November 4, 2016 - 23:45
Identity, Environment, and Ownership
The novel “All Over Creation”, by Ruth Ozeki, is often a celebration of the beauty that can be found in the natural world. The book opens with a passage describing the Earth in loving detail, from core to crust, and then asks the reader to imagine themselves as a seed. Ozeki is asking us to step away from our usual human viewpoint and empathize with plants. There’s a kind of purity and stillness in her opening words, that comes to an abrupt end when the plant you have just sprouted into is, “grrrrrip, weeded right out of there. Sayonara, baby.” (4) This unnatural human intervention is a reoccurring theme in “All Over Creation”, and while most characters are theoretically against it, every character imposes their will on the environment in one way or another. The relationships between identity and environment are fraught with the idea of ownership. In some cases, identities can be developed through non-intrusive interactions with the environment. Most of the time, however, identities as they relate to the environment are tied to ownership over the natural world and other physical spaces.
In “All Over Creation”, ideas of gender identity are explored through the use of physical space. After Yumi returns to Liberty Falls as an adult, she spends time exploring the contents of her old house, as a way of reconnecting with her family and childhood. While looking at a list of seeds written by her father, Yumi says, "I flipped through them quickly, barely seeing, overwhelmed by the orderly force of my father's opinions. Suddenly the room was full of him, and I remembered the way he would come in from the fields, and Momoko and I would be waiting, and the house would shrink and conform around his approbation." (68) The way Yumi describes her father in this passage connects strongly to ideas of gender and space. Traditionally, men are taught to command a room and claim as much space as possible for themselves. Women are encouraged to do the opposite, as we are taught to be small, quiet, and unobtrusive. I’ve noticed in my own life that women tend to be far more aware of how much space they take up than men. In the hallways at high school, I noted that male students were far less likely to change their course to avoid bumping in to someone. Anytime I was accidentally nudged by someone’s backpack, the owner was almost always male. I don’t believe that most men consciously feel like they have more right to a public space than women, although the frequency of catcalling and other forms of harassment in public places does provide some evidence to the contrary. Either way, it’s clear that the ways we interact with and claim ownership of space is deeply linked to our identities. We can also see the reverse in the way men interact with traditionally female spaces. In “All Over Creation”, Momoko has a garden that she takes strong ownership of and that Lloyd originally considers frivolous. However, eventually Lloyd becomes interested in it and tries to join his wife, but the way he interacts with the space is very telling. “At first, afraid of seeming invasive, he kept to the outer edges while she moved up and down her rows … Even the air here was different – thicker and humid and very much hers.” (114) Gardens are traditionally considered feminine spaces, especially when compared to a farm, even though they fulfill almost identical purposes. In the novel, Momoko’s garden is also coded in feminine-language, as Lloyd thinks of it as sometime frivolous and superfluous. The garden being a women’s space in general, and specifically being Momoko’s space, drastically alters the way Lloyd interacts with it. Instead of a confident, boisterous farmer, he makes himself small and uninvasive, recognizing the space as not being his own.
Additionally, many characters in “All Over Creation” base their whole identity in their philosophies about the way one should interact with their environment. A major point of contention in the novel is the use of genetic engineering to alter what would otherwise be considered natural. The members of the Seeds of Resistance considers themselves activists for this cause, espousing the evils of GMOs and praising farmers like Lloyd who grow crops the old-fashioned way. Geek discusses this philosophy with Frank, saying “Genetic engineering is changing the semantics, the meaning of life itself. We’re trying to usurp the plant’s choice.” (124) However, in reality, even those who farm organically still “usurp the plant’s choice”, as they dictate when it is planted, where it is planted, when it is watered, what weeds will be removed, what other plants it will pollinate with, etc. This hypocrisy demonstrates how the Seeds of Resistance’s ideals may be less concerned with the purity of plant DNA and more about taking a stance strong enough to root their identities in. This kind of righteous anger and strict belief is what inspires them to demonstrate around the country and devote their lives to the cause of preventing genetic engineering in food. If they further acknowledged the complexity of the issue and the grey areas that exist when it comes to human interference with nature, it would be much more difficult to construct an entire identity around their beliefs.