October 27, 2014 - 17:02
The metaphor you draw on between raising a child and growing a potato is simply fascinating, and I think you could explore that to a great extent. You could even use it to analyze Lloyd's success/failure as a father since he might have expected the similarities between growing potatoes and raising Yumi to be more, and might have assumed that Yumi would need the same level of attention as his potato crops.
I think the quotations you have selected are all interesting, but I couldn't see the relevance of some of them to your main argument. For example: “Oh, yeah, your allegiances were firmly with Daddy." “Momoko must have been proud of Fuller Farms, in the early days. Lloyd surely was. In the first years of their marriage, they battled droughts and early freezes, mildews and viruses and parasites, and a host of pests that nobody could imagine why God had even bothered to create:” (OZEKI, 13-14) Maybe tomorrow we could help you select a few quotes from your list that highlight your argument the most.
I think you could also draw your attention to the connection between the pro-life stance Lloyd takes with regards to Yumi's abortion and his policies of farming.