An Analysis Of Taylor's Quest In The Bean Trees

Taylor’s Quest In the book, The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver, the notion of a quest is very prevalent. According to Thomas Foster, a Quest consists of five things a quester, a place to go, a reason to go there, challenges and trials, and an actual purpose (Foster). Taylor Greer’s journey in The Bean Trees embodies Foster’s ideals through which she gains self-knowledge, learns to thrive and finds her place in the world. The Bean Trees has the structure of a quest. The protagonist or quester is Taylor Greer. Her place to go or destination of the quest is more of an idea rather than an actual place. It is the idea of a place free of oppression due to her gender and cultural background. She wants a place to start a new life. Taylor’s escape

Self-knowledge is the complete understanding of one’s moral standing, personal goals, and capabilities. By finding this, an individual is better equipped to handle life’s challenges with confidence in their abilities. Usually found in the last part of a quest, the protagonist’s realization of their “real” goal, or actual reason of the quest, brings self-knowledge. When a reader finds this, they realize the other stated goal was just a shallow act to move questers into certain places (Foster). Taylor found her place in the world and the book describes this realization, “She watched the dark highway and entertained me with her vegetable-soup song, except that now there were people mixed in Esperanza, Lou Ann and all the rest. And me. I was the main ingredient,” (Kingsolver 312). In this final crucial moment at the end, Taylor reveals that she finally realizes her purpose, her place, in Turtle’s, Lou Ann’s and everyone’s life. Her goal to escape Kentucky and not get pregnant transforms into a goal to help Turtle and herself thrive. However, Taylor finds another part of her life that she previously never thought possible. She falls short, fails, but around her there are people to lift her back up. The book states, “wisteria vines… often thrive in poor soil… Their secret is something called rhizobia. These are microscopic bugs that… suck the nitrogen gas right out of the soil and turn it into

Taylor had a goal, a reason to achieve it, had many challenges along the way and in the end found her reason to thrive. Had Taylor stayed in town, there is a good chance she would have followed the rest of her peers, getting pregnant ad married without any thought to the world outside. Taylor Greer learned that she could rise above small town culture, be herself and thrive. This can be a lesson to readers and critics that life is a quest, and the most important part of it is our development and to find our place in the