The Night Gardener

“Most trees cast an air of quiet dignity over their surroundings. This one did not. Most trees invite you to climb up into their canopy. This one did not. Most trees make you want to carve your initials into the trunk. This one did not.”

Kip thinks this when he sees the tree for the first time. The tree initially frightens him, though he doesn’t understand exactly why, and Auxier uses these repeating ideas to show how expectations influence understanding. To Kip, trees invoke a sense of agelessness and ideas of adventure. The repetitive nature of this section shows the difference between “most” trees and “this” tree. Most trees offer a feeling of calm safety, but this tree gives the exact opposite, making Kip feel uneasy. This tree also makes Kip shy away from climbing it or carving initials into its trunk, two things that foreshadow the danger the tree becomes. When Kip later touches the tree, it attacks him and almost buries him alive. Whenever anyone talks about harming or actually harms the tree, it attacks or prompts the Night Man to do so, and it can be assumed that it would view the carving of initials as a threat.

“Under other circumstances, Molly would have admired a woman who so boldly contradicted her husband. But now it only felt like some wicked joke.”

Here, Constance has just discovered Kip and Molly on her property and is displeased by the stories Molly is telling Penny. When Molly tries to explain that Mr. Windsor hired them, Constance is unmoved, arguing that she’s doing fine without help. This passage shows Molly’s reaction, and it demonstrates several key dynamics.