Barbara Kingsolver's The Bean Trees

In Barbara Kingsolver’s novel “The Bean Trees”, she effectively uses colourful language to yield an image of rural Kentucky to her readers. Her descriptive imagery trigger thoughts, feelings, and mood. Kingsolver’s dialect, tone and Southern style also advance the plot which we see as she opens the story and as it progresses into each chapter.

In the fiction The Bean Trees Barbara Kingsolver uses metaphors and similes to demonstrate how a bird makes a nest in a cactus and a quail mother shepherds the whole family across the street suggesting that the young will be able to survive despite of painful surroundings and that a mother's maternity concern and love towards her children. During a doctor’s visit, Taylor's discovery of Turtle’s suffering from abuses in the past made Taylor deeply sad. At that moment, outside the window,"There was a cactus with bushy arms and a coat of yellow spines as thick as fur. A bird had built her nest in it.

People would usually imagine a family typically as a usual portrait; beholding parents that are married to each other close aside , a few children in front, and alongside in the picture could include other relatives. In the novel The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver, this image is not necessarily always the definition of a family. In the novel the main character, Taylor Greer, drove away from Kentucky with two goals:to avoid pregnancy and to get away. While succeeding both goals, Taylor decides to inherit a child she named Turtle along the way, and also encounters a strong connection with other characters at her destination. Barbara Kingsolver creates this found connection between these characters to show that family can come from anywhere,

The subject of Barbara Kingsolver famous novel, The Bean Trees, showcases the real meaning of motherhood. The novel occurs in Kentucky and Arizona during the early 1980’s. The main character is Taylor Greer. Taylor receives a child, whom she later names Turtle. The child’s aunt can no longer care for the young child. She takes Turtle with her while job searching where she meets two women, Mattie and Lou Ann, both motherly figures, who help her gain a deeper understanding of what motherhood means. From the beginning, Taylor never wanted children but against her wishes she has taken on the responsibilities of taking care of a toddler.

Turtle and Taylor end up living in Tucson, Arizona. Taylor finds a job and a place to stay. While she is in Tucson she starts to recognize that there are a lot of people in the world that have gone through much worse situations than she has. She tells Estevan, "I keep finding out that life can be hard in ways I never knew about" (141). She is growing out of her naiveness and learning more about the realities of life. This in turn is making her a more understanding and

Born into poverty, wealth, or even fame, no one has any control over what they are born into in this world. Throughout the novel Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver provides many examples of how the effects of what environment a person is born into effects them morally during the 1980s. With all of the characters being stuck in penury all the way from the beginning of the novel to the end, helps to explain how it affects them each differently as an individual. The main character from the novel, Taylor Greer, is a prime example of the consequences of how her environment affected her moral traits as a character.

In a government survey of rape and domestic violence, “Nearly one in five women said that they had been raped or had experienced an attempted rape at some point, and one in four reported having been beaten by an intimated partner” (Rabin). The inequality that women face in society is shown in the quote as they are targets of abuse and assault. Barbara Kingsolver is an author that uses her stories to enlighten her audience on the inequalities of society. In her most popular novel, The Bean Trees, Kingsolver tells the story of two struggling mothers, Taylor, a young woman who adopts a Native American girl on a reservation, and Lou Ann, a single mother that has to overcome her worries to support her newborn son. Barbara Kingsolver uses elements

Everyone has someone they consider family. Sometimes people bond solely with their blood relatives, but more often than not we choose who we consider to be our family as we grow older. This happens most often when people find a spouse, but many also adopt children as their sons and daughters, peers as their brothers and sisters, and role model figures as aunts and uncles. The Bean Trees is written by Barbra Kingsolver and is set in the early 1980 's. It tells the story of a young woman named Taylor, and the life she builds in Tucson Arizona. Far from home, she meets many great people and finds a place where she belongs. Kingsolver shapes her message of the importance of families both blood and found through her use of character archetypes

Abandonment and neglect results in many negative consequences on an individual’s life. These effect may include intrusive anxiety, insecurity, depression and isolation. Unfortunately, many characters in The Bean Trees experience these effect because they go through many hardships throughout their lives. However, the use of family, friendship, community and trust allows them to come together and face these predicaments together. The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver shows abandonment and neglect through various characters but it also uses it to demonstrate the benefits of positive relationships to heal the pain.

A Search for Something New One’s individuality is what sets them apart from everyone else. The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver develops the story of a very strong woman, Taylor Greer who has made it her goal to establish her own individuality. This novel follows the once named Marietta Greer on her journey from her roots in Pittman County, Kentucky to her new adventure out west where she changes her name, her outlooks, and her way of life. On the journey to self-discovery, Taylor realizes that she must discover how to balance her individualism with her family community.

Barbara Kingsolver, author of The Bean Trees, emphasizes her societal views throughout the novel and tells the story in the first person narrative of Taylor Greer, a practical but spirited girl trying to escape her simple and somewhat boring life to a more exciting one. Taylor’s character reflects Kingsolver in the way that they both focus on creating a more just society in which women are treated as equals and have the same rights as men. They both share a pride of being female and attempt to better the lifestyles of other women in their societies. Barbara Kingsolver writes novels which focus on social justice and she often writes about situations that are familiar, basing much of her writing on places or experiences that are personal to her. Kingsolver’s early life experiences in Arizona influence the characters, such as Taylor, who are developed in The Bean Trees and she connects these life experiences to the characters to express her feminist views and inform the reader of her concerns on this topic and demonstrates ways through her literature in which people can help solve the societal problems that women face.

The author Barbara Kingsolver once said, “Sometimes the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.” This means that mothers can go through great lengths and even break laws for their children. In the book “The Bean Trees”, Kingsolver portrays that quote by writing about Taylor’s experiences with an abandoned child named Turtle. Kingsolver included several characters in the book that act as mother figures. Barbara Kingsolver seems to be saying that a mother does not have to come biologically through the characters of Taylor, Lou Ann, and Mattie.

Life is constantly changing, like clouds in the sky; always shifting and turning. People never really know which way life will turn next, bringing them fortune or failure. When you look at how things change it is best to compare it to something that you can relate it to. The changeable nature of life can be related to the novel 'The Bean Trees.' This is a book written almost entirely on dealing with changes in the characters lives.

“You have a face only a mother could love” Although a harsh insult this is for most mothers a very true statement. A mother’s love is something that you will probably not experience until you have your very own children. Motherhood can be a very sentimental topic in literature, especially when there is conflict with a child and their mother figure. In the book The Bean Trees there are several mother figures that each express their love for their child, even going great lengths for them. Throughout the many great themes of The Bean Trees this one by far sticks out the most because the book is mainly about a mother taking care of her child, that isn’t even hers, making many sacrifices to give her the best life possible. The main character,

Author use many symbolism in the book The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver. She uses symbolism because it makes it easier for readers to understand the deeper meaning or feeling of the character or the events that are happening. For example, author uses the symbolism of bean trees as transformation and Ismene as the abandoned children to show the deeper meaning of them.