Sandy never communicates while he is in the form of a tree. However, that he can be turned back into a human allows for consideration of the role of plant life in the story. In the opening sentences, John describes “a creeping vine, which extended its slender branches hither and thither in an ambitious but futile attempt to cover the whole chimney (37). Parts of the old schoolhouse had fallen off of the building and, “lay rotting in the rank grass and jimson-weeds” (37). It seems that the plant life is trying to cover up or devour this last symbol of the Southern slaveholding culture.

Grapes and grapevines have been used in literature, historically, to symbolize fertility, wealth, and connection. The grapes and the vineyard in this story, however, can be read as a symbol of humans who believe that it is right to exploit the Indigenous people and places they conquer. The only grapes indigenous to the US grow from North Carolina to Georgia. The Scuppernong grape was cultivated by the people indigenous to the area to be eaten, traded, and used as a sweetener. This variety of grape has very thick skin and does not make for good wine, but the Anglo Americans who colonized these areas found that they were good for jams and other dishes.