Most people say Sylvia Plath’s fig tree is about indecision.
You know the metaphor: every fig represents a different future. One is a writer. One is love. One is moving away. And while you’re trying to choose, the figs begin to shrivel and fall.
But I don’t think the fig tree is really about indecision. I think it’s about grief.
Every time we choose one future, we lose dozens of others. But maybe growing up is learning how to grieve the lives we’ll never live.
There’s another reason I’ve always struggled with this metaphor. It assumes every decision is forever. It assumes that if you choose one fig, you’ll never taste another.
But most decisions aren’t permanent.
You can change careers. You can write a book at forty. You can reinvent yourself more than once.
So what if the real trap isn’t choosing? What if it’s believing that one choice defines your entire life?
Maybe the figs don’t rot because we choose. Maybe they rot because we’re too afraid to begin.
This was written by our contributing writer, Andreea Cristine.
Image Source: Unsplash, Michael
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