How did Leila change throughout the novel as a result of her experiences? 

How did Leila change throughout the novel as a result of her experiences? Do you think she would have made the same choices and pursued the same goals if Chia hadn't died?

Leila definitely became stronger and more able to stand on her own. She learned to speak out and support her brother by getting his writings out. I don't think she would have been able to leave and go to Canada had she not learned to stand up for herself. She also found a way to follow her dream of film-making by escaping.

She went from being a weak, typical Kurdish female, to a bold and courageous woman who was able to speak out for herself and her brother. Although she was often still fearful on the inside, she portrayed herself as being strong on the outside. Even being able to get a job at the coffee shop when she didn't speak English very well, was a sign of how far she had come in her confidence level.

Leila changed throughout the book. At the beginning, she was young and did not know how to navigate in the world. She learned from others and grew in confidence. Later, she had a determined drive to help her brother and to alert the world to the injustices that the Kurds experienced. I was moved by the way that poetry gave her comfort and courage and how Chia and other prisoners gained solace from reciting poetry.

Leila admired her friend Shiler but knew she did not want to follow her pathway. That just didn’t seem safe to her. Leila had a lot of alone time to think and process her situation. As she dealt with her father’s torture, her brothers writing, and her love for poetry, and other injustices that took place in her country, she developed strength to make the decision to take the risk to move to Canada and move on with her life. There she found the personal strengths to continue her filmmaking and tell her story.

Leila felt unloved and undesirable and only gained self worth from her devoted brother Chia. With his imprisonment she was forced to look beyond herself and following more of Shiler's and Joanna's model of independence and strength began to work for her brother's release. This was the start of her struggle to find out who she was and gain her full independence. She became stronger after her brother's demise and when she had to work for her freedom.