Summary

Amir:

Amir complained that the cities in America were different from those in India because it seemed to be a goal in America not to know a person’s neighbors. When he first saw the garden, it reminded him of his parents’ Persian rug. It was soothing to his eyes but he also believed the main benefit of the garden was to make the people of that part of Cleveland see their neighbors. Amir grew eggplants, a vegetable that tended to start conversations.

Amir saw the way people bonded together to help each other because of the connections they made in the garden. When a load of tires was thrown into the lot, the men moved them. Three men from the garden ran to help when a woman screamed that a man had stolen her purse at knifepoint. They caught the man...