How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
He coaxed me out into the sunlight and we sat down together on the brown earth that was part of us, and we gazed at the paddy fields spreading rich and green before us, and they were indeed beautiful. (12.63)
When Ruku and Nathan are disappointed by the external circumstances of their life, particularly their sons’ choices, they turn to the land for spiritual healing. It is almost as though the land is as much a part of them as their own children.
Quote #5
I took the paddy from him and parted the grass and there within its protective husk lay the rice-grain, just big enough to see, white, perfect, and holding in itself our lives. (12.65)
Ruku and Nathan minister to the land and often talk of how they see it as a part of themselves, but here we get the hint that actually Nature is in control. The seeds metaphorically hold their lives, but the land is literally in control of their lives – if they do not harvest they do not eat.
Quote #6
…before long the rain came lashing down, making up in fury for the long drought and giving the grateful land as much as it could suck and more. But in us there was nothing left—no joy, no call for joy. It had come too late. (13.73)
Nature alone cannot provide happiness, even if it is forgiving after it has been so cruel.