Loss In Under The Persimmon Tree

(AGG) Many people have experienced the effects of loss, the way it can suck one into an endless black hole of grief. (BS-1) In Under the Persimmon Tree, Suzanne Staples describes how losing a loved one can shatter one’s heart, leaving them broken inside. (BS-2) Although loss can take, it can also give back by helping a person grow and mature. (BS-3) But most importantly, driving someone to become their true self is what loss does best, shining light upon their destiny. (TS) The loss of a loved one can define a person’s life from that moment forward, as shown in the novel Under the Persimmon Tree.

(MIP-1) The effects of losing a loved one can be devastating, enough to break a person in two. (STEWE-1) Mada-Jan fell into her own rut of depression

(STEWE-1) Nusrat did exactly that after the death of her sister Margaret. She distanced herself from everyone, even her mother and “decided she’d rather keep to herself” (53). She couldn't fathom a life without her little sister, and could no longer connect to anyone because she felt that “nobody but Margaret--including her mother--had ever gotten to know her” (54). Furthermore, the bond she shared with her sister was so strong that she didn’t allow others in before Margaret’s death, therefore dooming herself to isolation. Even after Nusrat moves away to Pakistan, she “seldom thinks about her mother, but she thinks of Margaret almost every day” (23), so strong was her connection with her best friend. (STEWE-2) Not only did Elaine push people in her life away, she also pushed her faith away. The death of her sister caused Elaine to question her current religion and lose faith in the God of her childhood. This led her on “a quest for meaning” (134) to help her find closure and explain what had happened to Margaret. At first, Elaine had “held out hope for finding her answers in church” (134) but it soon became evident that no one had the answers she was looking for. Those she asked were “unable to answer her questions and unwillingly to discuss” (134) which led Elaine to lose all faith in Christianity and become detached from her

(SIP-A) Najmah’s loss drove her to mature and realize that the only place she wanted to be was home. (STEWE-1) Najmah starts to open up to Nusrat, and she decides with Nur that they will go back to their homeland to carry on their ancestors’ legacies. She even turns down Nusrat’s offer of going to New York to further her education because living “anywhere but in Kunduz is unimaginable...” (240). From the way Najmah speaks, it is evident that she took her decision seriously: “‘For hundreds of years my people have lived a good and simple life in hills that are more beautiful than anywhere on Earth...I cannot imagine living anywhere else’” (239-240). (SIP-B) Just like Najmah, loss initially destroyed Nusrat, but in the long run, it showed her who she was and where she belonged. (STEWE-1) After the loss of Margaret, Nusrat filled the hole in her heart with Faiz. Nusrat knew, from the moment that she stepped into his apartment that she’d entered “a world where she belonged” (121). He showed her that “love at first was not the ridiculous romantic notion she’s always thought it to be” (123). In addition to healing her heart, Faiz also introduced Nusrat to the religion of Islam. And although Islam didn’t answer all of her questions, it gave Nusrat a way to remember her sister because it “was enough to find a sense of order in the universe,