37 pages • 1 hour read
Gayle Tzemach LemmonThe Dressmaker of Khair Khana: Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family, and the Woman Who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe
Gayle Tzemach LemmonNonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2011A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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Dresses and Clothes
Led by Kamila, the women take up sewing to make enough money to feed their families. The choice is not necessarily their own: As the Taliban tighten their grip on the city, there are few options available to female inhabitants. With the men either being press-ganged into the armed forces, beaten and imprisoned, or forced to flee, it falls on the women to feed their families. With so few options left after the implementation of the new laws, clothes and the making of clothes become important symbols of liberation and freedom.
The manner of production of clothing is a motif, representing the changing fortunes of the women in Kabul. At first, clothing is either imported from Pakistan or produced by individual women, such as Malika. Either a small, supplemental income is generated, or the benefactors are the store owners who mark up the prices of their imports. Local women do not materially benefit from clothing in a meaningful demographic sense; they are consumers, rather than producers. However, the founding of the tailoring shop, and later the school in the Sidiqi home, is an embodiment of the change that occurs. Women become producers, generating income and sharing it among themselves in a collectivized manner. Clothing switches from a consumerist product to a means of wealth generation. This change reflects the growing self-sufficiency of women under a misogynist regime.
Before the arrival of the Taliban, the women of Kabul are not required to wear a full veil, to the extent that—when the law is implemented—there are women who do not actually own such a garment. As the oppression of women worsens, the restrictions on clothing grow more extreme. This reaches the stage where the anonymity offered by the veil is used to contravene existing laws. When in the market, Kamila gives a false name because her face veil hides her identity. Kamila turns the oppressive law to her advantage, gaining a degree of protection that would not be possible under the previous regime. In this regard, clothing becomes a motif for both oppression and the fight against oppression.
Chai and Naan
Even amid the upheaval in Kabul, several cultural norms and traditions remain in place, such as the offering of chai and naan to guests. These two traditional items of cuisine become a metaphor for the permanence of culture in the face of violence. No matter what happens, the people of Kabul remember to be hospitable, and they refuse to allow the Taliban to dominate their culture. Whenever chai and naan are offered, it is a defiant and nostalgic act, taking those involved back to a happier time.
Chai and naan become an extension and a representation of the local culture. The author, writing from a western perspective, occasionally focuses on the fetching of chai as an affectation or a ceremony. There are points when this reaches an almost orientalist fascination, though it is not one that is shared by the characters. While the narrative focuses on the piping hot chai and the warm doughy naan, the characters are almost indifferent. They experience chai and naan on a different cultural level, viewing the items as another strand in the fabric of existence, as familiar as breathing or sleeping. Chai and naan are an extension of normal life in Kabul, and the serving of both perpetuates the traditions of the local culture.
Education
Education is an important means of emancipation. As Mr. Sidiqi reiterates this frequently to his daughters, it becomes an important narrative motif. To that end, the story is bookended by educational achievements. The story begins with Kamila being awarded her education certificate and ends with the stories of her sisters (and her associates) graduating from college. After all the adversity they have faced, those involved in the book have retained this reverence for education, and they become examples of the power granted to people by the acquisition of knowledge.
As a former officer in the Afghan army, Mr. Sidiqi is an impressive figure. More impressive than his war record is his commitment to raising his daughters in the best possible manner. He tells them frequently that education will be essential to their success and—in many ways—he seems to contravene many of the stereotypes of misogyny that are projected upon the Middle East. He wants to see all of his children graduate from college, including (and, to some extent, especially) his daughters. This is a lesson that they have internalized, and all his children speak to the importance of an education as an accepted truth. This demonstrates the influence of the father on the children, when they repeat as fact his beliefs and never dissent from these opinions.
Education also fills an important role as a means of contrasting the rule of the Taliban and the rule of the previous regime. Before the arrival of the Taliban, it was accepted that women could receive an education and become teachers. When the Taliban take over, this is almost immediately changed. Women and girls are refused anything but the most basic education, and the only way to impart education is through Qur’anic classes. Often, these classes teach far more than just scripture; education becomes a means of rebellion, and teaching girls becomes a defiant act. The restoration of female education after the fall of the Taliban at the end of the book is used in a narrative sense, allowing a natural conclusion to an arc that emphasized the importance of female education. This is a motif that demonstrates the evils of the Taliban and the ultimate triumph of the characters over adversity.
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