In the novel Farm City by Novella Carpenter, Novella learns an abundance of new values, and meanings to the way she chooses to live. Novella was born and raised in Seattle, and in the beginning Novella and her boyfriend Bill decide to move to West Oakland. While in Oakland, Novella learns many new values and lessons while urban farming in the city of Oakland. The first lessons that Carpenter learns is humanity. Throughout the novel Carpenters ability to consider the livelihood of other's, human or animal, changes drastically. Secondly, carpenter learns about appreciation of what she has and values of others. Carpenter is able to learn true appreciation for her life and what life means to those around her. Lastly, Carpenter learn about new fears and challenges she has to face. Living in West Oakland is not a safe haven, in many respects it is a very scary place with crime ridden throughout the city. Carpenter is thrown on a wild path of life in the novel, but through every hardship a new lesson is learned. .
In Farm City, the first value that Carpenter learns is Humanity. Many humanitarian subjects arrive within the novel, and Carpenter has many different paths to take. The first problem arrives when Carpenter is tasked with killing a turkey. Carpenter raised the turkey on her property, fed it, and cared for it, and when Thanksgiving time came, she had to kill it. She was sad to see her friend Harold the turkey go, but it was just the way life worked. "The only reason Harold existed at all was that he and his ancestors had made a Faustian bargain with humans: guaranteed food, shelter, and the opportunity to pass on their genes in exchange, eventually for their life. "(P.91) Secondly, Carpenter connects with her friendly neighborhood homeless, Bobby. In a situation like Bobbies, where you are forced to sleep in abandoned cars and walk the streets with no place to call home, that the weight of life would bring you down, but Bobby lives to look out for others.
