Picture a life where people are constantly living in fear; there are restrictions on everything they do and cruel consequences. They do not know if when they come home today their family will be gone or if their home will have been destroyed. In the novel Under The Persimmon Tree, by Suzanne Fisher Staples, the main character’s life is indeed like this. Part of her family has been taken by an cruel group named the Taliban, and the other part has been killed by them. Najmah is traveling to Peshawar searching for safety, her brother, and father. She ends up in the home of a kind woman, Nusrat, who is willing to take her in and care for her. In the novel, and in real life, the Taliban is shown as extremely strict and cruel. Many of the Taliban's …show more content…
At one point in the novel, Najmah, brings her goats up a hill for them to feed on the grass. As she comes down a few days later, she hears loud crashes and booms. She spots her mother and attempts to run towards her but "by then the explosions are closer and louder” (Staples 65) and she is not able to make it. Najmah hides behind a rock until the bombings have stopped. When she she sees her mother lying “on the ground nearby with her legs splayed out" (Staples 67), she realizes that she is the only member of her family left in the village. This is something that could very much happen to someone living in the Middle East, and the author portrays it without any exaggeration. Later on in the novel, after a long and treacherous journey, Najmah finds her brother Nur. He tells her the story of how "'they took Baba-Jan and the other village men in their trucks’” (Staples 254) and they “‘heard gunshots very close together" (Staples 254). Once again, a member of Najmah’s family has been killed. Many people that are taken under the Taliban’s control are ruthlessly murdered and this is no exception. Though a fictional portrayal, these events are what some people actually experience when they live under the rule of the Taliban. Najmah and Nur decide they must take the journey back to their home of Golestan. Nusrat, the one caring for them warns them of how dangerous it can be for two children traveling alone. Nur responds by saying "'yes, we know about the danger. But we feel we have no choice'" (Staples 264). The children fear that if they do not return to their home the Taliban will take their land. Before leaving, Nur decides to tell Nusrat of the news he knows. Nusrat has been listening for news about her husband who works at a clinic to tend for wounded soldiers for a long time. What Nur tells her breaks her heart. He sits down
Grace is a very sweet and sensitive girl. She made some mistakes herself, but because of her foster parents she got through the tough parts. In Far From the Tree written by Robin Benway, she created a character that had a child in highschool and Her little girl was adopted and has a better life than what Grace could have offered her. Once Grace got told she had a sister named Maya she bursted into joy. Her heart was beating out of her chest when she was emailing Maya to meet up. When Maya replied with an answer Grace was ecstatic, but at the same time she did not know what to think. The moment when she saw the answer was ¨yes¨ she ran downstairs to tell her parents. Her whole life was now different because she had a relief that she had someone
“The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy of each other’s life” -Richard Bach. Far from the Tree by Robin Benway explores the meaning of family, and the impact that loved ones have on identity. The novel tells the story of three siblings who have three very different lives reunite after spending all of their lives separately. Grace, Maya and Joaquin grow dependant on one another, and unknowingly give and take values from each other that help them solve their own issues slowing being brought to light. With the help of his parents and siblings, Joaquin reveals a critical capacity for change as he leaves his old self behind and moves on to a better future with a loving family.
In the Lilies of the Field by William E. Barrett, Homer and Mother Maria both display straightforward, hardworking, and stubborn character traits. Firstly, Homer and Mother Maria both display a straightforward personality by being brutally honest about their opinions. For example, when Mother Maria asks Homer to build a chapel, Homer speaks his mind by telling her he does not want to build it. Mother Maria shows her straightforward behavior during Homer’s stay at the convent. One morning, when Homer sleeps in late, Mother to becomes extremely upset and is not afraid to show how she feels about him. Secondly, both Homer and Mother Maria display a hardworking spirit. Homer is a hardworking man because after finally agreeing to build the chapel,
Will Tweedy- He is the narrator of the novel, Cold Sassy Tree. He is a fourteen year old boy that lives in the town of Cold Sassy, in Georgia. Will comes from a well established family, but he has a free spirit, and feels he is obliged to disobey the rules that help direct his life. After his grandmother’s death and his grandfather’s second marriage, Will starts to struggle with the topics of love and death. His perspective on life changed.
AGG) The author of “Under The Persimmon Tree” often uses symbolism throughout the book. (BS-1) The author of UTPT uses the stars to give Najmah a superstitious belief, and give her hope and guidance to drive her towards her goals. (BS-2) The stars are used to help Nusrat accept loss, she looks to them for hope and guidance, and they have a religious meaning to her. (BS-3) The author uses changes in the stars to convey events and changes in Najmah’s life. (TS) The stars are used to portray changes in the characters lives, and the author uses them to give the characters hope, guidance, and an important meaning, as well as the ability to deal with loss
While Amir is a Sunni, his childhood friend Hassan is Shi’a, an inferior division of Islam. Simultaneously, Amir and Hassan belong to different ethnic groups-Amir is Pashtun while Hassan is Hazara. During his childhood, Amir would constantly mock Hassan’s illiteracy and poke fun at him. But, the pivotal demonstration of pressure from his surroundings that makes Amir commit his own act of cruelty is when he watches Assef rape Hassan for refusing to give him the kite that Hassan caught for Amir. To this, Amir describes the look of Hassan’s face to “a look I had seen before. It was the look of the lamb” (76). Throughout his upbringing, Amir constantly believed that his father blamed him for killing his mother in childbirth. To Amir, Hassan’s rape is a sacrifice that Hassan has to pay the price, the lamb to kill, in order to win his father over. To justify his refusal to intervene, Amir reminds himself that “[Hassan] was just a Hazara, wasn’t he?” (77). Amir’s surroundings cause him to have a negative outlook on people that his society deem lower. Amir knows he is morally wrong for not helping Hassan, but his need for his father’s love overpowers his friendship. Adding to his pressures, Amir believes that Baba prefers Hassan over him, a belief that further drives him to be cruel to Hassan. As a result, Amir’s motivation for validation and love from his father
(MIP-1) Najmah’s family has has been emotionally and physically tortured by the taliban and her uncle, doing so, Najmah has to mature and leave back her childish fears and realize who to really fear in life.(SIP-A) Najmah is left all alone to watch over her mother and baby brother while Baba-Jan and Nur are gone. This is where Najmah realizes that she has to grow up if her
The play “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry has many interesting characters. In my opinion, the most fascinating character is Ruth because of her many emotions and captivating personality. She goes through extreme emotions in the play such as happiness, sadness, anger, stress, and confusion. Ruth is very independent, firm, kind, witty, and loving.
