Social Critism in The Bean Trees
Throughout the novel, kingsolver shows that poverty is very prominent in the U.S, despite the fact that it is a very rich country. From the
beginning of the book the main characters mother is shown having to call the women she cleaned houses for miss. ".. I stamped my foot and
told my own mother not to call me Mariette but Miss Marietta, as I had to call all the people including children in the houses where she
worked to Miss this or Mister that."(p2) The fact that Taylor's mother had to clean other peoples homes, including their toilets, tubs,
and dishes. It is degrading to her and Taylor that she has to call the people she cleans for Miss or Mister because she doesn't have as
much money as they do. They treat her like she is in a lower class. Just because she doesn't have money does not give people the right to
treat them like low-class citizens. Everyone would be treated equally, and not judged on the size of their income.
in the end, their happy because they have each other. They don't need money to be happy. Taylor gets satisfaction out of helping her
friends. She moves in with her new found daughter Turtle to live with Lou Ann and her baby. Even though they didn't have too much
money, they managed to share the choirs, and live happily. They made each other happy and didn't need money to fill their lives with
joy. Things were fine the way they were. She Also helps Estevan and Esperenza move out of Tucson to a safer location where they can live
safely and not worry about being sent back to Guatemala, where living conditions are very poor. Even when Taylor was just a kid in school,
she was happy with her small group of friends that didn't have as much money as the more wealthy students. Even without very much money,
Taylor still managed to keep happy.
Taylor as a child was also alienated because she was less fortunate. While in school she was called a 'greaser', or 'nutter'. ".. And then
there was the rest of us, the poor kids and the farm kids.
...could not be there and to go back to the treatment center or don’t come back. He spent the next 20 days in a tiny, windowless room at the center called the “pot sink”. Washing dishes in that little room…Chris found the courage to recover.
Within this chapter, Barbara Ehrenreich experienced the maid’s life by becoming a maid. She was employed for three weeks by The Maids International in Portland. During her employment, she worked with team members to clean multiple houses. Cleaning up after the owners Ehrenreich subjected herself to “about 250 scrubbable
She sets out to explore the world that welfare mothers are entered. The point was not so much to become poor as to get a sense of the spectrum of low-wage work that existed-from waitressing to housekeeping. She felt mistreated when it was announced that there has been a report on “drug activity”, as a result, the new employees will be required to be tested, as will the current employees on a random basis. She explained feeling mistreated, “I haven 't been treated this way-lined up in the corridor, threatened with locker searches, peppered with carelessly aimed accusations-since junior high school” (Ehrenreich,286). The other problem is that this job shows no sign of being financially viable. Ehrenreich states that there is no secret economies that nourish the poor, “If you can 't put up the two months’ rent you need to secure an apartment, you end up paying through the nose for a room by the week” (286). On the first day of housekeeping, she is yelled and given nineteen rooms to clean. For four hours without a break she striped and remake the beds. At the end of the experience she explained that she couldn 't hold two jobs and couldn 't make enough money to live on with one as where single mothers with children. She has clarified that she has advantages compare to the long-term
wealth. Neither of these men had a considerable amount of money. This helps the every
Abandonment is a feeling known to many people. There are different types and levels of abandonment. In The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver, many characters have been introduced to the feeling of abandonment. Abandoning or being abandoned is constant in the novel and Kingsolver uses it to link all of the characters together.
Shipler, David K. The Working Poor: Invisible in America (Vintage). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition, 2008.
Ever since she was a young girl. Jeannette had set high goals for herself. Since she was so advanced in school and genuinely enjoyed learning, it made sense that she would want to do big things with her life. Whether it was being a veterinarian or a geologist, her dreams extended far beyond her homes in little desert towns or Welch, West Virginia. However, because of her poverty-stricken home life, many people believed it didn’t seem likely that she would be so successful. One day, while living in Welch, Jeannette goes to the bar to drag her drunk father back home. A neighborhood man offers them a ride back to their house, and on the ride up he and Jeannette start a conversation about school. When Jeannette tells the man that she works so hard in school because of her dream careers, the man laughs saying, “for the daughter of the town drunk, you sure got big plans” (Walls 183). Immediately, Jeannette tells the man to stop the car and gets out, taking her father with her. This seems to be a defining moment in which Jeannette is first exposed to the idea that she is inferior to others. Although this man said what he did not mean to offend her, Jeannette is clearly very hurt by his comment. To the reader, it seems as if she had never thought that her family’s situation made her subordinate to those
she is able to meet her twin sisters that have been missing from her life for over 30 years.
