(AGG) The stars have been a historic symbol for many people, the symbol for Islam includes a star, and the symbol for Judaism resembles a star as well. (BS-1) In Under The Persimmon Tree, the clear outer meaning of the stars on the surface is that when Najmah and Nusrat look at the stars, they think of their family. (BS-2) When the stars are described by the author in a positive way, Najmah and Nusrat always feel a connection to their families. (BS-3) When Najmah and Nusrat feel disconnected from their families, the author will show this feeling by describing the stars as unfamiliar or unpleasant. (TS) The author uses the stars to symbolize how Najmah and Nusrat feel about their family.
(MIP-1) The author provides the reader a clear meaning
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(SIP-A) When Najmah feels separated from her family, the author describes the stars in negative ways. (STEWE-1) The night before Mada-jan and Habib die, Najmah is looking up at the stars, and they appear unrecognizable to her. Najmah is not feeling a bond with her family because she is away from Mada-jan and Habib, and Baba-jan and Nur have been taken away by the Taliban. “As I watch the sky the stars begin to move and leap, so that I sit up and rub my eyes, thinking they are playing tricks on me...I can find nothing among the stars that I recognize...I lie awake the rest of the night in terror, with the stars exploding in a heaven that seems close enough to touch” (63-64). Najmah is not feeling bonded with her family, so the author makes sure to show that the stars are being portrayed in a negative way. Whenever Najmah does not feel a bond with her family, the author shows this through the stars. (STEWE-2)When Mada-jan and Habib are buried, the author uses the stars to show the bond Najmah has lost with her family. “...I realize the hole where Akhtar has buried my hair also holds my mother and baby brother...But they are far, far behind us, and I realize I will never see them again. As the stars disappear one by one, Akhtar leads us away from the path…” (85). Mada-jan and Habib have died, and Baba-jan and Nur are gone, so Najmah is feeling very disconnected from her family, and the stars are used by the author to show that. Najmah has lost the bond with her family, and the and the author uses the detail of “the stars disappearing one by one” to show that. (SIP-B) When Nusrat does not feel bonded with her family, the author describes the stars in harsh or unappealing ways. (STEWE-1) When Nusrat lost Margaret, she felt she had no special relationships with anyone, and that she had no bond with her family. “Her mother tried to tell her that Margaret was