(AGG) Najmah has experienced many tragic events throughout the book that made her realize she had to become more responsible and take on many responsibilities as a young girl.(BS-1) Najmah must learn to be a motherly figure to take care of her mother and baby brother after the Taliban invade Golestan taking Baba-jan and Nur with them.(BS-2) The ambush upon Golestan which killed Mada-jan and Habib had an impact on Najmah’s life because, she feels as though she let her father down in protecting them so she was taken with Akhtar and Khalida. (BS-3) When Najmah knew it was best to leave Akhtar and Khalida, she left and that led to more opportunities after she met Nusrat when she arrived in Peshawar, meeting Nusrat changed how Najmah didn’t trust
...izens of Kabul. As a result, Hassan’s childhood is much more difficult than Amir’s, allowing him to become stronger, more resilient, and less ignorant. Nonetheless, the two boys grow up together in Afghanistan during a time when it is considered to be a relatively peaceful country. In the late seventies however, this peace is destroyed as a result of the Russian invasion in Afghanistan. Ultimately, the environments from which Amir and Hassan each came from largely influences the people they become in the transitional phase of their lives from boyhood to young adulthood.
(STEWE-1)First the author uses the treatment of women under the Taliban to change Najmah physically to inflict character change. After the bombing Najmah is taken in by Akhtar and Khalida and dressed as a guy to avoid the punishments that the Taliban give to those who don’t follow their rules and she is named Shaheed,”Khalida gently turns my face back toward her and holds out my long hair to the side of my face. She picks up a pair of scissors that lies in the pile of quilts and snips at my hair in short short strokes until it bristles out all over my head...Afterward Akhtar shakes out a length of striped grey silk and winds a turban over my cropped head”(Staples 84). Najmah is changed from a girl to a boy in looks in order to protect the from the harsh rule and punishments of the Taliban for the women that Najmah would have to face if she was roaming around as a girl. (STEWE-2)Najmah faces a big change because of her split. She uses the silence from her alter ego; Shaheed, to go wherever she wants to go. In order to get into Nusrat’s school easily she had to use one of Shaheed’s characteristics, silence,”’where is your family?’ He asks. my body continues to sway. I cannot answer him, no matter how hard I try”(Staples 183). Najmah clearly is silent, and later on in the conversation she uses the silence to convince the Malek of Nusrat’s school to let her in. Najmah would have gotten nowhere with Nusrat if the author did not put the aspect of the Taliban's restrictions in the book. (CS)Najmah, originally a little girl has split between 2 different personalities because of the author's specific nonfiction detail that she included in the
In protest to this, Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani girl, refused to follow these rules, and even began a blog for the British Broadcasting Corporation, detailing her life under Taliban rule. In response to her protest, a gunman approached her, and shot her three times. This assassination attempt started a global movement in support of Yousafzai and her beliefs. Like Thoreau, Gandhi, King, and Yousafzai, one must realize when others are being oppressed and take action against those in power who oppress the people they rule. Otherwise, there will never be change, and the world will never see justice.
John has another trait of a tragic hero and that is peripeteia, which is where the reverse happens of what was expected to happen. He tried to save his wife but it went the opposite way everyone thought. One quote of his peripeteia trait is, “Herrick. He cannot, sir, he is chained to the wall now.!”(4.282). He tried so hard to go to the court and free his wife, but the opposite happened and he was put in jail, and she went free. This paragraph shows how John had peripeteia where the reverse happened of what is expected and how John was a perfect example for the peripeteia.
However there are some characters that become better people and change becoming a better, stronger, more loyal individual in the end. The individual that demonstrates this development within this novel is Amir himself. All of the guilt Amir holds with him as a child allow him to realize his duty to be loyal to his brother Hassan ion the end. An example of this is when Amir goes back to Kabul, Afghanistan to retrieve his nephew Sohrab. Amir says, “I remembered Wahid’s boys and… I realized something. I would not leave Afghanistan without finding Sohrab.’ tell me where he is,’ I said” (Hosseini 255). Here, Amir is at the orphanage waiting to find out where Taliban has taken his nephew. Amir remembers the three young starving sons of Wahid, a man whose home he had been in earlier, and realized that Afghanistan is not a safe place for Sohrab. Amir is finally aware of one thing, Hassan has always been there to protect Amir like a loyal friend and brother would and now Amir knows that it is his turn to return that loyalty to Hassan by protecting Hassan’s flesh and blood. A second example of Amir’s loyalty to Hassan near the ending of the book is during Amir’s confrontation with General Sahib and the dinner table after Sohrab is safe in America with him. Amir proclaims to General Sahib, “…That boy sleeping on the couch
Afghanistan; Taliban controlled, discrimination and love everywhere yet nowhere at the same time. It’s a nation where culture and tradition are of immense importance, especially to the older generation. Over 53% of Afghan population is below the poverty line, making the country one of the Earth’s poorest. Life would be lived on a day to day basis, not knowing if it’s safe to be outside, when...