Phulan And Shabanu Themes

998 Words2 Pages

Shabanu is the story of a Muslim girl, 11 years old, during her years of becoming a women along with her older sister Phulan. The family of Shabanu including her mother, father, older sister, grandfather, aunt, and cousins live together in Pakistan. After their toba dries up in the hot Cholistan Desert they move to a village nearby in hope for a deeper well to provide water for the family. Dadi, Shabanu’s father is a highly known camel owner in Pakistan. Shabanu has a great love for her camels as shown in the beginning of the story when she helps birth her camel Mithoo who soon becomes “ part of the family”. Throughout the story Phulan and Shabanu face many struggles including marriage, death, and sacrifice. Shabanu is promised marriage to Murad as well as Phulan who is promised marriage to Hamir. However, Shabanu at the end of the story has to face a harsh reality when things don't work out as planned and she is forced to marriage with a 55 year old man. She will need to suffer the consequences of Dadi if not obeyed as for it is her custom.
I believe Suzanne Fisher Staples wrote this novel for a multitude of reasons. These reasons were to inform the …show more content…

The Cholistan Desert is a harsh place with extreme climate and weather where Shabanu and her family lived. Shabanu explains the desert when she says “ There has been no rain in nearly two years, and the heat of the Cholistan Desert is as wicked as if it were summer” (Staples 1-2). This quote simply shows how harsh the climate of the desert is and the crazy weather patterns that were happening. With the climate being this harsh it put many struggles in the family of Shabanu. For example when the families toba dried up because of the hot summer winds they must move to a desert settlement where the wells are deeper. The Cholistan Desert provided many more struggles for the family including it bringing storms, lack of resources, and geographical

Open Document