Seedfolks

Seedfolks begins and ends in April with nine-year-old Kim planting lima beans, allowing the story to mimic the cycle of seasons and circular rhythms in nature. Kim’s story revolves less around the external conflicts present in the neighborhood or the challenges of the garden than it does on her inner state—in particular, her father’s absence from her life. Kim’s mother and sisters cherish her father’s memory, but she only knows him through photographs and the incense that surrounds the offerings to him on the family altar. Her internal conflict is not just that she misses a father she never met but also that she fears his spirit may not recognize her at all. It is to show her father that she undertakes an act he will recognize: sowing and tending seeds as he once did as a farmer.

Like her story, Kim’s character is introverted. Reticent and diligent, she is singularly focused on her goals and her devotion to her father, even when confronted directly by Wendell. For Kim, the garden is a way to heal from a grief she cannot share with others and experience a sense of togetherness with her father. She deliberately plants the seeds in secret, not sharing her plans or hopes with anyone—even her close family.