Under The Persimmon Tree

The Taliban In everyday life in Afghanistan, people live in constant fear due to a group of terrorists. The novel, Under the Persimmon Tree, by Suzanne Fisher Staples, demonstrates the cruel truths of life in Afghanistan. The book follows two girls, Najmah and Nusrat as they are faced with tough challenges everyday that will alter their lives forever. The Taliban impact the everyday lives of people worldwide in an awfully negative way, and the book accurately proves this to be true by following Najmah and Nusrat. The harsh leaders of Taliban affect lives of people all around the world in negative ways on a non-stop daily basis. The Taliban were formed in 1994 by a man named Mullah Mohammed Omar and ruled Afghanistan from 1996
to 2001 (Tanna). The rulers lied to multiple countries in order to set up their group, “The Taliban we funded and helped by many countries before the countries realized how out of the Taliban were getting” (Nguyen). The Taliban have not only lied to other countries, “They promised the people of Afghanistan peace and security when they first emerged” (Tanna). The Taliban started out as a religious group, but soon after they became extremists (Tanna). The main goal of the Taliban is to make everybody believe in what they do (Tanna). The Taliban often end up using violence to accomplish this goal (Coskie). This violence causes disruption in many places and “they have been destroying places such as temples and have killed 3,700 civilians in the last year” (Nguyen). These terrorists make the lives of innocent people even more cruel than they need to be, “TV, Internet, photography and even music were banned” (Coskie). Without a doubt this angered people, but the Taliban crossed the line when they announced that “different religions and beliefs were not tolerated” (Coskie). It is clear that the Taliban treat everyone poorly and take it to extreme measures to complete an impossible task. In Under the Persimmon Tree, by Suzanne Fisher Staples, the cruel truths of the Taliban are portrayed in an accurate manner.
The Taliban have created a war in their homeland, which in turn causes civilians to pay for their behavior, as “many people have been killed by American bombs” (Staples 172). The Americans have no choice but to bomb these areas to protect their own citizens, and sometimes civilians might get in the way. The lives of innocent Afghans have been ruined and “you can tell by looking at them that they have no food and little clean water, all they live on is dreams of their farms, which no longer exist” (Staples 186). The Taliban are greedy and have no feelings towards people other than themselves. Rumors have been spreading around villages that “they lock the people of entire villages inside their houses and burn them down and how they slaughter men like goats” (Staples 12). These terrible acts have turned lives upside down and brought havoc upon a once peaceful place. The people are constantly abused by the Taliban, and “many are missing a hand or a foot or an eye. So many of them have terrible wounds or scars” (Staples 185/186). The way the Taliban treat women is disappointing. Najmah has heard how they “whip women whose shoes make a sound on paving stone" (Staples 180). The Taliban have scared the women so much that they "hide their bangles away because if they're caught wearing any jewelry it will be stolen and they will be beaten” (Staples 180).
Staples proves that the behavior by these cruel members of the Taliban is unacceptable. The Taliban have also impacted two innocent girls named Najmah and Nusrat, in an unforgettable fashion. Najmah's family has been destroyed by these extremists. The Taliban showed up to Najmah’s village and told her brother and father, “to repay us for having helped our enemy, you must come and fight for the Taliban” (Staples 16). Not only are some of her family members gone, but Najmah will have to step up and take care of her pregnant mother. Najmah is quite nervous about caring for her mother, since her brother and father usually took care of her. After the Taliban ruin her family, they add insult to injury by taking food from her. “I hold my breath. I am afraid the talib leader will shoot him if we don't give them our food (Staples 16). Najmah begins to lose hope as she takes up more responsibility as she says, “I can't imagine surviving without Baba-Jan and Nur to look after the animals and tend the fields” (Staples 37). The war forced a loved one of Nusrat to move away to set up a clinic. Nusrat lives in a constant struggle, “Nusrat knew the world had changed, that no one was safe. She began to worry about Faiz with every days that passed with no word from him (Staples 25). The one person that Nusrat loves had to move for his job, due to the Taliban. Nusrat has been impacted in a negative way ever since the war begun. Nusrat has finally had enough of the Taliban rule and they are leaving her no choice but to leave as she tells Najmah, “I've thought of going back to America to teach in New York. You could come with me and go to the International School (Staples 247). Nusrat loved the life that she had before the Taliban came along and ruined everything. The Taliban are precisely showed as cruel criminals, and they impact even the most innocent people such as Najmah and Nusrat. All in all, the leaders of the Taliban make lives harder everyday for the innocent citizens of Afghanistan, and especially for Najmah and Nusrat.
In real life, the Taliban restrict people from being free, while enforcing barbarous laws. Similarly, the Taliban are accurately shown as bloodthirsty monsters by Suzanne Fisher Staples. The Taliban destroyed everything that each Najmah, and Nusrat loved. To summarize, the Taliban are a reckless group of people that have turned Afghanistan into a dangerous war
zone.