Overcoming Adversity

Overcoming adversity means overcoming a hard time or circumstance and moving forward in a positive way. The novel, Parvana’s Journey was written by Deborah Ellis and published in 2002 and the film, Rabbit Proof Fence was directed by Phillip Noyce and released in 2002. Parvana’s Journey is fiction yet based in reality and it’s about a young Afghani girl who walks across war torn Afghanistan searching for her family. Rabbit Proof Fence is non-fiction and it’s about three young half caste girls who escaped from a settlement camp and walk over 2000km to go back to their home. In both texts, children face many adversities but they overcome adversities through determination and the sheer will to survive to meet their family.
Parvana’s Journey, is set at war time in Afghanistan where a group of children wander through the country trying to survive the horror of their situation and they overcome huge difficulties to reach the end of their journey. The war in Afghanistan is between Taliban and U.S.A and this war affects civilians and children . Afghan people live with the fear of death and there is not enough food and other necessaries that they need. Children can’t go to school during the war so they can’t be educated and the Taliban is constantly on the search for boys to make them fight for the Taliban. Parvana’s Journey focuses on the protagonist, and her search for her family. In her quest for shelter and food as she makes her way across the Afghan countryside, she meets other children who are displaced due to war. Parvana continues her trip with three others; Asif Hassan and Leila. Parvana is very clever but still a child. Asif is a legless boy, he is very cruel to Parvana because he doesn’t know how to treat a girl. Leila is a naïve girl Parvana comes across who scavenges food from a mine field. In this story, the children face lots of adversities during their journey. In the novel, Parvana faces many difficult situations; she is almost sold to the Taliban(P.20 “I