Student Question
In Seedfolks, why did Amir retell the story of the Polish concentration camp survivor?
Quick answer:
Amir retells the story of the Polish concentration camp survivor to highlight the dangers of stereotypes and emphasize the importance of understanding individuals beyond generalizations. Despite preconceived notions about Polish immigrants, his interaction with the woman in the garden revealed her unique history and experiences, challenging his stereotypes. This encounter taught Amir the value of seeing people as individuals, not merely representatives of their nationality or race.
Amir, an Indian immigrant, moved to Clevland in 1980. He mentions that it's hard to meet people in America because most individuals go out of their way to avoid contact and keep to themselves. Amir says when he first moved to Clevland he had pre-conceived notions about Polish immigrants. He was familiar with the common stereotypes associated with the Poles but never got to actually know a Polish person individually. He says, "I'd always hear that the Polish men were tough steelworkers and that the women cooked lots of cabbage. But I'd never known one---until the garden " (Fleischman 76). Amir began planting his carrots next to an elderly Polish woman's plot, and they developed a friendship. He noticed that she didn't thin her carrot plants by removing the unhealthy-looking plants every few inches to give the other plants room to grow. When he asked her why, she told...
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him that the task of thinning her carrot plants reminded her too much of the concentration camps where prisoners were divided into two lines. She says that the prisoners were inspected each morning, and the unhealthy prisoners were chosen to die. She goes on to tell Amir that her father was a violinist who spoke out against Germany. Amir says,
"When I heard her words, I realized how useless was all that I'd heard about Poles, how much richness it hid, like the worthless shell around an almond. I still do not know, or care, whether she cooks cabbage" (Fleischman 77).
The reason Amir retold the story about the Polish woman was to explain how generalizations and stereotypes do not take into account the unique, personal experiences of each individual. He essentially is encouraging the reader not to judge a person based on their nationality, race, or gender.
In Seedfolks, why does Amir recount the Polish woman's concentration camp story?
Amir tells the story of a Polish woman he met, who did time in a
concentration camp, in order to illustrate the point that you should not judge
a book by its cover and/or reinforce stereotypes. You actually need to get to
know an individual if you want to learn about them, instead of making judgments
about them based on where they're from or the color of their skin.
Prior to telling the story about the conversation he had with the woman, Amir
mentions that Cleveland is a city made up of many Polish immigrants. He says
that he was always told that Polish men were steelworkers and Polish women
cooked a lot of cabbage. Despite what he heard, though, he mentions that he had
never actually met a Pole until he spoke to the woman in the
garden.
One day, when the two of them are tending to their seeds, Amir notices that the
woman isn't thinning out her row of carrot seedlings despite the fact that they
are ready. He asks her why she hasn't done so and she says that the task
"reminded her too closely of the concentration camp, where the prisoners were
inspected each morning and divided into two lines" (Fleischman).
She then explains that her father was an orchestra violinist who spoke out
against the Germans which, in turn, got her entire family arrested and
imprisoned. This revelation causes Amir to view the woman as an individual
human being as opposed to just a Polish woman.
About the interaction, Amir says, "When I heard her words, I realized how
useless was all that I'd heard about Poles, how much richness it hid, like the
worthless shell around an almond" (Fleischman).
He then notes that he still doesn't know if she cooks cabbage and doesn't care
to find out.