(AGG) Symbolism can be found in every story, and “Under the Persimmon Tree” is no exception. (BS-1) Both Najmah and Nusrat are linked to their loved ones through the stars. (BS-2) Furthermore, stars symbolize hope and guidance throughout the journey for Najmah. (BS-3) Likewise, the stars illustrate Nusrat’s faith fading and returning. (TS) Stars are used extensively throughout the book in Under the Persimmon Tree to symbolize key concepts for Najmah and Nusrat.
(MIP-1) Najmah and Nusrat both have connections, from their past and present lives, to the stars. (SIP-A) Najmah connects the stars to her family, particularly her father and Nur. (STEWE-1) This is shown when Najmah remembers her father who “taught us to find al-Qutb, the star…show more content… (SIP-A) Before Faiz's death, the stars were warm and kept her faith, but after he died, they lost that welcoming trait. (STEWE-1) The night before Faiz left to go and help the clinics in the north, he told Nusrat that the stars would be his messengers to her. At that moment her faith was strong, as she thought that he was definitely coming back after the war and “...the stars shimmered in a softer way …”(Staples 220). It seemed that her faith fueled the stars to shine brighter, and better. (STEWE-2) However, after he died, she lost faith in herself and her religion. So when she accepted that he must be dead and looks up at the vast night sky,” the stars and planets send back to her nothing but cold, brilliant light and silence”(Staples 221) and that showed that she was almost back to the same state as when Margaret died. And so Nusrat was lost again, not only by no longer having that last connection to Faiz, but losing faith. The stars no longer had warmth nor welcome in the void like sky, and they had lost their dazzling energy. (SIP-B) When she regains her faith during a dream, the stars regain their luster. (STEWE-1) In the dream, “She feels light and at peace, and in every direction the stars shine in brilliant points.In the distance she sees two spots of pulsing, soft light. Nusrat focuses on them, and they become familiar shapes.” (Staples 231). These shapes were Faiz and Margaret, and Najmah got the closure she never received for Faiz. Her faith was restored with the goodbye, and the stars shone brightly with the faith of Nusrat to emphasize that. (STEWE-2) The dream reinforced the thought that “It was enough to find a sense of order in the universe, and to believe that Margaret was somehow still in it” (Staples 139). and as” Their fingertips brush each other before Faiz follows Margaret to drift among the stars” she was confirmed that they were still somewhere. This dream gave Nusrat the closure she
