Analysis Of The Bean Trees By Barbara Kingsolver

In Anne Tyler’s “Teenage Wasteland,” the reader is given insight into the difficulty of parenting through Daisy’s desperate attempt to stop her son from his seemingly uncontrollable downward spiral. The paranoia of her “perfect” parenting techniques leads to the tainting of Donny’s innocence over time and eventually his mysterious disappearance at the end of the story. Through symbols of innocence and corruption, Tyler demonstrates the importance of keeping one’s head clear and focused while parenting, and that using common sense and logic is far more effective than relying on idealism and hope.

In the beginning Taylor was determined to have her freedom, but once Turtle comes into her life she recognizes the worth in caring about someone other than herself. Taylor is more compassionate and loving thanks to Turtle.

Parenting played a big role in shaping the two boys lives. Having a parental mentor is important because they assist and guide children to take the right decisions about their lives. The author had his two parents at the beginning of his life. Also, the author’s parents, especially his mother, tried to raise him in an effective way wanting him to know the right from wrong at an early age. “No mommy loves you, like I love you, she just wants you to do the right thing” (Moore 11). This quote was a live example of the author’s life with his parents. It reflected the different ways his parents used to teach him “the right thing.” Though his mother was upset from his action toward his sister, his father

Although Twyla and Roberta both struggled with mother issues, they develop different reactions yet similar solutions to their troubles. During her stay at the youth shelter,

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.

In the novel The Usual Rules by Joyce Maynard, Wendy is faced with many questions following her mother’s death. She is faced with self-actualizing and becoming independent as well as self-sufficient without the aid of a strong maternal or paternal figure. Following the aftermath of 9/11, instead of responding to the events in an emotionally selfish way, Wendy attempts to fill the void left by her mother by nurturing and caring for Louie in Josh’s absence. The largest factor in Wendy’s change in behavior is the effect of the relationships she makes whilst living in California.

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.

Lou Ann is another character who shows female strength throughout the book. She is a single mother, but she feels she can’t do it alone because of her low self esteem. Lou Ann thinks she needs a husband around her to help with her child, but she finds herself realising she is just as capable with or without a man around. “And it struck her that his presence was different from the feeling of women filling up the house. He could be there or not and it hardly made any difference. Like a bug or a mouse scratching in the cupboards at night-you could get up and chase after it, or just go back to sleep and let it be. This was good she decided.” (page 65). Lou Ann starts to gain confidence as a mother. As soon as she sees Taylor question her confidence about whether or not she is good for Turtle she swoops in and tells her “You fight back, Taylor. Nobody picks on you and lives to tell the tale.” (Page 179), And “Well, don’t feel like the one ranger,”she said. “Nobody is.”. When Taylor is having legal issues with turtle, she starts to lose hope again, so Lou tells her, “When I met you, that first day you came over here, I thought to myself, ‘Bonita Jankenhorn, roll over. This one is worth half a dozen of you packed up in a box and gift-wrapped.’” She explains how highly she thinks of Taylor and that she needs

Mothers are pictured as the care giver of the families and the ones who love their children unconditionally no matter the situation. They’ll do anything to support their family and raise their children right. In “The Queen of Mold” by Ruth Reichl, the mother in the story is pictured as the one who makes a meal almost out of nothing, just to provide and have something on the table for her family. Even though the food she cooks is moldy, this is how she demonstrates her motherly love.. In “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, the mother is portrayed at first as an over excited mother waiting for her over achieving daughter Dee. As the story progresses the excitement for the daughter starts to go away and her motherly love towards Dee becomes complicated because Dee thinks she is greater and much smarter than the rest. Both of the stories depict complex motherhood, in Reichl story her mother’s love becomes complicated when she cooks food for the guest and her daughter tries to save the guest from being killed, while by the end of Walker story she only has love for the one daughter that has always been by her side and that’s Maggie.

The percent of single parents in the United States is about 12 million with 80.6% of them being single mothers and 45% of them being divorced. The amount of children who are living with single parents is uncalled for but unfortunately it is starting to be a normal thing for children to be living with one parent. In the novel The Bean Trees, Lou Ann Ruiz is a perfect example of the hardships of being a single mother. In the novel The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver, Lou Ann Ruiz is a sympathetic character. The readers are shown that through her having experience in life, giving advice, and opening up to other easily. Lou Ann is a very strong and sympathetic character because she understands others and has experienced life in different ways

Mothers are typically seen as kind, loving, and nurturing, at least in a perfect world, that’s how they are. Rather, in the real world many of us wish that is how all mothers are. Various situations can lead to a woman to be too mothering. It is a factor that transcends real life. This conflict causing dynamic is very prevalent in numerous stories, films, and plays. Two plays where it is shown in significance are Machinal and The Glass Menagerie. In both cases, the actions taken by the mother roles in the shows, resulted in some of the character’s roles ending in unfortunate events of some sort.

Lou Ann is a character that was introduced in the second chapter. Lou Ann is single and has a son whom she loves. Lou Ann met Taylor later on with the book and got in a huge mutual

“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,

"You think because I am her mother I have a key, or that in some way you could use me as a key? She has lived for nineteen years. Over and over, we are told of the limitations on choice--"it was the only way"; "They persuaded me" and verbs of necessity recur for descriptions of both the mother's and Emily's behavior. " In such statements as "my wisdom ! came too late," the story verges on becoming an analysis of parental guilt. With the narrator, we construct an image of the mother's own development: her difficulties as a young mother alone with her daughter and barely surviving during the early years of the depression; her painful months of enforced separation from her daughter; her gradual and partial relaxation in response to a new husband and a new family as more children follow; her increasingly complex anxieties about her first child; and finally her sense of family balance which surrounds but does not quite include the early memories of herself and Emily in the grips of survival needs. In doing so she has neither trivialized nor romanticized the experience of motherhood; she has indicated the wealth of experience yet to be explored in the story’s possibilities of experiences, like motherhood, which have rarely been granted serious literary consideration. Rather she is searching for

The mother begins to rebel against tradition by taking an active role in educating and freeing herself. Through her radio, telephone and trips out with her sons she develops her own opinions about the world, the war, and the domination and seclusion of woman. She loses her innocence as a result to her new knowledge and experience.