Previous
Curtis
Maricela is a 16-year-old Mexican girl and one of the novel’s narrators. She’s pregnant and doesn’t want to be, but this is only one of the reasons Maricela feels alone, trapped, and hated. Being Mexican, Maricela feels as though other people from Central America resent her for being able to immigrate to the U.S. by walking. She also feels that society hates teenagers in general, so this is the third reason why she feels resented and alone. Throughout her pregnancy, Maricela consistently hopes that she’ll miscarry. Though she appreciates the opportunity to be part of a program that helps pregnant teens get their GEDs and provides transportation to doctors’ appointments, Maricela is dismayed when the program organizer, Penny, requires the three participants to tend a plot in the community garden. Gardening doesn’t appeal to Maricela; she hates getting dirty and either doesn’t like or doesn’t know how to prepare any of the produce she grows. But a conversation in the garden with another gardener, Leona, helps Maricela accept her pregnancy. Leona doesn’t condemn Maricela for being unhappily pregnant; instead, she encourages Maricela to see herself as part of a much larger life cycle that includes all other living beings, including plants. Leona’s words have a major impact on Maricela—for the first time in her pregnancy, she doesn’t hope that her baby will die.
Maricela Quotes in Seedfolks
The Seedfolks quotes below are all either spoken by Maricela or refer to Maricela. 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 11: Maricela
Quotes
She talked on, how plants don’t run on electricity or clock time, how none of nature did. How nature ran on sunlight and rain and the seasons, and how I was a part of that system. The words sort of put me into a daze. My body was part of nature. I was related to bears, to dinosaurs, to plants, to things that were a million years old. It hit me that this system was much older and stronger than the other. She said how it wasn’t some disgrace to be part of it. She said it was an honor. I stared at the squash plants. It was a world in there. It seemed like I could actually see the leaves and flowers growing and changing. I was in that weird daze. And for just that minute I stopped wishing my baby would die.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Seedfolks LitChart as a printable PDF.
Maricela Quotes in Seedfolks
The Seedfolks quotes below are all either spoken by Maricela or refer to Maricela. 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 11: Maricela
Quotes
She talked on, how plants don’t run on electricity or clock time, how none of nature did. How nature ran on sunlight and rain and the seasons, and how I was a part of that system. The words sort of put me into a daze. My body was part of nature. I was related to bears, to dinosaurs, to plants, to things that were a million years old. It hit me that this system was much older and stronger than the other. She said how it wasn’t some disgrace to be part of it. She said it was an honor. I stared at the squash plants. It was a world in there. It seemed like I could actually see the leaves and flowers growing and changing. I was in that weird daze. And for just that minute I stopped wishing my baby would die.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
