Roy and Julia's organic garden provides further representations of
nature as symbols for good and evil. In previous chapters, good and
evil have been portrayed by the ocean, the rain, thunder and lightening
storms, trees, and snakes. In Chapters 7 and
eight, Ellen says that while working in the garden, she was "small
... and did not have the sense to tell the difference between weeds
and plants." Here, weeds clearly represent evil, while the plants,
by contrast, represent goodness. Ellen is just beginning to gain
perspective on good and evil, thus explaining her shock at hearing
that God has made the mistake of creating more men like her father,
who, Ellen says, is "a mistake of a person."
