Examples Of Non Traditional Families In The Bean Trees

People often think of family as positive, loving, and with no flaws. However, there is almost a stereotype that all families love each other and there aren’t problems or challenges in a family. Sometimes families put people through challenges and some families aren’t “perfect”. In the book Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff, Jolly has two kids and goes through challenges with her family. Most careful readers can see how Jolly has these challenges with her kids and how she is far off from the “perfect” family. She goes through many of these challenges in life and finds a way to overcome them. Jollys family shapes her identity because the challenges she faces ends up making her stronger. Jeremy and Jilly challenging her, LaVaughn helping her out, and her past family all shape her identity.

How does one define family? Throughout our readings, we find ourselves learning the ideas of theorist, concepts, and definitions to help us define and describe what family is. The family could possibly be what or who we say they are, or in simpler Bozett’s term, who the patient says it is! (Plumer, 2010). A family could consist possibly of values, roles, communication, environment, and relationships. Families may transition through all of these principles that either unites them or tears them apart. For instance, the movie Mrs. Doubtfire portrays these perceptions of what family is when family processes are shifted within a household. We will now discuss in more detail of the family assessment found throughout the movie starring the Hillards.

In today’s society, family is often attempted to be organized within a social structure. Within this structure family typically is consisted of mom, dad, daughter, and son. However, many families do not fit into this configuration. These families may include same sex couples, separated or divorced families, extended families, or even blended families. Even though these families may be happy and healthy, to many they are not considered real families. Going along with the topic of imperfect families, both Barbara Kingsolver and Richard Rodriguez try to break down the traditional family structure through their writing. While Kingsolver’s “Stone Soup” and Rodriguez’s “Family Values” explore the ideas of different family structures and traditional American values, “Stone Soup” breaks down what an actual family is like while “Family Values” expresses the value of family in different cultures.

Stephanie Coontz in “The Way We Weren’t: The Myth and Reality of the Traditional Family” emphasizes that the traditional and ideal nuclear family widespread in media and textbooks are false and far from reality. In fact, it is common to see more similarities to the traditional family consistent of “male breadwinner and nurturing mother” (1) today than in the past.

All of these little details contribute to Kingsolver underlying message of the varied kinds of families that exist, and the importance they play. Ryan acknowledges that Taylor has always known that a father and mother and 2.3 children don't necessarily make a family (80). Taylor recognizes the existence and importance of makeshift families, and knows what can be gained from the love of others. Kingsolver repeated theme of the extended family and how it benefits and helps one grow, is evident throughout her novel. She uses Taylor to illustrate her belief in Socrates idea of the communal family, and how it is often the best thing for the upbringing of a child.

Everyone has a family of some kind. It may be the parents and siblings they were born with, or it could be the gang of six biologically unrelated elite drivers with an affinity for robbing banks at high speeds from Fast and the Furious. Ultimately, family is what people make of it, and it can be the ‘traditional’ two parents, one brother, one sister, and a dog named Spot, or it could be a woman and the kid she was left with. The term ‘traditional family' refers to the socially expected behaviors of each given role (for example, a mother taking her kid to the doctor,) in the family. Members of a traditional family in this case are either maritally or biologically related. Barbara Kingsolver’s The Bean Trees has many characters who would consider themselves, or be considered, part of different families. The Bean Trees addresses and deals with the fact that nontraditional families can be just as strong as what society has defined as a ‘traditional’ family.

A family consists of people with mutual respect, love, and passions for one another, conveys Barbara Kingsolver in her essay called the “Stone Soup”. She believes that a family isn’t necessarily bound by traditional concepts of happy marriages, rather she insists that this is a relatively new ideal in our society. A nuclear family is a representation of normal families; Kingsolver disagrees with this concept, and understands that today's norm are the non traditional families of the world. She writes this essay reminding non traditional families that there is nothing they need be ashamed of, ascertaining the parents that their families are complete

Motherhood In the book The Bean Trees, Taylor and Lou Ann have to make sacrifices to take care of their children. Most mothers do have to make sacrifices to give their children a great life, whether it is giving up a dream or getting a job. Taylor and Lou Ann are prime examples of great mothers. Taylor Greer receives a child when she is traveling around away from home.

In the first chapter of The Bean Trees, the main character Taylor Greer (a.k.a Missy or Marietta) is introduced and begins her adventure. Taylor is a gallant, cordial, and courageous young woman that was raised in an agrarian sector of Kentucky. She decided to leave her hometown in a spontaneous manner, however, this didn’t go as well as she would’ve liked. During her move, she stopped in Oklahoma and ended up with a baby that was given to her by a stranger. The only thing she has in common with this baby is having Cherokee blood in their veins.

In the novel The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver and the autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, both the authors write in the perspective of girls who overcome obstacles in their lives and gradually grow into strong women. Both girls eventually find their self-worth and the places to which they belong. Taylor, the main character of The Bean Trees, is a studious white girl who dreams of traveling to escape her hometown and to avoid being pregnant. The main character of the other book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Marguerite (Maya), is a black girl with strong sense of insecurity. Although these two girls have very different experiences and live in different time periods, they tread through similar path of struggle with perseverance and

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,

This is important due to her want for a traditional family, it slowly leads Taylor into thinking a traditional family isn’t so atrocious. As Lou Ann and Taylor establish a friendship, working together when, Lou Ann’s husband leaves her pregnant and goes off joining the rodeo like the mothers of the “1960-2016 period, the percentage of children living with only their mother nearly tripled from 8 to 23 percent” (Bureau). This leading to her being insecure in her new role as provider and mother to her son Dwayne Ray. She no longer has someone in charge telling her what to do and nobody to follow. This leads her to be more confident in herself as she starts to slowly become independent in taking care of Dwayne Ray. This is important for the sake of Taylor as she starts to become insecure and no longer confident in being a parent to Turtle. Lou Ann can give her the best advice and Taylor can easily understand as she saw Lou Ann’s journey in aggrandizing her confidence and independence. Because Taylor saw Lou Ann’s journey she can then apply this to her own journey in officially adopting

Times have changed; the nuclear family is no longer the American ideal because family needs have changed since the 1950's. This American convention of a mother and father and their two children, were a template of films and early television as a depiction of the American family life. Now seen as archaic and cliché by today’s standards, but the idea is common throughout many of the first world nations in the world. This ideal was a vast departure from the past agrarian and pre industrial families, and was modeled and structured as the ‘American dream’ father working, mother maintaining the household and children molded to be simulacra of the parents. This portrayal was not the standard; many communities throughout America had a different

Falicov, C.J., & Brudner-White, L. (1983). The shifting family triangle: The issue of cultural and

This paper will discuss the differences between families from the 1960’s and the families of today. There are many differences between the different times. I have focused on the parentage portion of the families. I explained what the ideal family is and how it is different today. I’ve also included ways that will help these families of today become stronger as a family.