Wednesday, October 16, 2013

In Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman, why does Kim stand before her family altar? Why is she sad?

In Seedfolks, Kim stands before the altar because she is grieving. The story tells us that the candles and incense sticks had been lit the day before to commemorate the one year anniversary of her father's death. In standing before the altar, Kim desperately hopes to secure some sort of posthumous connection with her deceased father.


Because Kim has never known her father (she was born eight months after his death), she has no memories...

In Seedfolks, Kim stands before the altar because she is grieving. The story tells us that the candles and incense sticks had been lit the day before to commemorate the one year anniversary of her father's death. In standing before the altar, Kim desperately hopes to secure some sort of posthumous connection with her deceased father.


Because Kim has never known her father (she was born eight months after his death), she has no memories of him to sustain her. She is sad because her father died before they could get to know each other.


To assuage her grief, Kim goes to the community garden to plant some lima beans. In life, Kim's father had been a farmer, and Kim hopes that, wherever her father is, he will look down on her work with pleasure. In working hard to be a successful gardener, Kim hopes that she will have a link to her past and a connection to her father's memory.

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