was no longer alone. She had friends to love her and guide her to the next
The book two dollars a day by Kathryn Edin is a book that highlights a spiraling poverty in America. One thing I feel contributed to the poverty talked about in the book is some types of American political culture. People in America who are in need of welfare often won’t take it until they have become so impoverished there is no other option due to the stigmas that come with welfare. American political culture also creates a persona for poor people it often paints them as lazy minorities that don’t want to work though they would be capable if they tried too. The pull yourself up by the boot straps mantra only creates more detestation for the poor and impoverished that already don’t seem to fit into the American dream.
Stories about life 's struggle to survive in everyday America can make one think twice of the American dream. In David Shipler’s book The Working Poor, David tells many different tales of people living in poverty and also analyzes what 's wrong and why. The book’s portrayal of the poor is not for the meek however, as one reviewer exclaims, “Through a series of sensitive, sometimes heart-rending portraits”, (Lenkowsky). In the book a lot of American ideologies are turned on its head as The Red Phoenix explains how our poor are viewed as, “Wealth and decadence are the tell-tale signs of hard work and brilliance paying off, while poverty is a sign of laziness, irresponsibility and a disposition or work-ethic undeserving of the
“Inequality is evident when looking at the earnings of the people at the top compared to the ones in the middle” (Inequality for All). The larger share of the nation’s income goes to the top unfairly, and leaves the rest struggling to get to financial levels they may or may not ever reach. This is the unjust system that exists in the nation which people pretend not to participate in so the poor can be blamed for their own issues. Most people participate in this system often involuntarily or unknowingly through turning their backs, taking larger pay cuts than necessary, and participating heavily in consumerism. Statistics from the video proved that “Seventy percent of the economy is consumer spending” (Inequality for all). While many of the working poor do in fact spend unnecessarily and unwisely it is unfortunate that they cannot enjoy the same pleasures as everyone else. The inequality in America is very apparent and the responsibility should be given to the top one percent and the government. It would be great if every person would step up and help make the nation great again by taking responsibility/accountability, and by creating a culture of justice, equality, and wealth. The video reported that in the year 1978 compared to 2010, the income of the typical worker differed by more than $345,000 (Inequality
Lee (her son), Ruth (his wife), Travis (their son), and Beneatha (Walters). younger sister). The younger family lived in poor conditions, and can't. afford to have better living standards. However, Lena is waiting to receive a $10,000 check from her late husband's insurance company.
From the start, there was Musacia who had two daughters and one son: Melody who was the youngest, Apollo middle child, and Vox who was the oldest, and they all had talents of their very own. They all lived in a beautiful palace close to a beautiful river. But all of Musacia’s children were loud and annoying to others. They also would sing over each other so it would cause a great racket in the palace. And she would yell up the steps of the palace “ everyone be quiet” and they would stop for only a second and begin to fight again and sing over each other again. So she gave them all jobs to do Melody’s was to keep the song going; Apollo's was to make the song have instrumental sounds; and Vox’s was to sing.
It is easier for wealthy people to pay for their needs, such as health care and dental care. If any abrupt situation approaches dealing with their health, a wealthy person will be financially stable to pay and fix it. According to an article, "Happiness Around The World: Is There More To It Than Money?" by Bozionelos, Nikos, and Ioannis Nikolaou, “One would expect that money is more important when it helps meet basic needs, and this should be especially true in poorer nations. However, as already seen, the relationship between income and general life satisfaction was mainly explained by whether material aspirations (such as buying luxury goods) could be fulfilled.” In other words, one’s concept of happiness can vary from nation to nation. For example, people living in poor nations and having a low income tend to be satisfied by having just enough to meet their necessities. While, on the other hand, people with higher income tend to be satisfied if they have enough to buy luxury goods. Being wealthy does not lead one to happiness; it can help some people to obtain happiness, but it can also lead others to have unwanted experiences. Having a minimum amount of money is necessary to be happy. Having the minimum amount of money to pay bills, have medical assistance, buy groceries, and clothing is considered as the basics needed for one to be happy. Money is a tool that can help a person obtain objects that can help him or her to have a comfortable life. However, money should not become the reason why a person is happy. Happiness comes within a person as a human being and money will never replace a friend, nor a loved