The Theme of Uncertain Journey in the Bean Trees
Uncertain journeys are numerous in Barbara Kingsolver’s The Bean Trees. Many characters in the novel put their current lives aside to go off in hopes of finding a better one.
By embarking on these journeys, the plot lines begin and end with risk taking. Taylor’s move away from Pittman and her taking Turtle, Louann not going after her husband, and the many risks of Estevan and Esperanza, create conflicts which drive the plot of The Bean Trees.
While growing up Taylor knows that she has no desire to live the life of the average young girl from Pittman. She says, “Mama always said barefoot and pregnant was not my style.”(3) Taylor finally decided to take a risk, she left her home and everything that she had known since growing up and started her old ‘55 Volkswagen out on the road for a new life. While in Oklahoma, Taylor recieved an Indian child from a woman claiming that the child's mom had died and that the baby girl had no one else. Taylor named the baby “Turtle” and headed out with her and risks that went with raising a baby. Finally settling in Arizona, Taylor had driven across the country with little money and taken a baby she knew nothing about. As if the risks weren’t enough already, the search for a job and a place to live were still ahead. Taylor finally found a room she loved, a room mate Louann, and, a job ironically in a local tire business.
Ever since she was a young girl Taylor had a fear of tires. She ...
Diane von Furstenberg once stated “I wanted to be an independent woman, a woman who could pay for her bills, a woman who could run her own life.” Independence plays a big role in being able to be successful in life. Taylor, a girl that can be described as “different ,” is a person who is a strong believer in doing things by herself. She moved out when she learned how to drive and never went back. She gains a child and soon settles down in Tucson Arizona, where she starts her own life. In the novel The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver, there are many obstacles Taylor goes through to set the theme of independence.
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
Taylor's fears In the story, The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingslover, we see a character named Taylor overcome several fears that she has. Taylor Greer, a woman who once saw a man being thrown several feet up into the air shortly after his tractor tire blew up, never really liked tires. She always seemed to think that the same thing might happen to her if she ever did something like, overfilling it too much with air. Her mom, who was fairly normal, decided to test Taylor's tire-changing skills shortly after she bought her ‘55 Volkswagen.
Working as a teacher serving at-risk four-year-old children, approximately six of her eighteen students lived in foster care. The environment introduced Kathy to the impact of domestic violence, drugs, and family instability on a developing child. Her family lineage had a history of social service and she found herself concerned with the wellbeing of one little girl. Angelica, a foster child in Kathy’s class soon to be displaced again was born the daughter of a drug addict. She had been labeled a troublemaker, yet the Harrisons took the thirty-hour training for foster and adoptive care and brought her home to adopt. Within six months, the family would also adopted Angie’s sister Neddy. This is when the Harrison family dynamic drastically changes and Kathy begins a journey with over a hundred foster children passing through her home seeking refuge.
Baby narrates her story through her naïve, innocent child voice. She serves as a filter for all the events happening in her life, what the narrator does not know or does not comprehend cannot be explained to the readers. However, readers have reason not to trust what she is telling them because of her unreliability. Throughout the beginning of the novel we see Baby’s harsh exposure to drugs and hurt. Jules raised her in an unstable environment because of his constant drug abuse. However, the narrator uses flowery language to downplay the cruel reality of her Montreal street life. “… for a kid, I knew a lot of things about what it felt like to use heroin” (10). We immediately see as we continue reading that Baby thinks the way she has been living her life is completely normal, however, we as readers understand that her life is in fact worse then she narrates. Baby knows about the impermanent nature of her domestic security, however, she repeatedly attempts to create a sense of home each time her and Jules move to another apartm...
There were many sacrificial elements that existed in The Bean Trees. Sacrifices that the characters in the novel made for the benefit of others or themselves. These sacrifices played a role almost as significant as some of the characters in the book. Some prime examples of these sacrifices are Mattie’s will to offer sanction to illegal immigrants, the fact that Taylor sacrificed the whole success of her excursion by taking along an unwanted, abused Native-American infant, and Estevan and Esperanza’s decision to leave behind their daughter for the lives of seventeen other teacher union members.
The Bean Trees is a novel which shows Taylor’s maturation; it is a bildungsroman story. Taylor is a developing or dynamic character. Her moral qualities and outlook undergo a permanent change. When the novel begins, Taylor is an independent-minded young woman embarking on an adventure to a new world. She has no cares or worries. She is confident in her abilities, and is determined to make it through life on her own. As she discovers new things and meets new people, Taylor is exposed to the realities of the world. She learns about the plight of abandoned children and of illegal immigrants. She learns how to give help and how to depend upon the help of others. As she interacts with others, those people are likewise affected by Taylor. The other developing characters are Lou Ann Ruiz, Turtle, and Esperanza. Together they learn the importance of interdependence and find their confidence.
