Lab Girl

“When I heard a weary monster sighing on the other side of town, I understood that it was twenty-three minutes after 8 o’clock.”

These lines describe the clock from Jahren’s childhood. They present an example of personification, which figures heavily in Jahren’s description of her hometown and father’s lab. Many non-human objects take on mythic proportions, such as the clock that becomes a monster.

“Working in a lab for twenty years has left me with two stories: the one that I have to write and the one that I want to.”

Jahren contends with herself in these lines: she cannot simply tell the story of all of her successes. She must also tell the story of all of her struggles, which is what she does in the ensuing chapters.

“I must have cracked thousands of seeds over the years, and yet the next day’s green never fails to amaze me.”

Throughout the memoir, Jahren never loses her sense of wonder. She is filled with love and amazement when it comes to the plant world, and seeing something as simple as a seed growing still fills her with these feelings.