Under The Persimmon Tree Najmah Change

Introduction
(AGG) People change for many reasons but the loss of a loved is one of the biggest reasons why a person would change. (BS-1) In the book Under The Persimmon Tree Najmah changes because of the loss of her father and brother. (BS-2) She also has more changes while she travels through the mountains with Akthar and Khalida because her mother and baby brother passed away. (BS-3) These losses motivate Najmah to go look for her brother and father in Peshawar and meet Nusrat who encourages her to have a change in mindset. (TS) These losses that Najmah has encountered in her life made her a stronger person.
First Body Paragraph
(MIP-1) Najmah changes many times throughout the book but a couple major changes came with the loss of her brother
and father. (SIP-A) Before the Taliban took Baba-Jan and Nur, Najmah was just a shy kid. (STEWE-1)This is demonstrated in the story when Najmah and Nur are doing chores. “I want to tell him that I can carry as much water as Nur, who is not much bigger, and as quickly, too. I am tall, like Mada-Jan, and strong like Baba-Jan, Nur is thin like Mada-Jan and short like Baba-Jan. But I bite the inside of my cheek and say nothing”(9). This is still when Najmah acts like a child. Najmah isn’t mature enough yet to just walk up to her father and say she can carry more. (STEWE-2)Not only was Najmah shy before Nur and Baba-Jan are taken but also she is a little immature and shows this by being afraid of leopards. “I am terribly afraid of leopards, although I have never seen one in my life” (6). This also shows that in this part of the book she acts like a child because even though she knows there is nothing there she still doesn’t want to go through the fields to do some chores. (SIP-B) While Baba-Jan and Nur are being taken by the Taliban, Najmah matures when Baba-Jan says “take care of your mother.” (STEWE-1)After Baba-Jan and Nur are taken Najmah shows her mom how much work she can really do because she has to do her whole family's chores. “My mother and I decide I should take the goats and sheep back it into the mountains to graze”(56-57). This is when Najmah starts to mature and become more responsible because she does her father’s and brother’s chores. This shows how Najmah has changed because she is taking care of her mother like an adult. (STEWE-2)In this next quote Najmah tells us how she doesn't get scared of the silly things anymore and how she has matured. “I no longer think of leopards at all. I am more worried about leaving my mother and baby brother alone in the house with the possibility that the Taliban might return looking for more food”(62). Now Najmah doesn’t worry about silly leopards, she only worries about the Taliban coming back. Her soul focus became protecting and taking care of her mother. (CS) These are a few examples of how Najmah changes due to the loss of Baba-Jan and Nur.

Second Body Paragraph:
(MIP-2)Not only has Najmah changed through the loss of Baba-jan and Nur but she has also changed through the horrific loss of Mada-jan and Habib. These changes occur as she travels through the mountains to reach a refugee camp. (SIP-A)Right after Mada-jan and Nur died Najmah went into complete shock. (STEWE-1)“I sit in the dirt beside them quietly, not crying, not thinking, not even aware that I am breathing, and it occurs to me that I might be dead too. I sat for a long time, although I have no recollection of the time passing”(83). Najmah is in such shock, she can’t even move, let alone breath. When found by Akhtar and Khalida she barely even realized that they carried her and fed her. “The next thing I am conscious of is being lifted in the arms of Bibi Usmani’s brother Akthar, who carries me across of what was the front of our house to the broken acacia tree. Akhtar's wife, Khalida, cups my chin in her hand and pours water into my mouth from a ladle”(83). (STEWE-2) Akthar and Khalida decide to take Najmah under their wing. While cleaning up Najmah, Khalida gives Najmah a boyish haircut. “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 on the pile of quilts and snips at my hair in short strokes until it bristles out all over my head. When she has finished, she and Akthar gather up my hair. They sprinkle it into the large hole Akhtar has dug in the ground and then fills the hole with dirt.” The reason Najmah got this haircut is because Khalida thinks if they dress like a boy they won’t be in trouble with the Taliban. This is when Najmah becomes Shaheed. This haircut also symbolizes the start of Najmah's long silence because of the death of her mother and baby brother. The silence last for months to come. When Akthar fills the hole this symbolizes Najmah leaving behind her old self. (SIP-B)Akthar and Khalida decide to take Najmah to journey through the mountains to find a refugee camp to live. At this time Najmah starts to seriously change. (STEWE-1) “We will walk through the mountains, where there is snow”(85). Through the start of the journey Najmah starts to have flashbacks of her father and brother being taken. During the journey they come upon a resting place with many women holding their children looking sad. “It exhausts me to think what might have happened to their husbands, and it makes me imagine that terrible things have happened to Baba-Jan and Nur”(89). The flashback is of her father and brother but this next quote is of Mada-Jan and Habib. “I am afraid if I close my eyes I’ll see my mother’s, outstretched arms and the stain of blood spreading around her and Habib’s perfect small body”(86). These are signs of PTSD from the loss of Habib, Mara-Jan, Baba-Jan, and Nur. (STEWE-2) While journeying through the mountains they reach their destination in Torkhum. Akhtar and Khalida decide they want to stay for a while but Najmah knows she can't if she wants to find her father and brother. “I have no intention of staying in Torkhum. Without my realizing it, the entire time we’ve been on the way the from Kunduz to the Pakistani border, a plan has been forming in my head. I am barely able to keep from jumping up and running off into the night. But I know I cannot travel alone to Peshawar to look for my father and brother. The border is closed, and I don't even know which way to go. I am unwilling to set off again with no food. And so I lie awake the rest of the night thinking about my plan, staring at the stars, and praying for guidance”(131) The reason Najmah makes this plan is because the loss of Baba-Jan and Nur has motivated her throughout this journey to find them. (CS) She is motivated to find them because of the loss of her mother and baby brother.

