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Bean trees research paper
How culture affects beliefs and attitudes
Bean trees research paper
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The term ‘heritage’ refers to a person's ethnic or cultural background, and also to a cultural aspect or tradition that passes down through generations. Heritage provides self awareness and clarity of one’s identity. The impact of heritage can be positive and negative, and is evident in many aspects of one’s life. Heritage can influence how one person perceives another. In addition, heritage impacts one’s ability to feel socially accepted. Further, heritage can play a role in determining how one makes decisions, and how one feels about themselves. Different aspects are of one’s identity are shaped by one’s heritage. A person’s heritage can lead to discrimination by others, but can also provide a sense of community. Estevan and Esperanza are …show more content…
Lou Ann, a woman who lives in Tucson, Arizona, invites Esperanza and Estevan to her house, along with Edna Poppy and Ms. Virgie Parsons. As Lou Ann and Estevan talk about Estevan’s job, Ms. Parsons reveals her negative view on immigrants, which is a direct attack against Estevan, “Well, it’s the truth. They ought to stay put in their own dirt, not come here taking up jobs.”(Kingsolver, ch. 7) Immigration is part of Estevan’s heritage that makes him subject to discrimination. Ms. Parsons believes that immigrants should not come to the U.S and take jobs away from Americans. Lou Ann and Estevan are talking about Estevan’s job, so Ms. Parsons comment is directly relevant to him. Although one’s heritage can negatively affect someone, it can also provide a safe haven for those without a backup plan. Taylor Greer, a strong willed Kentuckian, tells her mom that she is going to leave for Pittman County, in The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver. After she finalizes her plan …show more content…
MeiMei is a young girl growing up in a Chinese-American household, in The Rules of the Game, by Amy Tan. As MeiMei and her mom are talking, she asks her mom a vague question about what Chinese people do, and her mom replies with an answer that is correlated with the Chinese heritage,“Chinese people do many things,” she said simply. “Chinese people do business, do medicine, do painting. Not lazy like American people.” (Tan 2) MeiMei is influenced by this statement because she thinks in order to keep true to her heritage, choosing one of these occupations is a good idea. MeiMei is pressured to fulfill her Chinese heritage which narrows her ability to create her own life, inspired by her own interests. In addition to influencing the activities one strides for, heritage can impact one’s self image if one is not able to live up to the expectations of his/her family. Jing-mei Woo, a young girl being pushed to the limits by her mother, grows up in a Chinese American household, in “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan. In Jing-mei Woo’s household, her mom’s main goal is to make her a genius. Due to the Chinese heritage, Jing-mei Woo’s mother stops at nothing to train her into a prodigy. One night, Jing-mei Woo is forced to recite bible verses, but she fails after the first line and reflects on her mental state during the experience,
Taylor Greer has lived in Kentucky all her life. Yet, the life available to her in Kentucky is not what she always dreamed of: "none of these sights had so far inspired me to get hogtied to a future as a tobacco farmer's wife" (3). Living with her mother, Taylor becomes more independent and striven to find a better life. Taylor's father disappeared before she could even remember what he looks like: "And for all I ever knew of my own daddy I can't say we weren't except for Mama swearing up and down that he was nobody I knew and was long gone besides" (2). Taylor's father's abandonment contributes to Taylor's dislike in men: "To hear you tell it, you'd think man was only put on this earth to keep urinals from going to waste" (112). She does not trust any men and Kingsolver displays this by not adding many male characters to the novel. Taylor feeling of being abandoned by her father scars her, even thought she does not express it clearly.
