Social Morals In Barbara Kingsolver's The Bean Trees

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

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.

At one point or another we have all wondered how we are going to get past a certain obstacle in life. One of those obstacles that are impossible to overcome by yourself, one that requires another person to help you push through that hard time. Similar situations are faced by some of the characters in The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver. The Bean Trees is a tale of a girl named Taylor, who receives a baby from a stranger who is in need of help, this child's name is Turtle. Turtle helps Taylor enjoy the journey of motherhood and Taylor helps Turtle end her journey to find her parents and then Taylor drives Estevan and Esperanza to Cherokee land and Estevan unintentionally helps Taylor get through her dislike in men. Throughout the story,

In the novel The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver, The author depicts Taylor as a romance hero who is caring, supportive and curious or Turtle and her past; Kingsolver uses Taylor’s care and love of Turtle to prove how even with a dark past, one can move on and live a happy and healthy life.

Barbara Kingsolver once said, “Good fiction creates empathy. A novel takes you somewhere and asks you to look through the eyes of another person, to live another life” (Barbara Kingsolver Quotes). Contemporary Literary Criticism includes authors’ critiques of Kingsolver’s novel, The Bean Trees, agreeing this quote “…imbues the reader with giddy feelings” (“Barbara Kingsolver”). Published in 1988, Kingsolver takes the reader on an emotional roller coaster with a manifold of feelings. Her novel, filled with friendship and survival, is set in the barren American Southwest, focusing on Taylor Greer’s search for a new life as she traveled across the country (“Barbara Kingsolver”). Kingsolver’s adventurous childhood in Kentucky, eye opening

Marietta embarks on her journey west in a 1955 Volkswagen with a pledge to get away from Kentucky. She fulfills a promise she has made when she changes her name to "Taylor" after passing through a town named Taylorville. While traveling in Oklahoma, she acquires a three year old

Taylor, a character in The Bean Trees from rural Kentucky that was born in raised in the South is an individual Barbara Kingsolver can relate to, but this connection between the author and the character is not all that makes this book unique. Kingsolver Kingsolver also presents a variety of figurative language, such as symbolism, similes, and metaphors, which depict her Southern Dialect she was familiar with to express realism. The gender roles Kingsolver portrays is also unique; Kingsolver represents how women are very courageous and brave while being able to survive on their own, unlike The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien and In Cold Blood by Truman Capote where males serve as the dominant characters. What makes Kingsolver’s texts her

In The Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver uses characters and symbols to show that families are not genetically made up, rather built from love and support. As Kingsolver establishes the dynamic roles of Taylor Greer upon meeting Turtle and Lou Ann Ruiz throughout the novel, she also includes the symbolic significance of the rhizobia to illuminate the message of The Bean Trees.

She becomes more open-minded and less susceptible to other’s behaviors. Towards the beginning of the book, Taylor is a hotheaded and impetuous young woman. When Mrs. Parson’s insulted Estevan, it took Taylor’s every ounce of strength to stop herself from being disrespectful. She mentions “If Mama hadn’t brought me up to do better, I think I would have told that old snake to put down her fork and get her backside out the door.” (Kingsolver 111). After moving in with Lou Ann Ruiz and Dwayne Ray, Taylor begins to fully understand the importance of family. At the start of the book, Taylor felt as if love was unreliable and deceitful. Her father had left her mom long before Taylor’s birth. Her suspicions are even strengthened when she witnesses all the broken families in her town. However, after meeting Estevan, Taylor realizes that there are always good people in the world. Despite facing multiple tragedies such as the death of close friends and losing their only daughter Ismene, Estevan and his wife Esperanza maintain their welcoming nature and compassion. Instead of turning bitter and reclusive, they use this as an opportunity to get stronger and better. Taylor witnesses this and uses it as a motivation to never lose

Imagine trying to flee your country in the pursuit of freedom and a better life? The Bean Trees is about Americans who have different thoughts about immigrants coming to the United States. Barbara Kingsolver defines the immigrant experience in The Bean Trees through discrimination, making friends, and protecting those in need.

Marietta was brought up in a residential community in Kentucky. When she turned into a grown-up, she chose she required a change. She needed an alternate name and a better place to call home. She got in her Volkswagon, began driving, and on this trip she transformed her name to Taylor. An outsider gave her a three year old Indian youngster to deal with, who she names Turtle. The two at

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.

The Bean Trees is the non-fictional book created by Barbara Kingsolver, who illustrates many themes that can be portrayed in today’s world and societies. Kingsolver incorporates her personal beliefs and issues that occurred in the past or present in her writings when she makes books. In this this book the bean trees we learn about immigrants and social status, and different types of families and friendships. This essay will mainly be looking at the themes of strong female characters, motherhood, and survival and disasters.

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.

“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