Third Body Paragraph:
(MIP-3)Najmah is driven by loss to go to try to find her father and brother in Peshawar.
She eventually meets Nusrat encourages her to change a lot. Also after meeting Nusrat, Najmah sees her Uncle and has a change in mindset to go back home. (SIP-A)Once Najmah has arrived in Peshawar she tries to look for work. Najmah finds the Malek and asks for work but instead the Malek enrolled her in school and gives her a place to stay. This is where Najmah and Nusrat meet because Najmah is staying at Nusrat’s house. While Najmah is meeting Nusrat, Nusrat finds out that Najmah is not a boy and that Najmah is really a girl. (STEWE-1) “Why is this not Shaheeda?”(193). This makes Najmah want to start talking again because she is so shocked that Nusrat found out. “How did you know?”(194). (STEWE-2) Now after Nusrat has found out that Najmah is a girl, Nusrat tells her that acting like a boy can get her in real trouble. “But it is very dangerous for you to pretend you’re a boy. You must stop or you will become a martyr”(194). Najmah decides that it is not worth acting like a boy anymore now that she is living under the protection of Nusrat. The first step she takes to becoming a girl again is getting a nicer haircut. “Nusrat hands her a wooden chair to take out into the courtyard and follows her with a comb and pair of scissors to even out the tufts and knobs of hair on Najmah’s head. When Nusrat has finished, she shakes out the towel she’s draped around Najmah’s shoulders and hands the
girl a mirror”(207). This haircut brings some closure to Najmah because it symbolizes her getting over the death of her mother and baby brother. The first haircut of Najmah was the start of Najmah grieving and the second haircut symbolizes the end of her grieving. I think this hair cut also symbolizes the end of Najmah’s silence because right after the haircut Najmah explains the pain that she had to go through. “She tells Nusrat the entire story in a flat tone with no feelings showing through the simple, horrible words”(208). (SIP-B)While Nusrat was teaching, Najmah’s Uncle came looking for her because he said that Najmah’s father had died and he wants to claim their land. This encourages her to go back home and confirm if her father is dead and reclaim their land. (STEWE-1) “But I must try to find out. And whether they are alive or dead, I must find a way to go back”(248). At first she is worried about going back home because she has no male person to go with to keep the Taliban from killing her. (STEWE-2)Najmah then has another change in mindset when Nur returns. “I run to Nur and throw my arms around him”(251). Nur then persuades everyone to let Najmah return to Kunduz with him. “It will still be dangerous, but having them protect you is the safest way to go”(264). (CS)Najmah and Nur return back home to Kunduz to claim her father’s land.
Conclusion
(RTS) These losses that Najmah has encountered in her life made her a stronger person.
(BS-3) Najmah is driven by the loss of her father and brother so she goes and looks for them in Peshawar where she meets Nusrat who encourages Najmah to have a change in mindset. (BS-2) While traveling through the mountains we see that Najmah has major changes because of the death of Mada-Jan and Habib. (BS-1) Najmah’s first major change happened because of the loss of Mada-Jan and Habib. (R) For some people change happens after they are influenced by something or someone but in Najmah’s case she felt that she had to change to help find closure for the loss of the loss of her loved
ones.