Amal Unbound

In Amal Unbound, Saeed calls attention to several contemporary social crises impacting people in Pakistan and around the world. Class stratification and gender inequality are forms of inequity that disproportionately affect people in lower economic classes and countries. Both keep Amal and the villagers in submissive positions where they do not have the freedom to achieve their full potential. Amal’s struggles against these injustices reflect similar plights of people around the world.

The wealthy Khan family rules Amal’s village. This situation is an example of class stratification, where society is separated into groups with different access to power and resources. The Khans feel removed from and superior to the villagers. Their home is a walled, guarded estate, in contrast to Amal’s village home with its concrete floor. Unlike the villagers, the Khans are all educated. They have access to the finest goods money can buy and have political influence in other cities. The Khans use their privilege to act as feudal landlords. They demand respect and require submission to their will. The Khans act with impunity, disregarding basic human rights, knowing that the villagers do not have the power to stop them.

The Khan family has a disproportionate amount of power which allows them to subjugate Amal and others, pressing them into indentured servitude from which, typically, they would never escape. Jawad is a modern-day slaveholder. Amal loses her freedom because she and her family do not have the same privileges as the Khans.

Amal’s freedom is also restricted by gender inequality. Girls in Pakistani culture are not valued as highly as boys. They do not have equal access to education, jobs, or resources. Their traditionally dictated role is that of homemaker: marrying into a new family and caring for their husbands and children. As the story progresses, Amal’s eyes open to how different—and comparatively unfair—life is for girls. Amal is hurt to learn how desperately her parents wanted a boy child, and how ingrained the importance of boys is in the villagers’ mindset. Amal also sees how poorly unwanted girls and women are treated: Fatima, abandoned; Nabila, bartered for money; Parvin and Mumtaz, working as servants to avoid living with their husbands’ abusive families. Amal is lucky in that her family loves her and her sisters. Abu, however, is traditional in his expectation for Amal to fulfill her gender-specific duties, thinking she does not need to learn any more than she has. Girls in Pakistani culture are not expected, or often allowed, to get a complete education. This lack of educational results in restricting their access to future opportunities for jobs and freedom. 

Education is another inequity that Amal faces, but it deserves a separate analysis. In an Author’s Note at the end of Amal Unbound, Saeed shares the true-life story of the Pakistani girl, Malala Yousafzai. Malala was shot in the face on her way home from school by someone who was angry at her outspoken advocacy for girls’ education. Malala received worldwide support and after her recovery, continued to campaign for literacy and against violence.

Education is a key factor in escaping the chokeholds of poverty, indentured servitude, and gender discrimination. Education creates opportunities. Amal’s dreams of furthering her own education extend to others: As a teacher, Amal will be empowering other people. Amal is appalled by the attitudes of the Khans and their wealthy friends towards the villagers. Jawad calls Amal “backward” and “idle,” and assumes she is ignorant. Nasreen, although originally a villager herself, does not defend the villagers’ intelligence or industry. Even the Khan’s literacy center is a hypocritical endeavor—financed solely to win popular opinion for Khan’s election bid. Amal knows that education is the ticket to freedom. Exercising her mind makes her feel “alive.” Reading allows Amal, and Fatima, to “see worlds beyond ours, and a chance to imagine leaving the walls of this estate and to feel free” (189). Through Amal, Saeed emphasizes how crucial education is for cultural and personal change. 

Another important theme in Amal Unbound is standing up for justice. Like Malala Yousufzai, Amal shows that anyone can help enact social change. Through Amal’s example, Saeed stresses the importance of staying strong in the face of adversity and not giving in to injustice. 

Amal is outspoken when confronted with situations that are unfair or unjust. She conflicts with Jawad because she opposes his privileged attitude and the unfair power imbalance it creates. Amal is frustrated with the status quo, which relegates the villagers to a lower, subservient class. She dislikes being unfairly treated like a “beggar,” or someone who can simply be “bought off.” Even in her servitude, Amal stands up for herself, repeatedly defying Jawad’s capricious strictures.

Amal learns that life is not fair, but that does not mean everyone has to “accept everything and go along with it” (146). Amal is an advocate for change. She likes the energy of the protest she sees on the streets of Lahore and admires the potential bride who rejects Jawad’s proposal. Though frightened, Amal encourages her friends to take a stand, and bravely risks her own safety by giving information to Asif. Like Malala Yousufzai and countless brave girls around the world, Amal shows strength and courage, fighting for what she knows is right. Saeed shows that the ant truly can intimidate the elephant, and challenges readers to make a difference, saying in the Author’s Note that “everything we do in our communities and beyond to impart good is important and matters.” (Author’s Note, ii). 

Saeed’s attention to global inequities highlights the importance of individual freedom in the novel. Amal’s freedom is taken away from her when, against her will, she becomes a servant of the Khan family. She is powerless to control this situation, which is created by inequity. She is “trapped.”

Amal discovers that freedom is limited by many different factors. Gender inequality limits freedom. Class privilege also has its own limitations on freedom. However, Amal finds a form of freedom in her thoughts. Reading new books and learning new things allow her mind to escape the confines of the estate. Similarly, Amal’s memories of her family, though bittersweet, maintain her connection to her past life.

Amal learns the importance of fighting for freedom. She learns that even within her bondage, she has the power to make limited choices. While many of her new choices are ones she does not want to make, Amal chooses to risk Jawad’s retribution and bring him to justice, even though it does not immediately result in her own freedom. 

Family is the foundation of Pakistani society. Miss Sadia comments, “family comes first” (2), illustrating the importance of this theme. Saeed shows how much family means to Amal in both her response to examples of non-traditional families, and in the emotional support she derives from her own family.

Even though Amal chafes at having to pause her education for family duties—something a boy would not have to do—she dearly loves her family. Her identity, her work and worth, is largely tied to family. She tells Jawad that she was never idle, but instead “…cared for my sisters. I helped my family” (86). Amal understands that family looks out for each other and helps each other, echoing Parvin’s sentiment that “this is what family does” (36). Thinking of her mother’s advice helps Amal navigate her “new” family at the estate, and helps Amal ground herself. She comments, “thinking of my mother kept my hands steady” (88). Family guides and supports Amal. When Amma treats Amal as a “guest” in her own home, Amal is heartbroken. She feels that she is no longer a vital part of the family; a large part of her identity has transferred to Seema.

As the novel progresses, Amal’s eyes open to more nuanced definitions of family. She learns of Abu’s traditional, patrilineal understanding of family responsibility. Amma makes Amal realize that she will, when she marries, have responsibilities to a new family. Amal sees the negative effects of this reality in Nasreen, who was forced to abandon her own family when she married—something Amal, and the villagers, find shocking. Amal discovers that not all families treat their girl children as lovingly as her parents. Ultimately, Nasreen awakens to importance of family when she learns “you can’t cast off family” (143). Family is intrinsic to one’s identity. This understanding is what allows Nasreen to return Amal to her own family.