Analysis Of Under The Persimmon Tree By Suzanne Staples

In the early 2000s, the Taliban took control of most of Afghanistan and changed the locals’ way of life. They destroyed property, killed thousands of people, and took away most human rights. In the book, Under the Persimmon Tree, by Suzanne Fisher Staples, you are put in the shoes of Najmah, a shepherd girl whose family has been taken away by the Taliban, and Nusrat, an american teacher who teaches refugee children. These two are affected by the Taliban, with Najmah’s father and brother, Nur, are taken away to fight. Nusrat, on the other hand, has a husband who is a medic for victims of war, and he hasn’t come back. These two are victims of the Taliban and their harsh ways. Staples’ depiction of the Taliban is very accurate to what it is in

In chapter 1, Najmah loses her father, who she calls Baba-Jan and her brother, Nur to the Taliban. They have been kidnapped and forced to fight for the Taliban. The Taliban use force and threaten their victims to get what they want, even going as far as shooting innocent people. "'Your son, too,' says the man' he wants to fight, and we wouldn't want to disappoint him.' 'He's just a boy,' baba jan says again, and the man raises the butt of his rifle as if to strike Baba-jan in the face. Baba-jan ducks and turns, and the blow hits his shoulder. He looks at Mada-jan for several seconds. Tears stream down her face, and she repeats over and over again ' you can't go, please! What will become of us?'(Staples). Mada-Jan, Najmah’s mother, is totally upset about the Taliban ruining her life, but they also took their food supply and left them with very little food, now Najmah and Mada-Jan have to do all the work with no help from the men, which will make them work harder and longer without any help, ruining their normal life. After Baba-Jan was shot and their home was looted of all valuable resources, mostly food, They asked for his guns, which they don’t have, "Your guns!" The leader repeats and hammers Baba-Jan's shoulder with the heel of his hand. knocking him off balance again. "I have no guns," Baba-jan says, looking at the man directly. The Pashtun Talib mutters something, and the men shove and drag Baba-jan and my brother toward the Datsun pickup trucks."(Staples). These men are using a lot of force to get what they want, they are known to hit and hurt their enemies and not compromise, as seen here. Besides them being family, Najmah and Mada-Jan are worried about their ownself being, as mentioned before, without more people to help them with the work, they will be exausted all day trying to feed themselves. They