--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Come on, people. Doesn't anybody remember…" description: "\"“Come on, people. Doesn't anybody remember how to take a big old knife, whack open a pumpkin, scrape out the seeds, and bake it? We can carve a face on..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6d/barbara-kingsolver-200_pumpkin_come-on-people-doesn-t-anybody-remember_2518606.jpg" --- # Come on, people. Doesn't anybody remember how to take a… ![“Come on, people. Doesn't anybody remember how to take a big old knife, whack open a pumpkin, scrape out the seeds, and bake it? We can carve a face onto it, but can't draw and quarter it? Are we not a nation known worldwide for our cultural zest for blowing up flesh, on movie and video screens…” quote by Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6d/barbara-kingsolver-200_pumpkin_come-on-people-doesn-t-anybody-remember_2518606.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6d/barbara-kingsolver-200_pumpkin_come-on-people-doesn-t-anybody-remember_2518606.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6d/barbara-kingsolver-200_pumpkin_come-on-people-doesn-t-anybody-remember_2518606.jpg) > ““Come on, people. Doesn't anybody remember how to take a big old knife, whack open a pumpkin, scrape out the seeds, and bake it? We can carve a face onto it, but can't draw and quarter it? Are we not a nation known worldwide for our cultural zest for blowing up flesh, on movie and video screens and/or armed conflict? Are we in actual fact too squeamish to stab a large knife into a pumpkin? Wait till our enemies find out.”” [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The writer critiques cultural hypocrisy, noting how societies celebrate violent entertainment but shy away from real, tangible acts of aggression. **In simple terms:** People love fictional violence but fear real aggression. Key Takeaway Question societal contradictions. Themes culture hypocrisy violence media censorship Mood critical provocative Type essay social commentary When to use this quote - movie watching - political debate - public policy - personal reflection Key Concepts social critique psychology Questions to Reflect On - Why do we accept fictional gore but reject real? - How does this paradox affect policy? A Different Perspective May oversimplify complex cultural attitudes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Pumpkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pumpkin/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [“Everything, she wanted to scream at him, was a question of safety. All human endeavor bent itself to the same lost cause. Being kept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/everything-she-wanted-to-scream-at-him-was-a-question-of-safety-all/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [When I lived in New York, there wasn't as much TV or film around. I got asked to do a couple of indie films,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-iha/when-i-lived-in-new-york-there-wasn-t-as-much-tv-or-film-around-i-got/) [James Iha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-iha/) > [At last, small witches, goblins, hags, And pirates armed with paper bags Their costumes hinged on safety pins, Go haunt a night of pumpkin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/at-last-small-witches-goblins-hags-and-pirates-armed-with-paper-bags/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Pumpkin spice lattes are egg nog for morning people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-oliver/pumpkin-spice-lattes-are-egg-nog-for-morning-people/) [John Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-oliver/) > [Thanksgiving is a magical time of year when families across the country join together to raise America's obesity statistics. Personally, I love Thanksgiving traditions:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/thanksgiving-is-a-magical-time-of-year-when-families-across-the/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [Only the knife knows what goes on in the heart of a pumpkin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-schwarz-bart/only-the-knife-knows-what-goes-on-in-the-heart-of-a-pumpkin/) [Simone Schwarz-Bart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-schwarz-bart/) > [I see a girl caught in the remains of a holiday gone bad, with her flesh picked off day after day as the carcass…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-halse-anderson/i-see-a-girl-caught-in-the-remains-of-a-holiday-gone-bad-with-her/) [Laurie Halse Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-halse-anderson/) > [I lost my virginity to a pumpkin when I was 23. Back then I was convinced I was actually a Vegetable, hell, that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-yorke/i-lost-my-virginity-to-a-pumpkin-when-i-was-23-back-then-i-was/) [Thom Yorke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-yorke/) > [“I’m sensitive. I’m nothing but a big ball of mushy sensitive stuff inside. Tell her, pumpkin.” “Your son is very sensitive,” I dutifully recited.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kylie-scott/i-m-sensitive-i-m-nothing-but-a-big-ball-of-mushy-sensitive-stuff/) [Kylie Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kylie-scott/) > [Every woman needs secrets,' her mother said with a smile then, her eyes meeting Sally's in the rearview mirror. 