Symbolism
The uses of symbols to represent an idea/quality
Cereus plant
The Cereus plant in the book, "Out of the Dust" represents hope in the dust bowl of how a flower can bloom in a drought. For instance, "It blossomed at night,...touched by the first finger of morning light, wilted and died. ". the cereus plant is a representation of Billie Jo's mom of how it was lovely and beautiful, but the poor thing dies at the end. In fact, this type of flower blooms on a cacti at night. However, the Cereus species live for only a temporary amount of time, and blooms only once a year for a single night. Some may name it the"Princess of the Night", "Honolulu queen", or the "Queen of the Night". Cereus' can be commercially grown and sold in tropical locations like Australia, the Phillipines, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Hawaii. So Forth, the Cereus Plant is a symbol for hope and change of the Dust Bowl subsiding, so that rain will come.
Night Bloomers
Mrs. Brown's
cereus plant bloomed on Saturday
night.
She sent word
after promising I could com see it.
I rubbed my gritty eyes with swollen
hands.
My stomach grizzled as I
made my way through the dark
to her house.
Ma wouldn't let me go at all.
My father just stood in the doorway
and watched me leave.
It was almost three in the morning
when I got there.
A small crowd stood around.
Mrs. Brown said,
"The blossom opened at midnight,
big as a dinner plate.
It took only moments to unfold."
How such a flower
find a way to bloom in this drought,
in this wind.
It blossomed at night,
when the sun couldn't scorch it,
when the wind was quiet,
when there might have been a sip of
dew
to freshen it.
I couldn't watch at dawn,
when the flower,
touched by the first finger of morning
light,
wilted and died.
I couldn't watch
as the tender petals burned up in the
sun.
Summer 1934
(p.80-82)
Mrs. Brown's
cereus plant bloomed on Saturday
night.
She sent word
after promising I could com see it.
I rubbed my gritty eyes with swollen
hands.
My stomach grizzled as I
made my way through the dark
to her house.
Ma wouldn't let me go at all.
My father just stood in the doorway
and watched me leave.
It was almost three in the morning
when I got there.
A small crowd stood around.
Mrs. Brown said,
"The blossom opened at midnight,
big as a dinner plate.
It took only moments to unfold."
How such a flower
find a way to bloom in this drought,
in this wind.
It blossomed at night,
when the sun couldn't scorch it,
when the wind was quiet,
when there might have been a sip of
dew
to freshen it.
I couldn't watch at dawn,
when the flower,
touched by the first finger of morning
light,
wilted and died.
I couldn't watch
as the tender petals burned up in the
sun.
Summer 1934
(p.80-82)