The Island of Missing Trees Part 1, Chapter 2: Fig Tree Summary & Analysis

While Ada is at school, Kostas buries the fig tree in the garden. The fig tree feels nervous; she has never been buried before. She wishes she could share her fears with someone, but even if she could speak, she thinks Kostas would be too distracted to listen. The tree comforts herself by saying that if everything goes according to plan, she will only be underground for three months. It’s a common tradition, the tree says, to bury fig trees in winter to protect them from the cold before digging them up in spring. The tree is a Ficus carica, a common fig, though “there’s nothing common about me,” the fig tree says. She explains that when no one else is around, people often confide in their trees. When someone saves a tree from a storm, the fig tree says, they are also saving the memories held by that tree.

The fig tree reveals that she has fears, concerns, and desires similar to a human’s, hinting at the novel’s claim that humans must let go of a worldview in which they view themselves as the center of any ecosystem. According to the novel, humans think of themselves as superior to other species in part because of their ability to communicate. If humans could communicate with trees and learn about their fears and desires, the novel asks, would they treat trees so cavalierly? The novel then shows, through Kostas, what it might look like for people to treat plants with genuine concern, placing the wants and needs of plants on equal footing with one’s own.

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The Island of Missing Trees: Part 1, Chapter 2: Fig Tree Summary & Analysis