In “Shooting Kabul” by N.H. Senzai, the low social status of Fadi, the twelve year-old protagonist, and his family, affects the plot greatly. His family’s inability to solve their problems is caused by their lack of money. Their social class and class issues decrease the speed of their progress of finding Mariam, the missing daughter. If they had a higher social class and more money, they would've been able to expedite the process of finding Mariam, and do it with less difficulty. In the book Fadi and his family are trying to escape from Afghanistan to the U.S.A. During their escape, and in the stressful setting, Fadi loses his grip with Mariam. She slips away from her family. Fadi is overwhelmed with guilt and doesn't stop trying to find her …show more content…
With Habib working a low-paying job and Noor working part-time at McDonalds, they couldn't tend to the family, much less search for Mariam or pay someone else to do so. In the text, it states “It’s because we’re poor… that’s why I get free lunch.” (Page 76). This quote shows that the family could barely take care of the people in the family that weren’t missing. Their fairly low social class caused them embarrassment and stress. The book also states “Fadi couldn’t believe it, Noor was giving Father the money she’d earned at McDonalds?” (Page 71). The family was so desperate for money that Noor felt that she had to contribute to her family’s income. She offered her father some of her earnings, and, as ashamed as Habib was, he accepted it. In the book, it states “…his father barely made enough to pay for rent and food.” (Page 91). This quote shows that the family barely had enough money for the necessities. They knew that they had to find Mariam, but they also knew that they had to pay the bills. They couldn’t drop everything to go find her even though they wanted to. Finding her was their top priority, but that couldn’t be achieved before taking care of other important