Analysis Of Under The Persimmon Tree

Cold Sassy Tree is a fictional story written by Olive Ann Burns which details the life of a family in Cold Sassy, Georgia. The story is being told from the perspective of a teenager named Will Tweedy. The plot is focused around the love and marriage between Rucker Blakeslee and Love Simpson. There is a huge uproar and disdain from the family as well as the townspeople over the relationship. There is a grave separation between the people of the town and the blue collar workers who live on the outskirts of town and barely make enough money to live. Will is torn between defending his grandfather or agreeing with his family. He is thirteen at the time of the passing of his grandmother, who is the family’s matriarch. Being a typical teenager faced with adult circumstances, Will is torn on the emotional impulses on whether he should be out fishing or mourn the lost of the grandmother. Nevertheless, Will loved his grandmother and is extremely sad for her passing, but the passing of his grandmother places a strain on the relationship he has with his family especially his grandfather. Will looks up to his grandfather and hopes to be a lot like him. While Will thinks of his grandfather as a role model, he disagrees with some of his grandfather’s actions. Will would rather be a shopkeeper instead of a farmer like Rucker. He also does not agree with his grandfather wanting

In the poem “Persimmons” Li-Young Lee leads us on a journey that bounces between childhood and adulthood. There is an undercurrent of divisiveness as Lee recounts moments from his time at school that conflict with the lessons he learns at home. Lee writes “Persimmons” as a stream of consciousness reflection of his youth and his struggle to reconcile his Chinese heritage with his American upbringing. He structures the poem to allow the audience to see these moments through his eyes and uses persimmons to show not only the emotional attachment that words have but as a symbol for the strained relationship Lee had with his white teacher Mrs. Walker. In reading the poem we gain a deeper understanding of Lee’s complicated relationship with the two worlds he finds himself in.

(MIP-2) Secondly, Najmah’s mindset is adjusted once she knows what her goal is, which was ultimately shaped due to the loss of her father and brother. (SIP-A) Najmah starts to regain her focus and sets a goal for herself due to her need of reuniting with

(SIP-B) But through her trip, it's evident that her mental state is improving, represented in the stars. (STEWE-1) She has shown signs of development from her initial breakthrough from her past mental state.The next time in the book development is shown, Najmah is yet again changing her mental state in a positive way,“Moon- and starlight guide us through the mountains, and I am able to keep our direction true by finding al-Qutb… just as my father showed Nur and me what seems a lifetime ago in our village in Kunduz” (Staples 109). Najmah is focusing more on the reality of her situation, rather than staying in the past, and she shows that whilst thinking of her missing family. Though she has shown she has “found a new purpose” so to speak, the purpose being her decision, “... to look for my father and brother” (Staples 131), she still isn't able to let go of her mother and baby brother just yet; “Intermittently clouds roll over the sky, obscuring the moon and the stars…” (Staples 109). The clouds could be seen as her memories blocking her from being able to move on and to be able to grow and help herself, as they are obscuring the stars, which represent her hope.

(AGG) Najmah being with certain people and going through the things she did really helped her change her ways of thinking and handling things in real life situations. (BS-1) The Taliban taking Nur and Baba-Jan taught Najmah how there are real life situations and she has to step up to the plate and do something so she can protect her family. (BS-2) Akhtar and Khalida were a help for Najmah, they guided her into realizations for her to be strong and determined for Baba-Jan and Nur. (BS-3) Nusrat showed Najmah it is ok to trust others and that she has to make good choices for herself. (TS) Throughout the book Under the Persimmon Tree, Najmah goes through many events that change the way she acts and makes choices that change her who she is from the beginning of the book to at the end of the book.

(SIP-A) In the beginning of chapter one Najmah believes that she is stronger than Nur and Mada-jan said that Najmah was a strong and brave girl .

She is more worried about her loved ones’ well being than she is about the civilians right in front of her. (STEWE-2) After a similar violent event with a bomb going off and gunfire being exchanged in the bazaar, “Nusrat thinks how easily violence happens here, how quickly it passes, with everyone acting as if everything is normal soon afterward” (Staples 80). She also says “Bombs are not unusual in the bazaar…” (Staples 80), showing that the general population is not affected by violence as a result of it being so common. Nusrat is also not shocked or worried, but because of this incident “Her mind flies again to Faiz, and she wonders again where he might be and whether he is safe.” (Staples 81). Again, rather than thinking about people who may have been killed, injured, or lost someone in the shooting, Nusrat, like Najmah, is only able to focus on the ones she loves. As her survival and Faiz’s are uncertain because of the violence going on, Nusrat finds that becomes her primary cause for concern. (SIP-B) In addition to being unconcerned about violent events where people might have been killed, characters also do immoral things they would not normally have considered just to

In the book Under The Persimmon Tree by Suzanne Fisher Staples the education and quality of it is very different from the rest of the world. In Afghanistan the education is very poor especially for women. This the same in the book Under The Persimmon Tree by Suzanne Fisher Staples. The book Under The Persimmon Tree is about a family that has to go to a refugee camp with a struggling economy with huge amounts of families living there too and people getting killed by the Taliban. In the novel education is portrayed differently than it actually is in real life, because the Taliban does not support education they do not get much money from the government to support schools and education is a lot harder to continue.

