Voltaire and Harry, Chapter 14

Abstract

Introduction:  Someone once said that salt water is a great cure, be it tears, the sea or sweat.  In chapter fourteen of Harry Stottlemeier's Discovery, Suki speaks of the therapeutic and cathartic benefits of working in a garden.  She likes to watch things grow and it makes her sad to see things die, but more importantly, when she feels upset, it is the work in the garden that makes her feel better.  She tells Anne, "It's funny, sometimes when I'm upset, I'll work in the garden, and I'll feel better afterwards."  Anne, who is going to have a hard time in this chapter saying almost anything right to Suki, appears to completely miss Suki's point when she asks why Suki's parents don't tend the garden.  The point for Suki isn't the work involved in tending the garden but rather the benefits she derives from doing such work.