107 pages 3 hours read

Margaret Atwood

The Year of the Flood

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2009

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics.

Part 5

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 5: “Saint Euell of Wild Foods”

Part 5, Introduction Summary: “Of the Gifts of Saint Euell”

Adam One delivers a sermon dedicated to the beginning of Saint Euell’s Week, during which the Gardeners forage for the “Wild Harvest gift that God, through Nature, has put at [their] disposal” (149). Adam One announces that Pilar will lead the Gardeners through the Heritage Park, where they will look for edible plants and fungi. At the same time, older children will attend a demonstration where Zeb will reveal how to trap small animals, which Gardeners are allowed to eat “if gratitude is felt and pardon asked” (149).

 

Adam One then reminds everyone that on this day they commemorate Saint Euell Gibbons, who “provided for his family through his Natural knowledge” (149). Saint Euell Gibbons taught others how to forage and eat fungi and wild plants, and how to use “roadside medicine” (150), such as willow tree bark and dandelion root.

 

Adam One prays to Saint Euell and asks him to whisper into their ears “the names of the Plants, and their seasons, and the locations in which they may be found” (150) in time of need. The sermon ends with a hymn called “Oh Sing We Now the Holy Weeds,” in which wild plants and flowers are praised for being nourishing and always accessible.

Related Titles

By Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Alias Grace

Margaret Atwood

Alias Grace

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Backdrop Addresses Cowboy

Margaret Atwood

Backdrop Addresses Cowboy

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Cat's Eye

Margaret Atwood

Cat's Eye

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Death By Landscape

Margaret Atwood

Death By Landscape

Margaret Atwood

Teaching Guide + Study Guide

logo

Hag-Seed

Margaret Atwood

Hag-Seed: William Shakespeare's The Tempest Retold

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Happy Endings

Margaret Atwood

Happy Endings

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing

Margaret Atwood

Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing

Margaret Atwood

Plot Summary

logo

Lady Oracle

Margaret Atwood

Lady Oracle

Margaret Atwood

Plot Summary

logo

Life Before Man

Margaret Atwood

Life Before Man

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

MaddAddam

Margaret Atwood

MaddAddam

Margaret Atwood

Plot Summary

logo

Rape Fantasies

Margaret Atwood

Rape Fantasies

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Stone Mattress

Margaret Atwood

Stone Mattress

Margaret Atwood

Plot Summary

logo

Surfacing

Margaret Atwood

Surfacing

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

The Blind Assassin

Margaret Atwood

The Blind Assassin

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

The Circle Game

Margaret Atwood

The Circle Game

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

The Edible Woman

Margaret Atwood

The Edible Woman

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

The Heart Goes Last

Margaret Atwood

The Heart Goes Last

Margaret Atwood