Virgil’s Father Character Analysis

Virgil’s father is a Haitian man and a taxi driver. He used to drive a bus when the family lived in Haiti. A fan of get-rich-quick schemes, Virgil’s father latches onto the community garden after a passenger in his taxi told him about the demand for baby lettuce. According to the passenger, fancy restaurants will pay a lot of money for the freshest baby lettuce. Rather than cultivating one plot of lettuce, Virgil’s father instead takes six plots for himself—and lies to Miss Fleck that the extra five plots are for family members who cannot garden themselves. Virgil finds his dad’s willingness to lie to get ahead both embarrassing and sad. In addition, others describe Virgil’s dad as an inconsiderate member of the community garden; he often steps on other people’s crops on his way to his plot. Ultimately, Virgil’s dad’s inexperience dooms his efforts. He plants his lettuce at the height of summer, when it’s too hot for lettuce to grow, and pests plague his crop. Despite this, Virgil’s dad still manages to sell some of his lettuce, but he’s not welcomed warmly into the fold of the garden community the way other characters are.