Seedfolks Analysis
Dylan (El Coolio) Waters
Seedfolks is a short novel that is just 70 pages. I read it twice, just to get a good feel for the book. It isn’t the most heartfelt or incredible story, but I did very much enjoy the way the story is told. The story is really just several people giving their view of what’s going on, but that is the strange element that adds a lot of flavor to the book. A lot of books are told in just one voice, but this one had 13 unique voices from all sorts of different cultures. A Hispanic man, an American old woman, a Vietnamese teenager are all voices in the story. The story unites them in a strange way.
The garden in the story is a metaphor for the growing and connecting that both the plants and the people have. One person may assist another (even if they do not speak the same language) in building a walkway in their garden, much like how a marigold assists a potato by protecting it. Somehow. I read about that on a website. I guess that’s sort of like symbolization.
The garden is like a whole world. All sorts of different people stake out their section of the garden for themselves in a want for their garden to be the most flourished. Although sections of the garden fight and defend against other people, they also trade and help each other, simply for the good of survival. Much like the world. In the world we war and kill each other. However, we also protect and help other nations and people when they are in need. I’m not sure if this the right answer, or even there is a right answer in the symbolization of Seedfolks. This is just what I believe.
The garden fosters great friendships and trust in one another, which is something more than just seeds that sprout up and develop into the greatest of fruits. In the beginning, no one trusts each other. Ana says, “I never had children of my own, but I’ve seen enough in that lot to know she was mixed up in something she shouldn’t be.”
By the end of the story, Nora says, “The small dry space forced us together. In fifteen minutes we’d met all of them and soon knew the whole band of regulars.”
I think the theme in the end is that we can all do good for each other. We can all help out in ever way we can, and we always try to positively affect the whole world. I enjoyed Seedfolks. What amazed me is that such a short book can impact someone so greatly.
I would also like to thank Mr. Thompson for his story, which also has positively impacted my life. Thank you, and I'll see this blog one last time (at least for the school year) next week.