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Amir
The final narrator of Seedfolks, Florence is an older Black woman and a “watcher”. Her arthritis makes it too painful for her to bend down and grow vegetables herself, but she nevertheless enjoys watching the garden grow and supporting its efforts. Florence is also the person who explains the origin of the novel’s title. “Seedfolks,” she explains, are the first members of a family or a community to settle somewhere. She explains how her own “seedfolks,” her great-grandparents, were freed slaves who walked all the way from Louisiana to Colorado. She sees all the people who start plots in the community garden as “seedfolks,” planting their hopes and dreams for the future and developing the community in the process. Florence tells her story from at least a year after most of the novel’s other events. She explains how the community garden eventually becomes the pride and joy of the community—and, for better or for worse, contributes to rising property and apartment values in the area.
Florence Quotes in Seedfolks
The Seedfolks quotes below are all either spoken by Florence or refer to Florence. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 13: Florence
Quotes
I think of them when I see any of the people who started the garden on Gibb Street. They’re seedfolks too. I’m talking about that first year, before there were spigots and hoses, and the toolshed, and new soil. And before the landlords started charging more for apartments that look on the garden.
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It was a little Oriental girl, with a trowel and a plastic bag of lima beans. I didn’t recognize her. It didn’t matter. I felt as happy inside as if I’d just seen the first swallow of spring. Then I looked up. There was the man in the rocker.
We waved and waved to each other.
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Get the entire Seedfolks LitChart as a printable PDF.
Florence Quotes in Seedfolks
The Seedfolks quotes below are all either spoken by Florence or refer to Florence. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 13: Florence
Quotes
I think of them when I see any of the people who started the garden on Gibb Street. They’re seedfolks too. I’m talking about that first year, before there were spigots and hoses, and the toolshed, and new soil. And before the landlords started charging more for apartments that look on the garden.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
It was a little Oriental girl, with a trowel and a plastic bag of lima beans. I didn’t recognize her. It didn’t matter. I felt as happy inside as if I’d just seen the first swallow of spring. Then I looked up. There was the man in the rocker.
We waved and waved to each other.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
