Najmah Quotes

(AGG) The book Under The Persimmon Tree by Suzanne Fisher Staples is a great book to show how one can be affected by loss, and how loss shapes someone for better or for worse. (BS-1) When Baba-Jan and Nur were kidnapped by the Taliban, Najmah became much more responsible, mature, and helpful around the house. (BS-2) When Najmah became a boy in the form of Shaheed, she learned to adapt to her surroundings and use what she had. (BS-3) After Najmah finally reunited with Nur, she became very determined yet mentally sound. (TS) Najmah was shaped by loss in 3 different ways due to 3 different losses, in the fact that she became more responsible and grown up, learned to adapt, and was very determined yet mentally sound after everything she had been
(SIP-A) Before the Taliban kidnapped Baba-Jan and Nur, Najmah wasn’t very helpful, and was very childish with her fear of imaginary leopards. (STEWE-1) Her mother had to help her overcome her fear, but it didn’t fix anything, as Mada-Jan says, “Stop trying to scare her! Najmah, you know there are no leopards around here. Now hurry, you two! Still I hesitate”(5). This clearly shows how gullible and childish Najmah is with her imaginary fear of leopards. In fact it is so bad, her mother has to comfort her and constantly tell her that they are not real. (STEWE-2) As Mada-Jan tells Najmah “You are a good and brave girl, she says, stroking my face. I don’t feel brave, but I don’t trust my voice to speak”(9). This shows that not only her mother has to comfort her, but it also doesn’t help her feel any better about the leopards. But once Nur and Baba-Jan were kidnapped, that all changed. (SIP-B) Najmah was doing lots of work around the house, and lost her fear of leopards. (STEWE-1) As Najmah says herself “I have forgotten my childish quarrels with Nur - I am no longer angry with him for scaring me about the leopard, and for saying I
(SIP-A) Najmah was forced to become a boy, because if she didn't, she surely would've been whipped and beaten. (STEWE-1) This is shown when Najmah says “Just seconds after Khalida speaks, a black-turbaned talib comes along with a bamboo stave and whacks at the legs of the poor women begging along the road”(88). This shows how horribly women are treated, and the reason for her becoming a boy. (STEWE-2) She is given her boy form when Khalida tells her “I shall call you Shaheed. I nod my head slightly. It is not safe for a woman or girl in a strange city, she whispers, shifting her chin toward where the Pashtun talib had beaten the woman begging by the side of the street”(90). This shows the reason for her becoming a boy and Khalida’s desire to keep Najmah safe. (SIP-B) After a while, Najmah learns to use her appearance as a boy to her advantage. She knows that in order to find Baba-Jan and Nur, she must do it as Shaheed. (STEWE-1) Najmah expresses this by saying “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). This shows that no matter how uncomfortable it is for her to be Shaheed, she knows it will help her get what she wants. (STEWE-2) Najmah knows that boys have more privileges than girls, and she expresses this by saying “I take advantage of being dressed as