Good Dirt

Content Warning: This section includes discussion of racism, graphic violence, child death, death by suicide, and physical abuse.

Ebby, who has found her storyline defined by loss, first in the murder of her brother and then in her canceled wedding, realizes at one point, “There is more to her personal story than hurt” (128). Despite feeling that others measure and identify her by her traumas, Ebby experiences a breakthrough when she travels to France and decides that her story will encompass more than just tragedy. Her refusal to be defined or limited by trauma dovetails with her new determination to persevere and hold onto the good things in life despite her losses, and this philosophy becomes the central message of the novel.

Several characters illustrate different facets of this theme. Ebby’s immediate sources of inspiration for moving forward despite tragedy are her parents. As the narrative states, “Perhaps the most important thing that Ebby had learned from her mom, and her dad, too, was this: People were wired to persevere. People were wired for hope. People might feel hurt, but they still liked to laugh. They might lose someone dear, but they still wanted to love” (93-94). Although her parents sell the home where Baz was killed and move elsewhere, they do not stop living their lives and embracing positive developments. Soh in particular realizes that although she will always mourn her lost child, she can still cherish the time that she had with Baz, and she acknowledges that she still has Ebby to think about. Her friend Adelaide Pitts helps Soh to realize that she can survive the loss of her son, and Soh realizes, “This is the way that [she] would live from then on. Between tears and laughter. Between loss and love” (322).

Henry and Avery, in their own ways, also search for ways to recover after their relationship falls apart. While Henry has not been touched by trauma in the way the Freemans have, Henry learns from the quiet dignity of Ed and Soh when he meets with them. As Henry reflects, “This was the true miracle of life […]. Not so much to be born as to bear up under what came your way. To find a way forward. To embrace what was good” (252).

This theme likewise plays out in the historical timeline that features Moses, who loses a great deal in his life: his mother, his freedom, his wife, Flora, and the next woman he cares for, Betsey. Despite these misfortunes, Moses deals with his pain through artistic expression, embracing some form of agency by making his pots and embedding secret inscriptions into their bottoms. His most eloquent injunction, “The mind cannot be chained” (343), emerges from his anguish over Betsey’s death and becomes a powerful inspiration for Willis, Willis’s descendants, and all the museum visitors who come to know Old Mo.

Moses survives, and in his survival, he retains his compassion and his enjoyment of life. As Granny Bliss would say, he learns to hold the moment. Ebby, too, finds a measure of contentment and freedom when she comes to a similar realization, one that is focused on her decision to risk love again with Robert. She concludes, “Maybe all you can do is give yourself permission to embrace the rest of your life. To play, to love, to risk. To take the beauty that someone brought into your life and share it” (321). This becomes the novel’s central message and advice for living life under any circumstances.