Gender Stereotypes In Barbara Kingsolver's The Bean Trees

In her romance novel The Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver discusses the importance of family and friendship. The protagonist Taylor Greer escapes her home in Pittman County to live a more fulfilling life elsewhere. She arrives in the Cherokee Nation where she is handed a baby. She names the baby Turtle and drives to Tucson where she stops by Jesus is Lord Used Tires and meets Mattie, the owner. The tire shop doubles as a sanctuary and protects illegal immigrants. Kingsolver uses the motif of birds to symbolize the illegal immigrants and emphasize a theme of salvation. Taylor moves in with a self-deprecatory, single mother named Lou Ann Ruiz. Lou Ann changes her negative attitude over the course of the book, which adds on to the theme of backbone and internal strength. Turtle develops an attachment to vegetation, a motif of the novel that symbolizes growth and rebirth. Taylor, Turtle, Lou Ann’s son Dwayne Ray, and Lou Ann’s family-like qualities illustrates Kingsolver’s themes of a true home and family. At the end of the novel, Taylor faces a difficult situation in which she Taylor could lose Turtle to further highlight Kingsolver’s theme of true family. Kingsolver presents the tension between legality and morality through the depictions of her characters’ choices and values. In doing so, she underscores the message that shared morality, rather than legality, defines and creates a better family.

Esperanza and Estevan had a rough past, including losing a child and having to run from their tyrannical government that they eventually told Taylor about. Taylor became overwhelmed when she learned their story that she thought “All of Esperanza’s hurts flamed up in my mind, a huge pile of burning things that the world just kept throwing more onto. Somewhere on that pile was a child that looked just like Turtle.” (Kingsolver, 147).

Epiphanies are central to the plots of many novels. In the novel The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingslover, the main character, Taylor Greer, has an epiphany that changes the course of her life. After Turtle is traumatized in the park, Taylor withdraws from her and the rest of the world, believing that no nothing she does truly matters. As Turtle improves, Taylor realizes that her positive actions do make the world a better place. When Turtle begins to talk again, Taylor has an epiphany and realizes that every small compassionate action is important and that even she can help make the world a better place. As a result of her epiphany, Taylor is more willing to help others. The positive results of Taylor’s epiphany are first shown when she decides to fight for custody of

Barbara Kingsolver uses irony and ____ in order to show differences in the roles of parents. Missy leaves her hometown and stops in a town to eat food. While there, a woman tries to give her a baby.

The novel is described as a coming of age story starring a young, insecure black girl. Living in the south and in California during the 1930’s and 1940’s, Maya was exposed to the harsh and limiting effects of racism. As young kids, Maya and Bailey struggle with being abandoned by their biological parents. For some time, their grandmother is the only influential figure in their lives. Their grandma, who is eventually called “Momma” runs a general store in Stamps, Arkansas. Maya spends time at her Momma’s store, watching the cotton-pickers travel to and from the working fields.

Throughout the novel, the author, Barbara Kingsolver, uses various stylistic devices to create complex, symbolic, and significant literature that is also rich in meaning. In the assigned passage, Kingsolver incorporates several literary devices to capture the audience’s attention and leave them with something to think about post reading.

Passage: He told me that the national symbol of the Indian people in Guatemala was the quetzal, a beautiful green bird with a long, long tail. I told him I had seen military macaws at the zoo, and wondered if the quetzal was anything like those. He said no. If you tried to keep this bird in a cage, it died (189)."

Barbara Kingsolver’s modern romance, The Bean Trees, tells the story of a young woman named Taylor Greer. Taylor is born in a small rural town and “gets away” so she can do bigger and better things. While driving cross-country, a woman leaves her a small child. Taylor raises names and raises this child, Turtle. She moves in with another single mom and works for Mattie, a woman who smuggles refugees. Taylor has multiple moments of lost innocence as she learns the true evils of the world, and she uses this to grow into a stronger person. In her novel, The Bean Trees, Kingsolver juxtaposes characters and settings that uphold gender stereotypes and that challenge them in order to convey the notion that those who break traditional gender roles

Within the novel Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver, the reader is introduced to a young women named Marietta, Missy, and she later on renames herself Taylor. Taylor story is much like a coming of age story, and she many new lessons along the roads of life. She learns how to deal with unforeseen troubles, phobias, and the many forms of love, and because these inner actions she learned to see a new outlook on life.>>>>

Geographical facts and information present in the novel came from Kingsolver’s knowledge of the area. “Hughes Walker was no Kentucky boy” (Kingsolver 4). This quote acknowledged Kingsolver’s ability to distinguish the types of people who did and did not live in the area. The adventurous childhood Kingsolver had and the area she grew up in helped influence her to write The Bean Trees. Her longing for adventure carried over to Taylor and her personality. Kingsolver described some of the perils Taylor would take. “When I was just the littlest kid I would go pond fishing on a Sunday and bring home the boniest mess of blue-gills and maybe a bass the size of your thumb…” (Kingsolver 3). One big adventure Taylor went on was her decision to drive until she found a comfortable place that she would call her forever home. Along with these two prominent factors of her childhood, Kingsolver and her family also moved across the world to Africa, where she learned about another culture.

The novel “The Bean Trees” follows the lives of Taylor Greer, and her housemate Lou Ann Ruiz as they struggle with the challenges of single motherhood and the search for their identity and place in the world. In contrast to Taylor’s boldness and confidence is Lou Ann’s timidness, skepticism, and low self-esteem. At the beginning of the novel, Lou Ann has no confidence in herself or her abilities to get along without her husband Angel, or be a good mother. But when Taylor and Turtle move in with Lou Ann and her son Dwayne Ray, Lou Ann slowly begins to regain her self-esteem and independence as she and Taylor come to rely on, encourage, and effectively support each other through their similar upbringing and shared experiences. Although she doesn’t

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.

“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,

In the book The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver, the wisteria vine functions as a symbol of Turtle’s growth throughout her journey, as well as the people that have helped her along the way. When Turtle is first given to Taylor, she is agonized and timid, without a clue of whom she can look to as a motherly figure. Taylor remarks how “the most amazing thing was the way the child held on... to [her]… it’s little hands like roots sucking on dry dirt.” (22) Turtle’s horrible past has mentally scarred her. She views Taylor as safety and is relying on her for care. Turtle’s need for Taylor is similar to a plant’s need for water. Neither can survive without the other. As time progresses the duo bonds more closely, and Turtle begins to open up. One

The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver, is her first novel, published in 1988. It is a novel that tells the story of a young girl who leaves her hometown to create a new life for herself. Along her journey, she finds a group of friends who offer endless love and support, allowing her to fulfill a happy life. Although she is presented with many obstacles, she is determined to continue her journey, in which she is faced with a lift-changing decision. Taylor Greer, the protagonist in the novel, must take on the challenges of motherhood and accept her newfound responsibilities. In the novel, The Bean Trees, the author uses the key literary elements of setting, character development, and theme to create interest in a young woman’s journey through life.