Plant the seed, then watch it grow

Review: "Digging" by Seamus Heaney

It seems the title represents the old family tradition of potato farming and the more modern challenge of digging for one's purpose and place in life. The main character's voice reminisces about a choice he needed to make between following in his father's and his father's foot steps, or striking out on his own into a new and quite different field of work. Since both the writer and the farm uses their hands for their work the metaphors of squatting in the field, in the hand, represent the choices made by all the men in figurative language. A writer digs into topics and makes ideas grow. The farmer digs to plant the seed, then watch it grow.

© 2007 Mike W. Boitano
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