Sister Kay Haver explains, "the Refugees realize that the suffering is not over when they arrive in the US” (Mehri). As a member of the Sanctuary's Educational Committee, which helped to create a safe haven for immigrants, Haver describes the obstacles Guatemalan immigrants faced once they escaped to the United States. The Guatemalan Civil War involved extreme violence and pressure from the government, which fought mostly against leftist rebels. The Guatemalan Government has been proven guilty for the genocide of these people. The government targeted mainly poor, indigenous Mayans, similar to Estevan and Esperanza in The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver. Kingsolver grew up in rural Kentucky and briefly lived in the Congo during her childhood. The novel tells the story of a young woman who leaves Kentucky for Arizona and picks up a deserted young child along the way. The book relates to her experiences throughout her life as she wrote it at night while she struggled with insomnia during the pregnancy of her first child. The story features two refugees from Guatemala, Estevan and Esperanza, whom Taylor helps out during their struggles in the United States. These immigrants often find themselves in danger of being abducted, which creates tremendous instability in their lives. Esperanza and Estevan also cannot return to Guatemala or out of fear that their old government will kill them. Taylor is invaluable to the couple, and because most immigrants did not have this advantage when coming to America. Despite this assistance, their lives are still stressful just like the lives of many immigrants that came to the United States from Guatemala at this time. While America may be a safe haven for certain immigrants, Mayan refugees from Gua...
One might think, based on the cultural importance of individualism in the United States, that a person can lead a successful life without any companions or loved ones. However, in The Bean Trees, author Barbara Kingsolver shows otherwise. Through the development of a flowering plant motif in this novel, the world is shown to be a place where people need others who love and care for them to live a fulfilling life. The motif of flowering plants develops meaning through the author’s continued use. Kingsolver introduces this motif in the chapter “The Miracle of Dog Doo Park” when the wisteria blossoms out of the seemingly hostile environment of the polluted, parched park. The word “miracle”
In Barbara Kingsolver’s, The Bean Trees, several of the main characters encountered issues concerning immigration, the American Dream, and racial prejudice. Quite often, these themes parallel events that took place in American history, thus making The Bean Trees a retelling of the story of America.
In the short story, "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan, a Chinese mother and daughter are at odds with each other. The mother pushes her daughter to become a prodigy, while the daughter (like most children with immigrant parents) seeks to find herself in a world that demands her Americanization. This is the theme of the story, conflicting values. In a society that values individuality, the daughter sought to be an individual, while her mother demanded she do what was suggested. This is a conflict within itself. The daughter must deal with an internal and external conflict. Internally, she struggles to find herself. Externally, she struggles with the burden of failing to meet her mother’s expectations. Being a first-generation Asian American, I have faced the same issues that the daughter has been through in the story.
To begin with, Tan warns the reader of the mother’s hopes of the American Dream making the reader be suspicious of results of the dream. She starts with saying, “my mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America… You could buy a house with almost no money down. You could become rich. You could become instantly famous” (Tan). The first paragraph takes us to the beginning of her mother’s journey of attempting to making Tan extraordinary, “At first my mother thought I could be a Chinese Shirley Temple. We 'd watch Shirley 's old movies on TV as though they were training film”. Jing-mei admits she liked the “prodigies” that her mother put her through because she thought she was always close to being the “perfect daughter” to her demanding parents. She tried reading difficult books and memorizing parts of the bible to impress
In any given culture, people are proud of their heritage. However, when an individual of one group meets with people of another, and the element of ignorance is added, the individual will be socially ostracized. Of mixed descent, Rayon...
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.
In the novel, The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver, we watch as Taylor grows a great deal. This young woman takes on a huge commitment of caring for a child that doesn't even belong to her. The friends that she acquired along the way help teach her about love and responsibility, and those friends become family to her and Turtle. Having no experience in motherhood, she muddles through the best she can, as all mothers do.
It has often been suggested that some southwestern literature is based on the experiences of others. With this suggestion, it has been demonstrated that these experiences are incorporated with the intention of portraying the experiences of others as a learning tool; for both the reader and the writer. Some may also imply that literature, therefore, may impose a learning opportunity in itself. In correspondence with this belief, it must be suggested that the classic novel, The Bean Trees, could be considered a learning experience for the audience as well as Barbara Kingsolver in relation to the catalyzing character Marietta "Missy"/Taylor Greer along with additional inspirational characters that effect her and are likewise effected along the way.
