>>106181313If you look closely, you can see a pitchfork and a wheel with eight spokes. The wheel, of course, represents the Dharmachakra and 'the Noble Eightfold Path' of Buddhist religion. Earlier critics of The Sneedsons had misinterpreted the pitchfork as a 'trident', and seen within the picture a balance between the forces of righteousness and sin (represented by Sneed and Chuck respectively). However, this is not the case - in this divine allegory one can clearly see that Sneed has triumphed over Chuck, removing him from his den of sin and banishing him to the bottom position of the sign (mimicking the fall of Lucifer). The pitchfork represents the agricultural values of the West, while the Dharmachakra the spiritual values of the East, and in their reversed positions in the image they have reached a harmonious existence through the utopia that the deity-like Sneed has created. Moreover, these symbols provide mirrors to the characters of Farmer 1 and Farmer 2. Farmer 1, represented by the pitchfork, finds in Homer two faults: firstly, his urban "cityslicker" existence and secondly his effeminacy of his hands, indicating that he does not do any farm work by hand. This is consistent with the pitchfork's symbol: it is a symbol of agricultural, rural work and traditional values of masculine hand labour. Meanwhile, Farmer 2's concern is righteousness and sees in Homer's "Gucci loafers" a consumerism and concern for self that violates the second division of the Eightfold Path (a clever pun on his name "Farmer 2"). All of this is an allegory for the weighing of Homer's sins as he enters the divine shop of "feed and seed". These two words are references to the Gospels and the Word of God: feed is a reference to how the Word is described as the "bread of life", while seed represents the Word's promulgation by the apostles.
