Empathy

"Parvana was tired she wanted to sit in a classroom and be bored by a geography lesson. She
wanted to be with her friends and talk about homework and games and what to do
on school holidays. she didn't want to know any more about death or blood or pain."
(pg.130 The Breadwinner)

Empathy. 7 letters with a big meaning. This passage enables you to understand and share the feelings of others. in short it creates empathy. I absolutely love the Breadwinner because it is not just a few paragraphs that allow you to relate to Parvana in so many ways. Instead Deborah Ellis has managed to create this feeling throughout the whole book. There are so many passages like this one which makes me relate to Parvana, her thoughts, her feelings and the situations that she is in day after day in Afghanistan.

It is defiantly a good piece of writing when empathy is created. The question is how do authors make this happen? You need to create a character who your readers can connect to. Parvana is almost the same age as me and sometimes her personality reminds me of myself. For example she seems very determined which is like me. You also have to have to have situations which readers can either see themselves in or imagine themselves in. As an author the most important part of empathy is emotion. How does your character feel about certain things happening? Does your character feel many different emotions on a day to day basis? Are these the same as what your readers feel? These are all questions that go through an authors mind when they are forming a book which their audience will want to read because it is full of empathy.