Overview Of The Bean Trees By Barbara Kingsolver

It is very easy for people to judge others because they are different from one another, and do not fit in the status quo. Being different is okay because that makes each person or thing different and unique from everyone else. Even though discrimination did happen and there are laws passed to change, so equality can happen, things still have not changed and it is the 21st century. In today's world people are stilled based off their skin color whether they are doing good or bad. Discrimination is seen throughout schools, work, adoption, and so many other places where other people that are not white exist. In the book The Bean Trees, written by Barbara Kingsolver, the main character learns what it means to be a mother of a child from a different

A community provides a web of support for every individual involved in it. This theme is heavily present in The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver, where there are a series of symbiotic relationships that make up a web of support for each and every person. The most obvious example is Taylor, the main character, and how she gives and receives help from Lou Ann, Mattie, Esperanza, Estevan, and even Turtle. Yet, it can also be seen between Edna and Virgie Mae, and between Mattie and her refugees. Involvement in the community is a necessary component of life for the individual.

“none of these sights had so far inspired me to get hogtied to a future as a tobacco farmer's wife. Mama always said barefoot and pregnant was not my style. She knew”. “If I wanted a baby I would have stayed in Kentucky”. Taylor has always wanted nothing to do with motherhood, however as the story progresses we see that Taylor is fiercely protective of the small family she forms with Turtle, her best friend Lou Ann, and Lou Ann’s son Dwayne Ray in Tucson, Arizona as they all help each other “through hell and high water.” Meeting Turtle, a child with nobody to keep her alive completely changed Taylor's character from one that just wants to be by themselves to a caring one that creates a

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

Lou Ann does not only act as a maternal figure towards Dwayne Ray, but towards her husband, Angel, as well. Even as Lou Ann and Angel first separate, she defends him towards her mother and grandmother as if he is the most important person to her (Kingsolver 54). She defends Angel this way because she is the person who takes care of him and she never lets anyone bring down her family members. With Dwayne Ray, Lou Ann never put herself first. She was such a wreck when it came to hard times where it took thinking because she was scared of coming up with the wrong choice. She always questioned her parenting and Taylor was best at pointing out her assets. “‘...worrying too much is just not caring…. Dwayne Ray will always know that, no matter what, you’re never going to neglect him’” (Kingsolver 156). Even the natural instincts worried Lou Ann, but she always followed her gut instincts when it came to life changing decisions. The last place where Lou Ann acted upon her maternal instincts was in her home with Taylor, Turtle and Dwayne Ray. Lou Ann would have food cooked and the dishes done when Taylor would get home from work. She was a caregiver at all times. Kingsolver writes on page 231 how Lou Ann even told a coworker that she had a family at home. As she told Taylor the story, she explained how she meant Dwayne Ray, her and Turtle, too. “‘Mainly I guess because we’ve been through hell and highwater

"There's more pressure on women today to be beautiful, thin, hot, sexy, and young." (English). Since the 20th century we have started relying on media and technology and this has influenced people to create new inventions but we have also started creating images of humans. When it comes to the ideal women the people in society have created her to be fit in the right areas. Women struggle with the insecurities of never being able to achieve the ideal body shape because the pictures are processed through Photoshop. This is also influenced on younger girls as they make every effort for a certain figure. In the novel, The Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver criticizes over-sexualization, by using elements of fiction to show that many men are blind

are clearly courageous, as she disobeys the law in order to help someone else. She is

Her family also grows with the introductions of new characters who become important parts of Taylor’s life. Two of these characters are her neighbors Edna and Virgie May, who let Taylor and Lou Ann leave “the kids with [them] on their front porch to be looked after... It was awfully convenient” (153). They always cheerfully assisted, and even when the child in her care was being attacked, Edna “saved her” (224). They aid Taylor many times, so she owes much to them. Another pair of characters whom the author acquaints Taylor with is Estevan and Esperanza. Almost immediately after they are introduced, they become great friends with her. Unlike many men she knows, she admits that she “...[likes] Estevan” (150), and he and Esperanza end up helping Taylor a great deal. A significant instance of this assistance is when Taylor is in danger of losing her child, Turtle. When she asks them if they will stay with her to provide “moral support” (264) during her search for a relative of Turtle’s that could help her, they “without hesitation...said they wanted to go with me” (264). Then, when she cannot find anyone, she asks them if they are willing to help her by pretending to be Turtle’s parents. This is a very dangerous task, but “they told [her], then and there, that they wanted to do it” (283). Taylor is indebted to them because they are always willing to support and help her

The Bean Trees Essay Benjamin Franklin once said, “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” Everyone would like to think that growth is something achievable by anyone, but sometimes growth may be restricted due to gender. Gender, an arguable concept which determines your identity, goes hand in hand with growth, a progressive development that is essential for humans. Without growth, we are burdened physically and mentally. Gender can affect your growth in many ways in which even being a female can restrict one from achieving improvement.

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.

Immigration Essay Immagine traveling 1,620 miles from your home country to escape danger just to find out your journey awaits even more danger. Also imagine you do make it to U.S, only to find out your chances of asylum are slim to none. A Pew Research center survey, a New York Times article, and a New York times documentary, all demonstrate the difficulties of the immigration process. These themes also tie into the book “The Bean Trees” by Barbara Kingsolver. Immigrating to the U.S is a dangerous process and is not fully supported by everyone there.

Taylor also experiences injustice in the society she has been living, “How can I just be upset about Turtle, about a grown man hurting a baby, when the whole day of the world is to pick on people that can’t fight back” (229). As Taylor learns more about the injustices of the world and the mothering, she becomes more disillusioned with the world and less sure of herself. This causes Taylor to rethink the world in different view which helps her see the world broaden. The dark side of the world can happen anywhere and to anybody, not only with the people she knows in Pittman. This also challenges Taylor about the motherhood.

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.

Firstly, a leading cause of the significant change that both women undergo is that they both understand each other’s complex life situations. Taylor confronts and understands Lou Ann’s fragile lifestyle, and how she has to cope with her divorce with her husband, Angel. For example, when Taylor first moves to Arizona, Lou Ann is unable to accept that Angel doesn’t want to live with her anymore. She believes that it is not possible for her to move on, but Taylor convinces her that he is not worth worrying about. Later in the novel, Angel asks Lou Ann to move in with him again, and, “She mulled it over and over, twisting the gold wedding ring around her finger. She had stopped wearing it about the time she started working at the salsa factory...

Everyone has a biological family, but sometimes people give up their children or when children grow up they sometimes decide to leave this biological family. But, this does not mean that these children have given up a family forever. According to dictionary.com, a family is “a group consisting of parents and children living together in a household”. This definition generates the idea that family does not have to be biological. In The Bean Trees, Kingsolver uses the intimacy between the character to suggest the idea that non biological families can be as strong or even stronger than biological ones.