Being There

The primary symbol in Being There is the garden. It symbolizes innocence and the authentic world untouched by the whims and corruption of society. It is the proverbial Garden of Eden, where Chance retains his innocence before venturing into the world. The garden is a calm, beautiful, sheltered space. It is meditative, providing Chance with the only environment with which he can truly connect. The garden’s seasons represent natural law, the periods of growth and change over which we have no control but to which we are all subject. Life is fleeting, but the garden is eternal; it will always bloom again, even after its plants wither.

The garden is closely aligned with Chance, and he is imbued with its characteristics. Like the garden, he is innocent of the outside world and its dilemmas do not affect him. He exists according to his own laws and does not care whether he is accepted by others.

The French delegate Gaufridi says this to Chance in reference to Chance’s television appearance. He tells Chance that he did well to keep his remarks vague, since the public only wants “a god to punish, not a man of their infirmity” (95). He means that the public prefers figureheads to real, complex individuals.