“Nusrat reaches into a bowl on the table that stand in front of the window beside their chairs and picks up a bright orange persimmon that sits on top of a pyramid of ripe fruit. She takes the boy’s hand and turns it palm up to place the fruit in it. She runs her finger over over the calluses at the base of his fingers and turns it palm up to place the fruit in it”(Staples 192). Nusrat feels Shaheeds calluses and knows that he is actually a girl, she knows this because women in afghanistan do work around the house that is rough on their hands so they get calluses on their hands unlike men who do not. (STEWE-2) “How did you know?” says Najmah, her voice a hoarse whisper. ‘So you can talk! I’m so relieved. It will be much easier to help you if i know more about you. I knew you were a girl because of the way your hands are callused. Your work is carrying wood and cutting grass and sweeping, is it not?’ she asks. Najmah nods once. ‘That is girls’ work,’ says Nusrat”(staples 194) Nusrat gets najmah to speak again and instead of saying thank you or introducing herself Najmah asks Nusrat how she knew Najmah is a

(MIP-2) Najmah becomes very silent and avoids to talk to everyone to stay alive,her experience in the pear truck made her silence grow even stronger.(SIP-A) Before Najmah goes in the pear truck or sees her mother die, Najmah was trying to keep her family safe because Baba-jan is gone.(STEWE-1) This quote shows that Najmah is standing up to threats because her brother and father are gone so no one else will take care of it even though ,it's dangerous to try keeping her family safe Najmah still steps up “ I creep to the purdah with it clutched"(57). This is an example of Najmah getting more responsibility and trying to take care of her remaining family members without disturbing any of them. (STEWE-2) Najmah is selfless because she left

(MIP-1) The loss of her mother affects Najmah's actions throughout the book. (SIP-A) After the death of her mother, Najmah Is taken on the journey throughout the mountains with Akhtar and Khalida. (STEWE-1) After the death of Mada Jan, Najmah is saved by Akhtar and Khalida and brought on the journey in the mountains. “The next thing I am conscious of is being lifted in the arms of Bibi Usmani’s brother Akhtar” (83). While they are on the journey Najmah starts to dress as a boy to allow her to do more things than she would be able to do as a girl “I take advantage of being dressed as a boy to wander into the makeshift bazaar that has sprung up at the end of the tent village”(148). (STEWE-2) If Mada Jan had not passed, Najmah would not have

(AGG)Najmah's life has been interrupted by war, explosions, and the loss of her family. (BS-1)In the beginning of the book, Najmah's father and brother had been taken by the Taliban and has to adjust to her behavior. (BS-2)Now, Najmah has to find a way to the Peshawar refugee camp after she has been separated from her father and brother. (BS-3)Towards the end of the book, Najmah can't trust anyone, due to the loss of her family, and is trying to find out if Nusrat is really trying to help and trust her. (TS)

The Taliban is a very dangerous group of extremist that rule Afghanistan and apply very strict rules. The book Under the Persimmon Tree has showed the extreme rules of the Taliban. Under the Persimmon Tree is about a girl that lives in Afghanistan and tries to find her family after being taken by the Taliban, while finding her family her parents both die along with her little brother and finds that her twin brother is her only part of her family that's left. (thesis statement) The Taliban are an atrocious group in the book.

Najmah had experienced her own baby brother and mother die in front of her because Americans killed them, sending her into a total state of shock. Najmah then emerges from this event silent and emotionless, meaning American involvement changed the way she normally acted. This means that American involvement is causing mental issues with people in Afghanistan, and the author is using this conflict to create another inner conflict conflict of Najmah’s silence. (STEWE-2) Najmah cannot speak when, “They speak to me and try to make me feel welcome. But I feel as if my tongue has been locked in my mouth since the moment I saw my mother airing the quilts just before the

“Neither am I a boy named Shaheed but I must pretend to be Shaheed if I am to look for my father and brother in Peshawar. I do not care how I appear to others. Reuniting with them is my one and only reason for existence, and if I must do it as Shaheed, then I will be Shaheed for as long as necessary”(150). (CS) Najmah is in shock over the loss of her mother and baby brother and as a result of that she is silent, she makes an important decision when she leaves Akhtar and Khalida and tries to look for her father and brother by herself.