Project Mulberry

Julia struggles with the silkworm dilemma. If she agrees to kill the worms and harvest the silk, they will have their ideal project and a chance to compete in the state fair, but she empathizes with the worms and their desire to live and become moths. Julia decides she can’t do it and tells Patrick. They argue, and Julia reveals her initial reluctance to raise silkworms. Upset, Patrick leaves. Later he sends her a series of emails trying to convince her to harvest the silk. Julia doesn’t respond. The next day they aren’t speaking, making this their worst argument yet.

At Wiggle Club, Patrick asks Mr. Maxwell to convince Julia to harvest the silk. Mr. Maxwell shares his experience butchering his farm animals for meat, emphasizing his increased appreciation for the meat he eats and receives from them. He almost wins Julia over, but she rejects his assumption that she will harvest the silk regardless of the ethical dilemma. After Wiggle Club, Patrick confronts her about her initial reluctance to do the project. Julia tells him about her fear that silkworms are too Korean. That night, Patrick sends Julia an article about silk grown and harvested in Utah and made into a dress gifted to Susan B. Anthony. Julia appreciates the efforts of his research. They make up the following day.

In Julia’s dialogue with Ms. Park, Julia decides she no longer wants to be in charge. Ms. Park says that she can’t decide the ending for Julia, so Julia wants to end the story where it is. Park responds that doing so would be like breaking a promise—something Julia abhors.

Later that day, Patrick and Julia visit Mr. Dixon to thank him and tell him they won’t need any more leaves. When Julia returns home, Kenny empathizes with her about the cocoons and asks if all the worms need to be killed to harvest the silk. Inspired, Julia finally reads the silkworm book that Patrick gave her at the beginning of the project and realizes that Kenny is right. She ponders this as she practices embroidery and concludes that life is messy and that perfect solutions don’t exist.

The following day, she tells Patrick her decision to kill a few pupae and let the rest live, as well as her resolution to help with the silk harvest. In return, Patrick tries to console her and tells her that he thinks Korean culture is fascinating, especially compared to his “plain old nothing American” background (199). Julia points out that his ancestors too were immigrants.

At Julia’s house, they prepare to harvest the silk. Julia chooses five cocoons at random. Mrs. Song teaches them how to harvest the silk by boiling the cocoons and twisting the threads as they come loose. Julia, Kenny, and Patrick all take turns harvesting. Julia leaves toward the end so she doesn’t have to see the dead pupae in the pot. Patrick stays to finish up and film. Kenny comforts Julia by giving her the missing Connecticut quarter.

There is no dialogue with Ms. Park in this chapter.

Julia examines the quarter as Kenny admits he originally wanted to keep it; he wants to collect quarters too, just like Julia and Patrick. Julia agrees to help him collect them and gives him her extras. Kenny tells her that Connecticut is his favorite quarter (just as it is Julia’s and Patrick’s). Like Patrick, Kenny enjoys the story behind it. At his request, Julia retells it to him. Downstairs, Patrick gets his kimchi from Mrs. Song before going home.

The remaining pupae emerge as moths. Julia loves them, though they only live 10 days. Patrick, who has no moth phobia, finally holds them while Julia films. The moths lay too many eggs to keep, so they are sent to a university sericulture lab. When the moths die, Julia and Patrick bury them with the dead pupae from the silk harvest. As they prepare footage of the silkworms, they include Kenny’s temperature notes and the sericulture lab’s thank-you message. Julia finishes her embroidery and uses the silkworm silk for the cocoon in her life cycle design. As she works, she ponders her own connection to the silkworm life cycle and the cyclical nature of silk harvesting as a connection with her ancestors. Her final embroidery isn’t the perfectly symmetrical Korean embroidery that inspired her, but she is happy with its imperfections.

Julia and Patrick’s project, named “Project Mulberry: An Experiment in Sericulture” is selected by their Wiggle Club to compete in the state fair (212). Despite an unexpected recategorization of their project (ecotherm farming instead of animal husbandry), they still win second place for raising silkworms, and Julia receives a “Special Citation for Originality” for her embroidery (213). Though she still sometimes mourns the five pupae who died for their silk, Julia does appreciate her silk more.

Julia’s relationship with Kenny improves as she helps him collect quarters. Julia and Patrick continue to visit Mr. Dixon, sharing their finished project with him as well as some Korean recipes. While Julia remains uncertain about her mother’s prejudices, she brings Kenny with her to visit Mr. Dixon.

In her final dialogue with Ms. Park, Julia muses that these short conversations don’t explain everything that happens behind the scenes. Park agrees, though she feels that readers should know this process exists, so they can think for themselves about the important parts of a story. Julia asks about her mother’s prejudices and the open-ended conclusion of the novel. Park explains that while she doesn’t intend to write a sequel, she hopes this will inspire readers to ponder the question.