Discussion Topic
The symbolism and significance of the pumpkin seeds in Valley Song
Summary:
In Valley Song, pumpkin seeds symbolize hope, growth, and the potential for a new beginning. They represent the aspirations of the characters, particularly Veronica, who dreams of cultivating a better future. The seeds highlight the theme of nurturing dreams and the work required to achieve them, emphasizing the connection between the land and personal growth.
What is the symbolism and significance of the pumpkin seeds in Valley Song?
The play opens with the Author, a white man in his 60s, holding a handful of pumpkin seeds from pumpkins he grew in the Karoo region of South Africa the year before. The pumpkin seeds are from the "Flat White Boer" variety that is native to South Africa. Buks, whose full name is Abraam Jonkers, is a black man who also plants pumpkin seeds. He plants them carefully, and has planted many seeds in his 76 years as a tenant farmer.
The seeds symbolize the men's hope in the land and their delight in watching the crops in the Karoo grow year after year. The significance of the seeds is that both white and black men delight in planting the seeds and watching them grow, so black and white men share similar dreams and hopes. The land in South Africa offers a way to unite the races.
The pumpkin...
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seeds symbolize dreams. Like seeds, the dreams have a chance to grow into reality, but it is a long and difficult process.
Just as pumpkin seeds need the richness of the land to grow into pumpkins, dreams need the right conditions to grow. Anyone can have seeds, but they won’t necessarily be able to grow pumpkins.
The pumpkins are also unique to the region in South Africa where the play takes place. Just as the author wrote the play, he grew the pumpkin. The seeds of the play come from him. He recognizes that “a girl can’t make adventure and romance out of pumpkin seeds.”
In my little village in the Sneeuberg Mountains spring is now well underway and everyone has already planted their pumpkin seeds. (p. 1)
This is significant because as the play is starting, the dreams have already been cultivated. The play does not start as the seeds are planted. Ultimately, when the play starts events have already started and there is no way to alter them from their course.
The idea of growth and fertility is central to the entire play and it applies to people as well as agriculture. Athol Fugard begins Valley Song with the Author holding the pumpkin seeds to indicate that this elderly white man is a farmer, not just a writer. He understands and values his country as a person who is directly connected with the land as fertile soil, not merely as territory. The pumpkins that people grow in the Karoo area not only stand for sustenance that they get from the land, but they are also a local item, so the fruit symbolizes the distinct regions as well as the whole country. Furthermore, the majority of the farmers are black or “colored,” so the white man is showing his solidarity with people who have previously been divided by race—including the important character of Jonkers or Buks. Ironically, seeds that people classified as nonwhite grow have the name "Flat White Boer."
The idea of ongoing growth is contained in these seeds as well. Now that the country has moved away from its racist policies, a new society will emerge. The Author tells the audience that the seeds have been planted and that “spring is … well underway.” At the same time, however, these everyday crops can only do so much. They represent potential that must be nurtured, like Veronica’s dreams of “adventure and romance,” which cannot be made only out of pumpkin seeds. A beginning is just that, and the longer-term vision the people share will require constant care.