Multiethnic Literatures in the U.S.

“In the Heart of the Valley of Love” takes place in a similar setting as that of “The Parable of the Sower.” Francie, the story’s main character, lives in Los Angeles in the 2050’s, a place where crime, violence, and poverty have become the norm throughout most of the United States. Water and gasoline are rationed, education is poor, and fresh food is expensive and difficult to come by. The rich and poor are segregated, as the upper class white live in what is known as “Richtown,” and the poor non-whites live outside of its walls. In general, the world seems to be in chaos. In contrast to Octavia Butler’s novel, Cynthia Kadohata makes the setting around her characters a mere backdrop, her focus being the character’s emotions. Amongst these emotions, as indicated by the title of the book, love and hope are the core to Kadohata’s novel.
The relationships presented in the novel have become integral to the plot. Every character encountered thus far has, in one form or another, a significant other. The book starts with Auntie Annie and Rohn taking Francie with them on their deliveries. Rohn is only Auntie’s second boyfriend and she is deeply in love with him. Auntie Annie is Francie’s caregiver so naturally this relationship has become an aspiration for Francie.
Jewel, a coworker of Francie at the school newspaper, has a boyfriend named Teddy. Teddy is abusive to Jewel and Francie first meets him after getting out of jail, but nonetheless, Jewel is in love with him. While Francie personally does not like Teddy, she aspires to what they have: each other. Similarly, Emmy and Hank, Jewel’s parents, have a strange relationship. They seem to almost ignore one another, but in Francie’s eyes, they are also in love. Jewel comments that they haven’t had sex in years, but Francie sees something different: “I thought they did have sex, in a slightly ashamed way ashamed not because of how much they didn’t want each other but because of how much they did.” Francie’s recognition of their need for one another, despite their actions towards each other, alludes to the idea that Francie herself is ready to accept love.
When Francie decides to take some classes at a local community college, she meets a boy named Mark. Mark works for the school newspaper and they quickly become boyfriend and girlfriend. It is too early to tell if they are in love, but the dominant theme about the need and importance of love leaves the reader predicting (and hoping) that this will work out for Francie.
Hope and love go hand in hand in the early stages of this novel. The scene where Francie, Mark, and Jewel celebrate Easter with Rohn’s relatives sticks out in my mind. Francie did not want to go, but went along for the respect she has for Rohn. The setting is described as annoying: a little girl is waving an egg in Francie’s face, a woman is playing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” on a guitar. But Francie says, “So what were we all doing there? It was just that my aunt had fallen in love with Rohn, and Rohn’s sister and her husband had fallen in love, and his parents had once been in love, and so on. That’s why I was standing there watching Alma wave an Easter egg in my face.” Francie wants to believe, and has hope, in the possibility of love, but she does not have it yet, leaving her alone and annoyed. This excerpt not only shows just how much hope she has for love and a better way of life for everyone around her, but that she wants it for herself too. It is going to be interesting to see where this hope leads and if, ultimately, it leads Francie to finding love.

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