On her first day at the market alone, Parvana gets approached by the Taliban. What do you learn about the soldier and human experience in Afghanistan? Chapter 7

On her first day alone at the market, Parvana's first customer is an illiterate Talib; the rifle strung across his chest is an overt symbolic reminder of the violence he could inflict upon her if she fails to uphold her disguise. But in an instance of situational irony, Parvana sees the Talib sob. It is a discordant image. She had only ever known the Taliban to be ruthless, terrorizing oppressors. The fact that the man cannot contain his emotion over his dead wife suggests to Parvana that the soldiers are capable of feeling sorrow, exhibiting human emotions she herself recognizes; they too have trauma.