2. Is the vegetable wife an alien? Does the icon of the alien have a gender?

3. How trustworthy are the instructions on the seed package? Does the narrative indicate that the wife feels no pain, as the instructions claim, or that she is very sensitive, as the government agent indicates?

4. At what point is the wife shown to have thoughts or intentions of her own?

5. Compare this story with Michael Blumlein's "The Brains of Rats." What does each have to say about the biological basis of gender differences?