comment on style / language

The language in Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree, is richly layered and often densely metaphorical. For example, when Sarah and Ya Ta discuss breast size together, the reader is told, “She has pineapples; I have limes” (7). Ya Ta goes on to reflect, “If only breasts were like tomatoes and onions, which were certain to grow succulent and healthy if you put them in good ground at the right time of the year, then watered and weeded weekly” (7). This kind of language showcases not only the author’s talent, but also draws connections between the human and agricultural world, weaving together an image of the organic world that they both occupy together.