82 pages • 2 hours read
Shooting Kabul
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Chapters 12-16Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 12 Summary: “Catastrophe”
When Fadi comes home from his ordeal in the taxi, Noor invites him to meet her at work after school. She tells Fadi about her social life and gives him the money he needs to join the photo club. This gesture surprises Fadi because he is used to having an adversarial relationship with his older sister, but their exchange signals that she sees him in a more mature light.
Meanwhile, terrorists have crashed two planes into the World Trade Towers in New York City and one into the Pentagon. Instead of dwelling on the news, Fadi focuses on how he can win the photo competition.
Chapter 13 Summary: “Culprit”
At home, Fadi learns the importance of what has happened in New York and that the terrorists were Muslims from Afghanistan associated with Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. Fadi accompanies his father to a grocery store in Little Kabul where the adults discuss Afghanistan’s political history and why the Taliban is harboring Osama bin Laden.
Chapter 14 Summary: “Target”
The next day in school, Felix and Ike accost Fadi. They call him “Osama” and say they will “show him some American-style justice” (1338). Principal Hornstein interrupts the incident and offers to help Fadi, but Fadi tells him everything is fine.
In art class, Anh tells Fadi that she knows the kind of photos the judges will favor. One judge is Clive Murray, who specializes in taking photos in conflict zones to capture a diverse array of people and cultures. His style resonates with Fadi, and Fadi decides to shoot a photo Clive will like.
Chapter 15 Summary: “Barbie”
In Chapter 15, Fadi accompanies his father and Zalmay to the mosque for Friday prayers. The imam explains that the terrorists have gone against the Qur’an’s teachings: “if we kill one human being, we have killed all of mankind […]. When you kill, you cease to be a true human” (1456). It is Zalmay’s birthday, and after the service, Habib takes the boys to a toy store. In the store, Fadi is drawn to the Barbie doll section, which reminds him of Mariam. Rage overcomes him, and he knocks the dolls off the shelf, stomping on them and pulling them out of their cases. The store manager is not angry, but Habib ends up buying the Barbies that Fadi has damaged.
At home, Fadi learns that two men beat up their ice cream man, Mr. Singh, who is a Sikh. Because he wears a turban, the men mistook him for a Muslim. Habib explains to the children that people will blame all Muslims for the terrorist attacks and that they must be careful.
Chapter 16 Summary: “Exposure”
In Chapter 16, Fadi and Anh take their photos for the contest. Fadi decides to capture San Francisco’s diversity by taking a picture of Filmore Street with its array of restaurant signs in different languages. It is a beautiful photo, but he and Ms. Bethune agree that something is missing. Anh decides to photograph a ballet dancer based on her research of the judges’ preferences. After noticing Fadi’s insistence on taking another, better photo, Anh asks him why winning the competition is so important to him. After hesitating, Fadi tells Anh about what happened to Mariam and that he feels responsible for leaving her behind. Anh gives him a hug and tells him that her parents were separated on a boat when fleeing from Vietnam but eventually found each other in a refugee camp in Cambodia. She assures Fadi that he will win the contest and the trip to India. Fadi feels relieved for finally telling someone his story.
Chapters 12-16 Analysis
These chapters detail the central events in the novel: the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and Fadi’s participation in the photo contest. The two events highlight the contrasting aspects of Fadi’s life. On one hand, just as he is becoming more comfortable in his school, he experiences anti-Muslim violence. Fadi’s learning about the terrorist attacks and what they mean for the Muslim community is also a step in his coming-of-age journey. Fadi realizes that his life and his search for his sister are tied to world events.
As in earlier chapters, Senzai uses dialogue as exposition to convey the historical context of the attacks. The conversation that takes place in Chapter 13 in the local market reads like a dramatized history lesson: “‘Once the Soviets left, the country was overcome by warlords. […] Seventy percent of Kabul was destroyed and hundreds of thousands of Afghans were killed’” (1312). The speaker goes on to detail the different ethnic groups of Afghanistan and the history of the Northern Alliance. Such a conversation between Afghan men who grew up in the culture and time period they are discussing is unlikely, but Senzai wrote Shooting Kabul for a young American readership that likely has little or no background knowledge of the events described.
Fadi’s most important moment of personal growth is when he confides in Anh about his sister. Until this point, Fadi’s guilt and shame have motivated him to conceal his emotions, only intensifying his guilt. After he tells Anh about Mariam, “His heart felt lighter than it had in a long, long time” (1624). In this moment, Fadi realizes that being more open will help him achieve his goals.
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