42 pages • 1 hour read
Mud City
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Chapters 10-14Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of gender discrimination, graphic violence, physical abuse, emotional abuse, child abuse, illness, and death.
Chapter 10 Summary
A few weeks after returning to the Widows’ Compound, Shauzia examines her worn photograph of French lavender fields. Its magical quality seems to have faded, and the dream feels unattainable. As she moves to tear the picture, her dog, Jasper, growls, stopping her. Frustrated and bored, Shauzia feels useless when Mrs. Weera prevents her from doing chores.
Provoked into action, Shauzia asserts her authority by ordering younger boys to fetch water. Energized by purpose, she decides to remain in the camp and begins organizing work parties and teaching arithmetic. She befriends Farzana, a new orphan who has no concept of the ocean. After Shauzia’s explanation, Farzana shows her a dirty pond, which she believes matches Shauzia’s description of the ocean as a large body of water. Shauzia explains what a real sea is and agrees to Farzana’s request to go there together one day.
