Cause Of Najmah Conflict

(MIP-3) These symptoms that Najmah experiences throughout the book create the conflict of Najmah's inability to connect that is seen in the story. (SIP-A) Najmah's emotional numbing and disconnection from others creates separate conflicts. (STEWE-1) Her emotional numbing leads to her inability to sympathize or experience emotions. This is clearly shown through her reaction to a young boy being pulled from the rubble, in which she "thinks [she] should feel grateful that he survived, even though [her] own baby brother did not" and then goes on to say that "[this] [was] only [a] [thought], with no feelings attached" (Staples 103). This inability to sympathize or experience emotions leads to a man vs. self conflict in Najmah of her inability to
Following the loss of her mother and baby brother Najmah, traveling with Akhtar and Khalida, begins the trip to Peshawar, Pakistan. During the trip Najmah admits that she "[has] not once on [the] journey" (Staples 87-88). This silence that has developed from her disconnection from others causes Najmah to become silent, resulting in the man vs. self conflict of her inability to communicate. (SIP-B) Her inability to sympathize or experience emotions and her inability to communicate verbally drive the conflict of her inability to connect with others. (STEWE-1) Her inability to sympathize is directly connected to her inability to connect with others through her not being able to have feelings for others. This causes Najmah to become antisocial, as without feeling anything towards others she never gets to know them on a personal level. Infact, she resists this connection. When she finally reaches Torkhum, even with all that Akhtar and Khalida have given to her, "[she] feels [she] must keep [her] distance from Akhtar and Khalida" (Staples 151). This lack of feeling leads to the man vs. self conflict of her inability to connect, which can be traced to the source in PTSD. (STEWE-2) Likewise, her silence yields