Symbolism In The Bean Trees Kingsolver

While displaying doubt to her mother about being able to get the job Mr Walter was offering, her mother expresses her faith in Taylor on page 7 of The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver by saying, “The way I see it, a person isn’t nothing more than a scarecrow...the only difference between one that stands up good and one that blows over is what they are stuck up on.” She knows that Taylor can handle whatever challenges the job presents her with and wants her to realize that in herself she has the power to do it, now all she has to do is use what she knows to get the job. Mama says this to her in a knowing way, because while Taylor does not realize herself she can get the job, Mama knows she can. A few days after Mama tells her this, she uses her backbone she is “up on” and tells Mr Walter that since he hasn’t made his mind up, she is going to be doing the job. Mama lights a fire in Taylor she didn’t know she had by saying this quote, that she takes to heart throughout the rest of the novel.

Because flowers go in cycles of life and death, we can look to them as archetypes. The cycle is really closely related to the circle which is a very prominent archetype in the world today and the past. The other thing I think of when I hear the word flowers is gardens. When I looked for the garden archetype I found that gardens symbolize love and fertility (YourDictionary 2). Flowers and gardens also have many symbols associated with them depending on who you ask.

My symbols are flowers, plants, and gardens. Flowers symbolize beauty, youth, strength, and gentleness (Melani 1). Gardens symbolize growth, feminine, protection, and miracles (Fraim). Plants symbolize life, afterlife, strength, and stability (Lipson).

In the famous poem The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus, America is deemed a land of “world wide welcome” for those who seek a new place to call home. The Statue of Liberty is established early on in the piece as a symbol of freedom and protection, a statue symbolic of the spirit of America. In the piece, Lazarus refers to immigrants as the “poor, huddled masses” to whom the United States offers a pair of open “golden doors.” However, many immigrants today feel far removed from the land of freedom referenced in The New Colossus. The promise of a blue sky with endless possibilities is far from reality for the Americans that the poem calls the huddled masses. It is clear that America’s promise of freedom and opportunity, characterized by the

Secondly, Barbara Kingsolver want to defend the ideas of alternative parenthood. In The Bean Trees, Kingsolver implicates many forms of parenting option such as single motherhood, teenage pregnancy, and adopted families. In the society in which The Bean Trees take place, a lot of these alternate forms of parenting are look down upon and are considered ‘less than’ when compared to a traditional

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.

Taylor takes in Turtle, her new daughter, and begins to care and love her even though she knows nothing about Turtle and her past life; demonstrating how Kingsolver believes anybody can move on from a tough past if somebody is there and cares about them. Taylor asks the manager of the bed and breakfast she wishes to stay at: “you won't mind if I just bring the poor kid in here to warm up while you decide”(22). Even though Taylor has just been given Turtle

Starting right now, you’ve only got one Ma in the whole world,” (Kingsolver 302). Taylor made a comeback to Turtle calling Esperanza by “Ma” by telling Turtle that she only has one “ma” in the world and that’s is Taylor. Taylor was a character that was acting as a mother figure only to Turtle. Even though she had a child, Taylor was still a child inside that tried to avoid pregnancy.

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.

Lou Ann disagreed and was happy for Taylor’s mother. Mrs. Parson later walked by with Edna Poppy and told Lou Ann that Angel visited their house. A day came to which Taylor could talk with Estevan, the man she's pining after. She apologized to him for the comments made by Mrs. Parson but it ends up being a sweet reunion. Eventually, the friends both receive unpleasant news.

The quote “Turtle shook her head.””Ban trees””, she said...Some of the wisteria flowers had gone to the seed, and all these wonderful long green hung down from the branches. They looked as much as beans as anything you’d ever care to eat.”Will you look at that”, I said. It was another miracle. The flower trees were becoming bean trees.” Turtle is represented as an unwanted burden but then develops into becoming more important to Taylor. The bean trees, that is also another name for the wisteria vine, represents transformation. The bean trees have a symbiotic relationship with the rhizobia bugs, that move up and down the wisteria vine roots to provide a network that gives nutrients. This mutual aid gives away the motif of family. The bean and bean trees show as the title connecting to new growth, giving away as the theme of the same subject of family. That can comply family apart of growing up. The quote “She watched me on the highway and entertained me with her vegetable-soup song,except that now there were people mixed in with the beans and potatoes:Dwayne Ray,Mattie, Esperanza, Lou Ann, and all of the rest. And me, I was the main ingredient” shows how Turtle finally identifies Taylor as her mother and the completed

Kingsolver implies the importance of accepting help from others by portraying various relationships the characters build. The characters in the Bean Trees become united as a family by the mutual support they share despite the absence of blood-linked relationships. This idea of untraditional form of family is shown from the relationships Taylor builds. When Taylor first moved into Lou Ann’s house, Taylor felt extremely uncomfortable accepting help from anyone. By refusing help from the others, Taylor was isolating herself from all the connections people around her were making. However, when she starts to feel comfortable relying on others, she considers the community as ‘family’. Change in Taylor is presented when she risks herself of being

Thee most inspiring issue or aspect of The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver, in my view, is the relationships and independence shown by the female characters. Women like Taylor and Lou Ann show a close and loving relationship towards each other. Individually, both of them show lots of strength and very little weakness emotionally from their day to day of their lives. They relate many ways since both are single moms taking care of a child by themselves. The independence shown by these two is remarkable even by our modern world.

The mother/daughter relationship between Mrs. MacTeer and her two daughters, Claudia and Frieda, is loving and strong. They are taught their own self-worth through their mother’s strength and example, although this love isn’t fully appreciated by the girls until they are older. During Claudia’s illness, she is treated with a mixture of concern and anger. Although Claudia is scolded and her mother complains of cleaning her vomit, at the same time her mother is nursing her, giving her medicine, and checking on her throughout the night. Claudia discovers later that her mother’s anger is not directed at her, but at the world, as she must raise her black family in a world ruled by white culture. She protects her children and equips them for survival in a hostile environment.

Taylor responded to an ad on a newspaper renting a room from Lou Ann Ruiz. Who they later find out they both came from Kentucky. Lou Ann, husband had just left her, and her young son, Dwayne Ray. Taylor and Turtle provide a sense of family for each other which shows her quick conformity. The women's friendship, the relationships that they develop with other characters, and the creation of a home in an unexpected place provide the main themes in the novel.