Iqbal

Iqbal

Iqbal

Iqbal is set in one of the many carpet factories in India. It tells us all about the horrors of child slave labour. The fact this book is based on a true story is frightening to me, knowing that this sort of thing still goes on to date is a thought no one would ever like to imagine. Children should never be forced into a situation as portrayed in the book.

The child workers are being tortured, and are being given false hopes. They are told that they are working to pay off their family’s debts, however little do they know their debts will never be paid off. Some children are even chained to their looms to ensure they work to the hardest of their ability and don’t run away. Workers are not fed well at all but still made to work constant all day every day. This is slave labour and it is unacceptable in many more ways than one.

This novel explains exactly how the child workers feel, and really makes the reader aware. The writer “Francesco D’Adamo” makes every emotion very clear, and knows how to make the change in atmosphere noticeable. From the children working extremely hard in an exhausted, depressed mood to finding out they were free and never been so happy. Each and every one of the children had each other’s backs when it was necessary. For example when one of the younger girls changed the pattern on her carpet to a kite, obviously thinking about freedom, Hussain Kahn went crazy and gave her strict instructions to go to the tomb, however all the others stood up and supported her, by saying if you send her then send us too.

The characters are written about very clearly in the story therefore feel more realistic. I felt so sorry for these children when reading about the way their ‘master’ treated them; it genuinely made me angry because it does actually happen. When I found out Iqbal was based on a true story about a little boy called Iqbal I was in shock, I struggled to believe it was true because of how harsh it was. Iqbal’s courage is...

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