People face adversity everyday, whether it be at work, at school, at home, or just walking down the street. Adversity itself isn’t inherently bad or good, but most of the time when see adversity as having a negative connotation to it. Throughout the past, the present, and even fiction, we see how people react to adversity in different ways and we see the effects that this has on their lives. Using humanist philosophies from the REnaissance, The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver, and an article called “Inspired or Frustrated, Women Go to Work for Themselves”, it is clear to see that people challenge and persist in the face of adversity which leads to the development and acceptance of new social and economic standards. During the Renaissance, …show more content…
They believe that she is an anomaly. But Cereta explains that this is not the case at all. “Women have been able by nature to be exceptional, but have chosen lesser goals.” Women during this time period were perfectly capable of being as smart as men and being great philosophers, but because of how society was run, they chose not to in order to please the men and stay in line. Cereta wanted this to change. She wanted women to embrace their abilities and live up to their full potential. “Nature has generously lavished its gifts upon all people, opening to all the doors of choice through which reason sends envoys to the will, from which they learn and convey its …show more content…
Mattie, from “The Bean Trees” by Barbara Kingsolver, is a great example of women challenging the social standard of jobs being specifically male or female and proving it to be a ridiculous standard. Mattie was the owner of a used tire shop and an amazing mechanic- a very unlikely job for a women to have in the minds of society. “In Pittman if a woman tried to have her own tire store she would have been run out of business.” We live in a society that dictates what kinds of jobs are “feminine” and “masculine”. People don’t like it when we try to break these rules and create our own standards. Sometimes it is very astonishing to see someone breaking the rules of society. “I had never seen a woman with this kind of know how.” It was even unbelievable for another woman to see her doing this, even though women are the ones who advocate for equal rights and social standards. However, even though it may have been a weird sight to see, women are still very happy to see this. “It made me feel proud somehow.” Seeing Mattie challenging the standards of society inspired Taylor and made her feel better to be a woman. It made her realize that women can do jobs that have been dubbed “masculine” just as well as men
It is a large topic of discussion whether legality or morality is more important. Barbara Kingsolver poses this debate in her book The Bean Trees. This book takes place in the 1980s in Putnam County, Kentucky, and begins with Taylor, the main character, leaving her old house behind to start fresh. Taylor does not get the fresh start she is looking for and instead is given an unwanted responsibility of raising a child. Along her journey to find home, Taylor meets many new friends who help her. Through the illegal ways that Turtle Esperanza and Estevan are taken in by Taylor and Mattie, Kingsolver proves that with regard to family, morality is more important than legality.
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.
Moving out of your home can sometimes be a tough determination to make whether it is for a better living or finding jobs; most of the time, I find it brave to do so.
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.
During this time period, the idealistic view of a woman was running the household while the husband provided a source of income. For a woman not to follow this role, society deemed as untraditional. However, many women began to criticize this role because they believed they should be granted the same opportunities as men. For example, in Document 3, a woman can be seen working in a factory. This is an example of a woman breaking the traditional societal role to provide a source of income for herself, rather than having it be provided for her. Not only did a vast amount of women enter the workforce, but they also began to fight for more opportunities. They fought for opportunities such as equal education, pay, and political
A woman in the workplace was common but they did not receive the pay they deserved. Often, a woman’s job was the same as the previous male, but they did these jobs for 53% of the male’s pay. (Tolman) Eventually many woman and men went on strike demanding equal pay.
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.
Until the last hundred years or so in the United States, married women had to rely on their husbands for money, shelter, and food because they were not allowed to work. Though there were probably many men who believed their wives could “stand up to the challenge”, some men would not let their wives be independent, believing them to be of the “inferior” sex, which made them too incompetent to work “un-feminine” jobs. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, feminist writers began to vent their frustration at men’s condescension and sexist beliefs. Susan Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers” and Zora Neale Hurson’s “Sweat” both use dialogue to express how women are capable of and used to working hard, thinking originally, being independent
The novel challenges the contradicting sides of the expectation and reality of family and how each one contains a symbiotic relationship. The ideal relationship within families differ throughout The Bean Trees. Kingsolver focuses on the relationship between different characters and how they rely on each other to fill the missing gaps in their lives.
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 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.
Society continually places specific and often restrictive standards on the female gender. While modern women have overcome many unfair prejudices, late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century women were forced to deal with a less than understanding culture. Different people had various ways of voicing their opinions concerning gender inequalities, including expressing themselves through literature. By writing a fictional story, authors like Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Henry James were given the opportunity to let readers understand and develop their own ideas on such a serious topic.
...d women’s biological purpose has provided men a source of comparative advantage in work. It is, therefore, natural for most companies to think that women cannot be as capable as men in terms of assuming strenuous or challenging positions because women, by default, become less participative and more vulnerable when they start to have family and children. Apparently, this situation has led to various gender discriminations in the labor market.
People don't truly accept life for what it is until they've actually tasted adversity and went through those misfortunes and suffering. We are put through many hardships in life, and we learn to understand and deal with those issues along the way. We find that life isn't just about finding one's self, but about creating and learning from our experiences and background. Adversity shapes what we are and who we become as individuals. Yann Martel's Life of Pi shows us that adverse situations help shape a person's identity and play a significant role in one's lief by determining one's capabilities and potential, shaping one's beliefs and values, and defining the importance and meaning of one's self.
The role women play in today’s society is a drastic change from the previous role. Women used to be confined to the superiority of the man. Physically, mentally, and emotionally abused, belittled, embarrassed, and silenced. These are just a few examples of the emotion from the isolated treatment of the past. A woman’s role in today’s society is more valued than ever before.