunity for the country. He saw in Malala, his daughter, and the chance for girls to change the status quo. Education could bring Afghanistan out of bickering patriarchal factions into a more unified and enlightened country. Malal took advantage of her father's progressive attitude and hungered for education.

Malala's father constantly tells her that she is as free as a bird. Under the Taliban, freedom is practically nonexistent: people are controlled in every way, from how they dress to how they worship, with the fear of death as a motivator to follow the Taliban's law. Women are particularly controlled, and though Malala has been lucky enough to receive an education, she still feels this confinement when the Taliban takes over her home. This experience is why she consistently fights for freedom, both for young girls and for people as a whole.