Like the meal that Tambu prepared that we talked about today in class, her garden also represents both tradition and escape. The garden is a direct link to her heritage, and the rich tradition that has sustained her people, representing the necessary skill of living off the land. It, like the soup, is a direct connection to the legacy she inherited and the wisdom and skills that are passed down from generation to generation. Tambu fondly recalls helping her grandmother work her garden. At the same time, however, the garden also represents Tambu’s hope of escape. Since she plans to pay her tuition by growing and selling vegetables, the garden is her jumping off point into the outside world. Her garden represents her hope for the future and a break with the past. In that sense, the garden is figuratively a place where she begins to grow herself, into a mature, independent woman. With the wisdom acquired at the mission school and the power and skills that come with it, she will never have to toil and labor again. The interesting thing here is that we can tell, because the perspective is from an adult Tambu, that she is still torn between these two worlds.
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I definitely agree that the garden is for Tambu a view into her past as well as the possibility of a future. Her grandmother's story gives us a new light onto Babamukuru, and how hard he had to work to become the successful man that he now is, and in some way might be seen as inspiring to Tambu for her own hard work to garden. Plus, it shows more simply how gardening runs in her family and tradition, as her mom's garden was also important, often saving the family from hunger.
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