Under The Persimmon Tree Literary Devices

Women have always been faced with harsh and unfair regulations, for example, they were tortured while under the Taliban’s rule. In the novel, Under the Persimmon Tree, the author includes connections on how women were mistreated by the Taliban. The author uses literary elements to display a conflict between her female characters and society. Throughout the book, the author combines reality and fiction in order to give a voice to the women who suffered under the Taliban rule. As seen in the novel, Under the Persimmon Tree by Suzanne Fisher Staples, the harsh and unjust treatment of women under the Taliban rule is clearly depicted, the author connects fictional and realistic elements to help better understand real world situations.
Throughout

The author provides various examples on how women were greatly undermined while under the Taliban rule. To begin, towards the middle of the novel, Najmah is converted into Shaheed because it was safer to be dressed as a boy, especially when traveling. "'We will walk through the mountains, where there is snow, and these will protect you. You will be safer dressed as a boy traveling through strange areas' I obey without thinking" (Staples 85). The Taliban made women feel particularly vulnerable to society, forcing many like Najmah to hide their true selves. "'This,' he says, 'is Shaheed, my older son.' The malek looks at me for a moment" (Staples 128). In order to keep her safe, Akhtar lied to the malek and said she was a boy that couldn't speak. This way, Najmah’s secret of being a boy would be safe, and she wouldn't be in danger. Through her novel, Staples takes this and creates a conflict in her novel, character versus society. Najmah takes advantage of being disguised as a boy. She is still Najmah by heart, but for the sake of finding her father and brother, she is Shaheed. As a boy, she has more freedom and will be able to find Baba-Jan and Nur more easily. "I am no longer the girl Najmah of Golestan, that child who was afraid of leopards. I am afraid of nothing after what I've seen. Neither am I a boy named Shaheed. But I must pretend to be Shaheed if I

With the aid of the book “Under the Persimmon Tree”, real world situations such as the mistreatment of women under the Taliban’s rule is understood easily. “Thus, women and girls were not allowed to work outside the home or even to venture out unless in the company of a close male relative and they were prohibited from attending schools or universities”(“Afghanistan—Human Rights”). Women had no freedom, they were basically imprisoned in their own homes. This is shown through Najmah’s perspective because she takes advantage of her being dressed as a boy and decides to roam freely in the camp sites. “The women stay mostly inside the tents, and only close neighbors visit back and forth, sitting under the open canavan flaps. I take advantage of being dressed as a boy to wander in the makeshift bazaar that has sprung up at the edge of the tent village”(Staples 148). Staples uses descriptive writing throughout the novel, therefore, when studying such severe content in a fictional perspective it is easier to visualize the material. “The position of women under the Taliban was particularly precarious. Women were required to be completely covered in public and were physically punished for exposing their faces or wearing see-through socks or sandals. Their shoes could not click when they walked, lest the sound excite