Seedfolks

Plant and vegetable imagery recurs as a motif associated with the interconnectedness of all natural things, developing the theme of Overcoming Separation With a Shared Purpose. Images of vining plants like beans, squash, and tomatoes creeping out slowly over fences and into other plots mimic the slow and steady spread of community between the gardeners as they work and grow close throughout the season. Maricela’s observations on cosmic interconnectedness, that “her body [is] part of nature” and that she is related to “bears, to dinosaurs, to plants, the things that were a million years old” (72), are prompted by staring at the squash vines curling and tangling through her plot. Like the vines that naturally seek out and bind, the residents of Gibb Street tap into an inner intuition to reach out and connect with others.

Images of ripe fruits, like Lateesha’s tomatoes, Sae Young’s peppers, and Amir’s beautiful purple eggplants, provide proof of the prosperity that arises from shared nurturing and care. Likewise, the bounty of goods shared among friends at the impromptu harvest festival reaffirms that prosperity comes through interconnectedness rather than separation. Even the dead winter garden that Florence describes, with nothing but some “dry corn stalks shaking in the wind like they were shivering” (85), supports the idea of faith in a deeper purpose. Just as plant roots weather the cold of winter, Gibb Street’s garden has roots deep in the community that enable it to thrive again.

The locket Virgil discovers in the garden symbolizes his faith (and, by extension, the faith required of all participants in a garden or community) that his efforts will lead to future prosperity. When Virgil finds the locket, it is garbage, covered in grime and dulled from disuse. His faith is also rusted, faltering when he catches his father lying to Miss Fleck and then when the lettuce he has toiled over withers and gets eaten by bugs. However, instead of remaining angry with his father and leaving him to what Virgil sees as divine punishment, he turns to the locket. Showing it the same care and attention he has shown the lettuce, Virgil cleans and polishes it until it gleams. Believing the girl inside the locket looks like Demeter, the Greek goddess of agriculture, Virgil places his faith in the shining icon. With prayers and hard work, he continues to nurture the lettuce, believing that his efforts will make a difference.