The Swallows of Kabul

Swallows, mentioned in the title, represent freedom and beauty. Much like how Zunaira embodies beauty, the swallows are inherently free and beautiful. They fly, giving them greater agency than human beings. Early in the novel, the narrator remarks on the departure of the swallows from Kabul, linking their disappearance to the ongoing wars prior to the Taliban taking over Kabul. Later, Atiq remembers the swallows when he sees Zunaira without a burqa, linking the swallows, as with Zunaira’s beauty, to the period of peace from the Soviet invasion. This hybrid of agency and nostalgia represents the desires of the people of Kabul to be free and take control of their own futures.

Blue and yellow sparrows are linked with the blue and yellow burqas Atiq targets. The unveiling of burqas of the same color as the swallows implies that the removal of burqas is itself an act of freedom. It also highlights the ways in which methods of oppression, such as forcing women to wear burqas, obscure and even remove beauty. The flight of the swallows, like the removal of the burqas, is a consequence of the ongoing violence in the region, embodied in the oppression faced by the people of Kabul.