Foster’s Foodstuffs Applied to Hill’s “Heart in the Ground”

In a society where meals on the go are commonplace, it is necessary to observe and respect the sacredness of shared meals. In How to Read Literature Like A Professor, Thomas C. Foster likens mealtime to communion, but not necessarily of the Christian nature: “Nearly every religion has some liturgical or social ritual involving the coming together of the faithful to share substance” (8). Hill’s “Heart in the Ground” provides the needed evidence to support Foster’s claim. A mealtime episode does take place in the play; however, it seems as though Karen preoccupies herself with the harvest of corn. The moon raises “that corn right out of the ground” (10). This is the same corn in the same dirt that Karen knows if “you put a seed in good, rich dirt, you can grow anything” (3). Coincidentally, Karen wants to bury her seed, Catherine, in the cornfield so the can be pulled by the moon “right out of the ground” (10). Catherine will get a chance to flourish among the corn – the chance she missed at human life. Catherine will be harvested annually, in the form of corn: it is a cycle of rebirth. Behold the power of corn.

Hmmmm, I think I missed something when I did my MT QuickPost because I don't see a link to my personal blog...any ideas what I did wrong?

Lorin, did you check to see whether the entry you created has its "Post Status" set to "Draft"? If so, change it to "Publish" and it should work.

In "Heart in the Ground" Lee and Karen attempt to share a meal together, but because of the circumstances, Karen ends up refusing to eat. In Foster's writing he states:

"The act of taking food into our bodies is so personal that we really only want to do it with people we are very comfortable with."

Under normal circumstances, Karen would probably be very comfortable sharing a meal with Lee. But, she decides not to eat as a direct response to one of Lee's outbursts of frustration:

Lee:...So if you really care about this house and the farm and your family, you'll finish your supper, go upstairs, and stop the goddamn digging!

Karen takes these words very personally because she does care about her family, which is why she is sacrificing everything else (the farm, being sent to Marshall Valley, etc) to have her dead child at home with her. The fact that she lost a child when she was young intensifies her feelings about what she is doing, making them even more important to her than Lee or the reader realize at this point in the play. And because Lee accuses her of not really caring, Karen becomes even more hurt and upset and therefore "uncomfortable" with the idea of eating with him.

Yeah, I sort of gave up...It did say "Publish" when I posted it and it went on my blog, but the link just didn't show up here. So, it was a lot easier to just copy and paste it here. Next time I'll ask Kayla how to do it right. She seems to have a handle on these things. ;0)