Growth from Earth

"Dante's Inferno"

Whirling, swirling, dazing in and out of consciousness, haunted, feared, tormented, pain and suffering  to the point of death.  This is the battle between good and evil that been going on with in Elizabeth’s mind and body through out Bessie Head’s novel, A question of power.  Elizabeth the main character is searching for herself along her journey. She is trying to find something to hold on to, so that her mind does not get swept away by another demon.  She finds salvation through friendship and gardening.

One of the main characters that befriended Elizabeth is Tom. From the day they first met Elizabeth could tell from his “absentmindedly friendly face” (110) that there was something different from this white young man.  She enjoyed his company greatly, “they were a perfect work team, silent, intent and yet always dependent on each other for a hand” (111).  Tom was from the Peace Corps, he loved working with the people in aiding them in whatever he could do. Elizabeth’s and Tom’s friendship grew as they worked together. After a long days work Tom went over to Elizabeth’s for a meal. Tom took care of Gunner when Elizabeth was in the hospital.  Elizabeth and Tom loved each other in a friendship way.  This was one way Elizabeth found stability in her life, the other one is gardening.

There is something about gardening that is therapeutic. Working with nature, prepping the soil to plant and nurture seeds to grow, fertilizing them to produce and provide for you. “It is impossible to become a vegetable gardener without at the same time coming into contact with the wonderful strangeness of human nature” (72).Gardening is a peaceful yet very rewarding practice.  For Elizabeth gardening is grounding.  So becomes aware of herself and what she is capable of.  She loves gardening and takes what she learns and applies it to a “special project”.

The Gooseberry that is native to the Cape but foreign to Botswana.  Elizabeth makes it grow utilizing what she has learned about sowing seed and growing plants.  Elizabeth tells Brigette “I have a group of woman working with me and I’ve been teaching them to make seedlings in plastic bags” (80).  Plastic bags are a way of germinating seeds so that they are more prone to grow in the soil they are planted in.  The Gooseberry’s are to be used for jam is “makes very tasty, jam which is simple and easy to prepare…it is also a good health food for the family” (153).  The berries are something sweet and rare that Elizabeth can grow and provide to her community. The Gooseberry is an important symbol for Elizabeth.

The book presents an interesting concept of putting a foreign species in a foreign environment and seeing what happens. Elizabeth is like the gooseberry in the way that they are both transplants, they are both outsiders trying to regain their sanity to fit in. Both the Plant and Elizabeth take root with the help of others, grow, produce and provide for the one’s they love. She finds enlightenment from the growth she has done on the journey she has traveled from hell and back.