Lloyd the Soil

Meghna Patny

Paper # 8

31 October 2014

Lloyd the Soil

Merriam Webster defines the word environment as “the conditions and influences that affect growth, health, progress, etc., of someone or something.” In the novel All Over Creation by Ruth Ozeki, the protagonist, Yumi Fuller, continuously changes her environment, and in turn, affects her personal “growth” by moving around so much. She was born to a successful potato farmer, Lloyd Fuller, who took great pride in his daughter. “People said I was the apple of Lloyd’s eye, the pride of his heart, until I went rotten” (Ozeki 5). When Yumi comes back to Liberty Falls, Idaho after running away at the age of fourteen, she reveals her true identity. Lloyd has the capacity to bring out people’s true identities, representing the soil in which Yumi and other characters were able to root.

When Yumi comes back to her original home, she seems to be exactly the same as when she had left. Her friend, Cass goes to the airport to pick her up and wonders if Yumi would recognize her. “She was certain she would have no trouble recognizing Yummy Fuller. And she didn’t. Yummy hadn’t changed at all” (Ozeki 59). Even after coming back after so many years, Yumi stays the same.

At the age of fourteen, Yumi was uprooted from her life in Idaho. She thought she was ready to survive on her own without Lloyd as her “soil,” but instead, she is stunted at the state when she was when she was first uprooted. “Just as you turn your face into the rays and start to respire, maybe even spread out a leaf or two and get down to the business of photosynthesizing—grrrrrip, weeded right out of there. Sayonara, baby. That’s what it felt like when I was growing up, like I as a random fruit in a field of genetically identical potatoes” (Ozeki 4). Being uprooted prematurely created a whole cycle of “uprooting” again and again in Yumi’s life. This was done through the men in her life. First, she ran away from her father to be with Eliot, thinking that she could find something more in him as a lover than from Lloyd as a parent. Then, when it didn’t work out with Eliot, she ran away again and tried to find a new home in three new men in California and in Hawaii. When it didn’t work out with each of them, she ran away to a different part of the country. Only when she came back to Idaho did she understand that she could only re-root in the place where she was born: with Lloyd.

Living with Lloyd again, Yumi brings back her immaturity. When she has to take care of Lloyd when he is ill, she acts like an annoyed teenager, just as she was when she first ran away. “‘Oh, Dad!’ she said as if he’d asked to go to the moon. ‘You’ll have to wait until I get back. Or phone Cass. Maybe she or Will can come over and help you’” (Ozeki 252).  Yumi has no patience for her father, and acts very childish. Lloyd brought out this true nature in her. Being back in Idaho releases here real self.

She also acts childish when Lloyd goes up on stage to present about the potatoes. Yumi knows how important potatoes are to her father, and feels sure that everything is okay because she feels like a child again when her father regains his confidence. “Nothing could go wrong now, because Lloyd Fuller was my daddy, and I could rest secure in the fullness of his authority” (Ozeki 301). Instead of calling him Lloyd or Dad, she says ‘daddy,’ a term that is usually used by young children. Again, Lloyd has brought the childish nature back into Yumi.

Lloyd demonstrates his power of bringing out people’s true identities in Cass as well. Cass was able to develop, staying put in Liberty Falls, unlike Yumi. She develops into a daughter that would actually take care of Lloyd and Momoko. This is her true personality, something that wouldn’t have been able to develop if she hadn’t been imbedded into Lloyd’s soil. The Seeds of Resistance are also a group that revile a lot about themselves because of Lloyd. When Y comes and visits Lloyd, his true identity, Melvin, is released. Even Geek is deeply affected by Lloyd. He feels as though he has finally found what he has been looking for. “‘We have found our guru!’ … ‘Our master. Our guru. This is him. The one we’ve been waiting for! A humble seedsman but a visionary. A born leader of men’” (Ozeki 106). Because of Lloyd, Geek finds his true purpose.

Lloyd is a strong father, but also a leader and a great person to build off of. Many characters in the novel have used Lloyd as a means of coming of age. After Lloyd passes away, Yumi feels as though she can finally move on and grow up. Cass was able to develop into a strong young woman with the assistance of Lloyd giving her the opportunity to grow. The Seeds of Resistance find their true calling when they find Lloyd and find such a great chance to expand their cause. Lloyd is who causes so much development in the novel.