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 naive 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 â€Å"I heard the old men talking. They are going to turn you over to the Taliban†), they also struggle to find food to eat (P. 156 she bit into the page, tearing a chunk off with her teeth) and water to drink. (P. 152 the water was muddy, but that didn’t matter) Furthermore, there is always the possibility of being hit by a bomb. P. 167 he planes were bombing in the daytime now, as well as at night) Rabbit Proof Fence is an Australian film about a young half caste girl who leads her younger sister and cousin in an escape from a settlement camp which endeavours to train them as domestic workers and educate them. They walk over 2000km to go back to their home. They can’t speak their own language in the settlement camp. They also struggle to find food to eat and water to drink. Furthermore, there is always the possibility of being caught by tracker.These girls are part of the Stolen Generations. The Sto len Generation is a dark part of Australian history. Half caste children, (most under the age of 18) were taken from their families because the government believed that the children would be better if raised by white families. Because of this policy, aborigines lost their culture, language, spirituality and self- esteem. In this film, there are three aboriginal protagonists, Molly, Daisy and Gracie. Molly is a mature girl who is very clever and has the leadership skills to lead her sister and cousin.Graice is a naive girl, she believes other people very easily and doesn’t want to do difficult tasks. Daisy is just a young girl and does whatever Molly says. You haven’t developed your ideas – what adversities do they face? What are the difficulties? Use quotes Bo, check your notes Both texts are about overcoming adversity but quite different in their subject matter, time and place. There are some similarities between Parvana’s Journey and Rabbit Proof Fence. In both stories, children determined to survive to see their family.In Rabbit Proof Fence, an adult tricks Daisy and she gets caught by the police In Parvana’s Journey, an adult tries to sell Parvana to the Taliban to get money. Both stories’ protagonists have no food, water and nowhere to sleep during the journey. Some differences between the texts are, In Parvana’s Journey the children are threatened by bombs; however, , in Rabbit Proof Fence the children are threatened by capture by police. Parvana’s Journey is fictitious but based on reality. Rabbit Proof Fence is a true story. Both stories happened in different time and place.In the film, Rabbit Proof Fence, the children choose to run away from the settlement camp but in Parvana’s Journey the children have no choice. In conclusion, the main characters in both Rabbit Proof Fence and Parvana’s Journey face lots of adversities however they don’t give up, they overcome the adversiti es and achieve their goals. Facing adversity might be initially difficult but when people overcome them, they are ofent stronger than previously. If you know yourself and your enemy, you win hundred battles out of 100 a hundred.