November 7, 2015 - 19:18
Previous draft: /oneworld/changing-our-story-2015/seeds-and-potatoes-metaphors-%E2%80%9Call-over-creation%E2%80%9D%E2%80%94first-draft
Sasha Moiseyev-Foster
Changing Our Stories
Professor J. Cohen
October 30, 2015
Seeds and Potatoes as Metaphors in “All Over Creation”
Seeds are the source of life over most of the planet. Without seeds, there would be no plants, no animals, nothing but the microscopic bacteria that first gave rise to multicellular organisms on Earth. Similarly, in her novel “All Over Creation,” Ruth Ozeki endows seeds with power over the plot, and thereby uses them as a multifaceted metaphor for the characters’ self-image and emotions, as well as the overall story itself.
In regards to self image, the kinship with potatoes that Cassie feels after being type-cast as one in the school play and Yumi’s mental comparison between the breeding practices farmers use in creating their crops are the most apt examples of Ozeki’s use of seed[1]. Well into her adulthood, Cass holds onto that mental image of herself as a potato, as “a fat, round, dumpy white thing, wrapped in burlap, rolling around on a dirty stage.” (7) Over the course of the book, she slowly comes into her own, becoming more and more confident in her own skin and self; all of this character development is driven by her reunion with Yumi, and the turmoil she is drawn into with the seeds over genetically modified potatoes. Yumi, while not assigned the part of the potato in the school play, also identifies with them through her connection with her father. She indirectly compares her childhood to potatoes, claiming that “… potatoes, like human children, are wildly heterozyqous… It may prove superior to the parent plant or may be wildly inferior. At eight, gazing up at my father’s face, I didn’t know which was worse.” (57) Potatoes (and, by extension, seeds) therefore represent Yumi’s perception of her relationship with Lloyd, and her insecurity over their differences.
Seeds, in the context of the novel, also underlie much of the setting, which in turn tends to reflect the ambiance cast by the characters’ emotions. For example, the state of the fields in the wake of the car bombing and Charmey’s death: “Now that the vines had wilted and died, the fields looked like the aftermath of a battle, but underneath the earth the tubers were hardening off and soon would be ready for harvest.” (392) The trial of the experience is reflected in the fields’ tattered, barren appearance. However, the potatoes have turned once more into seeds, reflecting not only the characters’ exhaustion and grief over Charmey’s death, but also how the sudden trauma of her loss has changed them once more, and their potential for further character growth.
One of the most important functions seeds serve in the narrative, however, is their role as reflections on the narrative itself. This is almost stated almost explicitly by Yumi when she tells her daughter Ocean, “Seeds tell the story of migrations and drifts, so if you learn to read them, they are very much like books … “ (171). Seeds represent the power of the journey the characters have been on, and how that journey has changed them as people. Like the people in the town, seeds adapt and persist in the face of monumental change; in the fields, “… there [will] be perennials. And volunteers. And the odd seeds, spit from the lips of children, or shit by birds or small animals, or blowing in the wind. Life is evanescent, but left to itself it rarely fails to offer some consolation.” (411) That consolation is the knowledge that the characters have discovered, their awareness of their own persistence and ability to conquer the seemingly impassible objects in their path (Yumi’s issues with her father and Elliot, and Cass’ yearning for motherhood). The seeds represent change, a transition within the characters from a previous self to another, and the continuous evolution of their person in response to their experiences. As Yuki puts it, ““Grown-up plant is seed, too. Like those ones… those ones are only flowers now, but they gonna be seeds.” She stretched her arms to accommodate the whole garden. “Everyone gonna be seeds.”” (Page 332)
Seeds are the central metaphors in Ruth Ozeki’s book “All Over Creation,” representing characters’ impression of themselves and their emotions, as well as the narrative overall. In Yumi, they represent her insecurities over her relationship with Lloyd, and in Cass they represent her insecurities about her body. In other scenes, they highlight the emotional state of the characters, reflecting their inner turmoil and responses to dramatic events. Above all else, however, seeds represent the arc of character growth each person undergoes within the novel, and their constant evolution in the face of various challenges.