Barbara Kingsolver's The Bean Trees

The Bean Trees written by Barbara Kingsolver narrates the improbable journey of Taylor, a young woman from Kentucky, who quite suddenly finds herself thrust into parenthood to a tormented and abused Native-American baby in Tuscon, Arizona. Along the way, Taylor moves in with a confused and insecure single mother Lou-Ann and feeds off the courage and bravery of her next-door neighbor and employer Mattie. In addition to tackling parenthood, she finds herself immersed in the heartbreaking story of a desperate and despondent Guatemalan couple seeking asylum in the states. At this point in the novel, Taylor and Lou Ann have bonded over their humble Kentucky roots and essentially co-parent their children. Taylor is a calming influence on Lou Ann’s

By definition, a family is bound by relation, regardless of whether or not individuals are cared for and loved. However, Kingsolver rewrites this notion by the supportive and strong family that forms from unconventional roots; two single mothers, a lesbian couple, one of which is blind, a female mechanic, an illegal immigrant couple, and of course, an Indian and deeply abused toddler. Therefore, Kingsolver illustrates that a family is fostered out of love, protection, and admiration rather than bloodlines that bind people together. As a child, Taylor’s single mother instilled in her strength, courage, and fearlessness, and taught her never to succumb to the pressures that make one vulnerable. In the Doctor’s office scene, Turtle’s x-ray results expose clear contrast and heartbreak. It is evident that Turtle’s biological parents caused great harm and abuse to her fragile body, as she is littered with spiral fibular fractures and contraindications to her evolving psychomotor development (166). And, the physical scars are just scratch the surface to the fearful lens through which she sees the world at such a young age. Clearly, instead of a curious and carefree toddler, Turtle is a tragic child conscious of deep sexual and emotional abuse inflicted by her own parents. In this passage, Turtle is the bird trying to make a home for herself in the prickly “coat of yellow spines”, and