Over the summer, St. Francis High School juniors were required to read Barbara Kingsolver's The Bean Trees. In this novel, the protagonist's name is originally Marietta Greer. She wishes to escape her small town life and did so by getting a job working at a hospital while saving money to get an old Volkswagen bug. Marietta finally leaves five years after her high school graduation. She changes her name to Taylor Greer when she leaves her hometown of Pittman County, Kentucky.
The story "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan is about a mother and daughter who have strong conflicting ideas about what it means to have a sense of self. This may be partly due to the mother growing up in China, which is a very different culture than the American culture where endless opportunities are available to anyone who wants to pursue them. Jing-mei's mother wants her daughter to be the best, a prodigy of sorts, and to have the kind of life, full of hopes and dreams that she did not have. In the beginning of the story Jing-mei liked the idea of becoming a prodigy however, the prodigy in her became impatient. "If you don't hurry up and get me out of here, I'm disappearing for good." It warned. "And then you'll always be nothing" (500). After disappointing her mother several times Jing-mei started to detest the idea of becoming a prodigy. The idea Jing-mei's mother had for her to become a prodigy was too much pressure for a small child and was something that Jing-mei was clearly not ready to be. As a result the pressure that her mother laid upon her only made Jing-mei rebel against her mother and she resisted in giving her best. Jing-mei did this because she only wanted her mother's love and acceptance for who she was not only what she could become. Furthermore, Jing-mei's point of view of being the kind of person that one can be proud of was very different from her mother's point of view.
Later on in the story after trying to live on her own with turtle and getting a job at a burger derby and getting fired she decides to find a roommate. Her and turtle have been getting along and Taylor is becoming more like a mother to her. She has looked for a couple of places to live but none really suit her that well. The last house she visits belonged to Lou Ann Ruiz whose husband(angel) left her and she now lives on her own with her new born baby. After getting to know each other for 10 minutes Taylor and Lou Ann immediately find a connection between one another. “ We had already established that our hometowns in Kentucky were separated by only two counties” (p.96) here both similar yet different characters tie into one main idea “home” Lou Ann and Taylor coming from different lives and people actually find out they are very similar and happen to both be from Kentucky. To Taylor Arizona is such a different atmosphere but yet still finds someone who ties into her old hometown, which brings out their similarities of the beans and
Since she is a participant narrator, it is easy for the readers to infer ideas from her implications. To begin with, Jing-Mei is a nine-year-old Chinese girl. Since she was born in the United States, she has adapted American values and individualistic beliefs. Just like the author, Amy Tan, Jing-Mei’s parents are both Chinese immigrants. It can be inferred that they both feel the pressure of two conflicting cultures. In fact, at the beginning of the story, she is as excited as her mother at the idea of being a prodigy. Actually, in the third paragraph of the story, Jing-Mei talks about her new-found enthusiasm: “In all of my imaginings I was filled with a sense that I would soon become perfect: My mother and father would adore me. I would be beyond reproach. I would never feel the need to sulk, or to clamor for anything.” (Tan, 223). Based on this quote, it can be inferred that her eagerness to tend to her mother’s wishes is to make her parents proud. However, according to Kate Bernheimer in her 1989 article, Overview of ‘Two Kinds,’ “she [Jing-Mei] must abandon her sense of her own unique identity, which is itself inchoate and unstable” (Bernheimer, 1). As this quote shows, Jing-Mei’s two cultures are conflicting. Specifically, Chinese cultures are more collectivistic in comparison to American cultures; which are individualistic. In other words, to be able to become a savant or a prodigy for her
Does heritage impact one’s identity? Yes, heritage plays an important role in the formation of identity, based on the following four reasons. First, is way of life or traditions; each person has a way of living that is slightly influenced by their heritage, and how one lives is directly related to one’s identity because it shapes who they will become. An example would be family traditions, like what clothing one wears, how one eats, and how one acts. Second, is religion; one’s religion is affected by their heritage because one often follows the same religion that their parents did, however, this is not always the case. Third, is name; one’s name is influenced by heritage because one’s name is usually a family name or a name that is typically a common name among their particular culture. Fourth, is worldview; heritage affects how one views society, which in turn affects identity because one might treat certain cultures with animosity, for example, someone