'Remember that when you're old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-courtney-sullivan/every-woman-needs-secrets-her-mother-said-with-a-smile-then-her-eyes/) [J. Courtney Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-courtney-sullivan/) > [Way out in the country tonight he could smell the pumpkins ripening toward the knife and the triangle eye and the singeing candle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/way-out-in-the-country-tonight-he-could-smell-the-pumpkins-ripening/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [It is simply the view, and a view I think shared by most members of the party, that it is very difficult to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-maude/it-is-simply-the-view-and-a-view-i-think-shared-by-most-members-of/) [Francis Maude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-maude/) > [Whether we think of Disney's blonde beauty and her pumpkin carriage or Marissa Meyer's recent recasting of 'Cinderella' as a cyborg in the young…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-rutkoski/whether-we-think-of-disney-s-blonde-beauty-and-her-pumpkin-carriage/) [Marie Rutkoski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-rutkoski/) > [I like to make pies. That's kind of my new obsession - peach, blueberry, apple, strawberry. I make a really good pumpkin pie with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morgan-saylor/i-like-to-make-pies-that-s-kind-of-my-new-obsession-peach-blueberry/) [Morgan Saylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morgan-saylor/) > [“Anna shuddered. "Orange is not the colour of seduction, Christopher. Orange is the colour of despair, and pumpkins.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/anna-shuddered-orange-is-not-the-colour-of-seduction-christopher/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) ## More by Barbara Kingsolver > [“Jesus was a more reliable backer, evidently, less likely to drink himself unconscious or get liver cancer. No wonder people chose Him as their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/jesus-was-a-more-reliable-backer-evidently-less-likely-to-drink/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Now I'm starting to think he wasn't supposed to be my whole life, he was just this doorway to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/now-i-m-starting-to-think-he-wasn-t-supposed-to-be-my-whole-life-he/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Cooking is 80 percent confidence, a skill best acquired starting from when the apron strings wrap around you twice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/cooking-is-80-percent-confidence-a-skill-best-acquired-starting-from/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“In Bobby Ogle's version of heaven everyone would wind up in one place, criminals and Muslims included.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/in-bobby-ogle-s-version-of-heaven-everyone-would-wind-up-in-one-place/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“Weeds are job security for the gardener.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/weeds-are-job-security-for-the-gardener/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“It's what you do that makes your soul, not the other way around.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/it-s-what-you-do-that-makes-your-soul-not-the-other-way-around/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“Lusa turned to Crys, her eyes shining. "That was a luna." Crys shrugged. "So?" "So? So what? You want it should sing, too?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/lusa-turned-to-crys-her-eyes-shining-that-was-a-luna-crys-shrugged-so/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [The strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/the-strength-of-motherhood-is-greater-than-natural-laws/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“An imperfectly remembered life is a useless treachery. Every day, more fragments of the past roll around heavily in the chambers of an empty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/an-imperfectly-remembered-life-is-a-useless-treachery-every-day-more/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Respecting the dignity of a spectacular food means enjoying it at its best. Europeans celebrate the short season of abundant asparagus as a form…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/respecting-the-dignity-of-a-spectacular-food-means-enjoying-it-at-its/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“Somehow it had come to pass that this man was her whole world, and she had failed to take his measure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/somehow-it-had-come-to-pass-that-this-man-was-her-whole-world-and-she/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [After 'The Poisonwood Bible' was published, several people believed that my parents were missionaries, which could not be further from the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/after-the-poisonwood-bible-was-published-several-people-believed-that/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [I can count all the ways in which being a mother has enriched my understanding of the world, of character, my sense of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/i-can-count-all-the-ways-in-which-being-a-mother-has-enriched-my/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [But we've all ended up giving body and soul to Africa, one way or another. Even Adah, who's becoming an expert in tropical epidemiology…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/but-we-ve-all-ended-up-giving-body-and-soul-to-africa-one-way-or/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [If the Lord hasn't got a boyfriend lined up for me to marry, that's his business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/if-the-lord-hasn-t-got-a-boyfriend-lined-up-for-me-to-marry-that-s/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) [Explore all 939 Barbara Kingsolver quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) ## More Pumpkin quotes > [“Anna shuddered. "Orange is not the colour of seduction, Christopher. Orange is the colour of despair, and pumpkins.