The vegetables that Tilden finds in the back yard during the rainstorm represent the unearthing of the family’s past secrets. As more of the family’s past is revealed, the family’s barren farm seems to grow more fertile, more prosperous. Once Dodge admits to the murder and dies, Halie observes a full field of crops, indicating that what’s left of the family may have a future just as the farm itself now seems to, and that both the family and the farm may be able to move beyond their sinful past.
Vegetables Quotes in Buried Child
Things keep happening while you’re upstairs, ya know. The world doesn’t stop just because you’re upstairs. Corn keeps growing. Rain keeps raining.
Good hard rain. Takes everything straight down deep to the roots. The rest takes care of itself. You can’t force a thing to grow. You can’t interfere with it. It’s all hidden. It’s all unseen. You just gotta wait til it pops up out of the ground. Tiny little shoot. Tiny little white shoot. All hairy and fragile. Strong though. Strong enough to break the earth even. It’s a miracle, Dodge. I’ve never seen a crop like this in my whole life. Maybe it’s the sun. Maybe that’s it. Maybe it’s the sun.
Vegetables Symbol Timeline in Buried Child