Friar Lawrence should be blamed for the Tradegy of Romeo and Juliet because he acted to quickly. The Friar arranges for Romeo and Juliet to be married in secret, without thinking of the consequences of his actions. For instance, Friar hurriedly says ““…come, come with me, and we will make short work.””(2:4:101) Not only does Friar Lawrence marry Romeo and Juliet but he rushes their marriage. Although earlier he wisely states “wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast.” (2:3:101) Friar tells Romeo that slower is wiser, yet he rushes their wedding. Furthermore, the Friar is hiding Romeo after he has ki...
First, it was Friar Lawrence's fault Romeo and Juliet committed suicide. Friar Lawrence not only made one, but three mistakes that led to the death of Romeo and Juliet. He had gave a poison to Juliet, he trusted someone else with a letter of great importance to deliver to Romeo, and he fled to Juliet’s tomb, instead of trying to help her. Friar Lawrence was planning for Romeo and Juliet to be together but it did not end well. Friar Lawrence made the mistake of trusting a unstable fourteen year with a potion.
Her parents meet at a social gathering in town and where married shortly thereafter. Marie’s name was chosen by her grandmother and mother, “because they loved to read the list was quite long with much debate over each name.” If she was a boy her name would have been Francis, so she is very happy to have born a girl. Marie’s great uncle was a physician and delivered her in the local hospital. Her mother, was a housewife, as was the norm in those days and her father ran his own business. Her mother was very close with her parents, two brothers, and two sisters. When her grandmother was diagnosed with asthma the family had to move. In those days a warm and dry climate was recommended, Arizona was the chosen state. Because her grandma could never quite leave home, KY, the family made many trips between the states. These trips back and forth dominated Marie’s childhood with her uncles and aunts being her childhood playmates.
Jeannette Walls was born into a poor family who often had to live homeless and without food. The environment in which she grew up in is what gave her the characteristics she possesses. One trait that describes Jeannette is that she is very adventurous. Since she was constantly exposed to new surroundings, she became curious of them. While she was homeless in the desert, she would play a game with her father called Monster Hunting. She grew to not be afraid of anything, since she could fight off these so called “monsters.” Also, Jeannette is very decisive. To get away from Welch, a poor town in West Virginia, she made sure that she would get enough money to move to New York. She did this by getting a job to save up money for a bus ticket and for college. Along with this, Jeannette is very ambitious. She worked very hard to get accepted into college by working for the school newspaper, since she wanted to become a journalist. On the other hand, Melba Patillo was born into a middle class family who lived in Lit...
...uliet because he was a coward, secretive, and had a lack of communication with the other characters. Friar Lawrence had the potential to prevent the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, and instead, because of his choices, he caused them. Yes, the other characters may have contributed to Romeo and Juliet’s death, but Friar Lawrence caused it. The blame rests solely on his soldiers.
His dissections lead to one of the major discoveries of anatomy. Before Vesalius completed his book De Humani Corporis Fabrica, everyone in the medical community believed that Galen’s writings was complete truth. Even though we know now that Galen was wrong about a lot, everyone believed his writings without any evidence. That is what Vesalius brought to the medical and scientific community, evidence. Now, the scientific community is based on evidence and supporting that evidence. If Vesalius never dissected with his own hands, there is no telling where the knowledge of the human body would be right now. Vesalius achievements opened the path for knowledge and modern medical science, not only in anatomy but also in dissections and testing
Marie, who is a product of an abusive family, is influenced by her past, as she perceives the relationship between Callie and her son, Bo. Saunders writes, describing Marie’s childhood experiences, “At least she’d [Marie] never locked on of them [her children] in a closet while entertaining a literal gravedigger in the parlor” (174). Marie’s mother did not embody the traditional traits of a maternal fig...
As being noted, Friar Lawrence made an assortment of mishaps, which he could have made superior choices that lead to both Romeo and Juliet’s death. Point often overlooked, with his careless choices, he married Romeo and Juliet, he depended upon Friar John with a letter of essential information to be delivered to Romeo, and he took off when Juliet was in jeopardy at the tomb. Again and Again Friar Lawrence showed that his excessive mistakes and took Romeo and Juliet’s life. In the long run, Friar Lawrence is more to blame than anyone else for Romeo and Juliet’s death.