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/anna-shuddered-orange-is-not-the-colour-of-seduction-christopher/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [I like to make pies. That's kind of my new obsession - peach, blueberry, apple, strawberry. I make a really good pumpkin pie with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morgan-saylor/i-like-to-make-pies-that-s-kind-of-my-new-obsession-peach-blueberry/) [Morgan Saylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morgan-saylor/) > [Whether we think of Disney's blonde beauty and her pumpkin carriage or Marissa Meyer's recent recasting of 'Cinderella' as a cyborg in the young…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-rutkoski/whether-we-think-of-disney-s-blonde-beauty-and-her-pumpkin-carriage/) [Marie Rutkoski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-rutkoski/) > [It is simply the view, and a view I think shared by most members of the party, that it is very difficult to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-maude/it-is-simply-the-view-and-a-view-i-think-shared-by-most-members-of/) [Francis Maude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-maude/) > [Way out in the country tonight he could smell the pumpkins ripening toward the knife and the triangle eye and the singeing candle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/way-out-in-the-country-tonight-he-could-smell-the-pumpkins-ripening/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Every woman needs secrets,' her mother said with a smile then, her eyes meeting Sally's in the rearview mirror. 'Remember that when you're old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-courtney-sullivan/every-woman-needs-secrets-her-mother-said-with-a-smile-then-her-eyes/) [J. Courtney Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-courtney-sullivan/) > [“I’m sensitive. I’m nothing but a big ball of mushy sensitive stuff inside. Tell her, pumpkin.” “Your son is very sensitive,” I dutifully recited.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kylie-scott/i-m-sensitive-i-m-nothing-but-a-big-ball-of-mushy-sensitive-stuff/) [Kylie Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kylie-scott/) > [I lost my virginity to a pumpkin when I was 23. Back then I was convinced I was actually a Vegetable, hell, that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-yorke/i-lost-my-virginity-to-a-pumpkin-when-i-was-23-back-then-i-was/) [Thom Yorke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-yorke/) > [I see a girl caught in the remains of a holiday gone bad, with her flesh picked off day after day as the carcass…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-halse-anderson/i-see-a-girl-caught-in-the-remains-of-a-holiday-gone-bad-with-her/) [Laurie Halse Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-halse-anderson/) > [Only the knife knows what goes on in the heart of a pumpkin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-schwarz-bart/only-the-knife-knows-what-goes-on-in-the-heart-of-a-pumpkin/) [Simone Schwarz-Bart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-schwarz-bart/) > [Thanksgiving is a magical time of year when families across the country join together to raise America's obesity statistics. Personally, I love Thanksgiving traditions:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/thanksgiving-is-a-magical-time-of-year-when-families-across-the/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [Pumpkin spice lattes are egg nog for morning people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-oliver/pumpkin-spice-lattes-are-egg-nog-for-morning-people/) [John Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-oliver/) > [At last, small witches, goblins, hags, And pirates armed with paper bags Their costumes hinged on safety pins, Go haunt a night of pumpkin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/at-last-small-witches-goblins-hags-and-pirates-armed-with-paper-bags/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [When I lived in New York, there wasn't as much TV or film around. I got asked to do a couple of indie films,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-iha/when-i-lived-in-new-york-there-wasn-t-as-much-tv-or-film-around-i-got/) [James Iha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-iha/) > [You could hollow out a big pumpkin and wear it on your head for the entire week of your birthday. This will allow you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jade-puget/you-could-hollow-out-a-big-pumpkin-and-wear-it-on-your-head-for-the/) [Jade Puget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jade-puget/) [Browse all 165 Pumpkin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pumpkin/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Come on, people. Doesn't anybody remember how to take a big old knife, whack open a pumpkin, scrape out the seeds, and bake it? We can carve a face onto it, but can't draw and quarter it? Are we not a nation known worldwide for our cultural zest for blowing up flesh, on movie and video screens and/or armed conflict? 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