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. Mattie sacrifices her business, her reputation, and her life to help out illegal aliens that are running, for one reason or another, from their original country. Most of these aliens are searching for a better life in America. Mattie assists them by providing them with housing, food, and medical attention whenever needed. She knows the consequences involved, and yet she perseveringly volunteers to give these people sanction. "There was another whole set of people who spoke Spanish and lived with her for various lengths of time. I asked her about them once, and she asked me something like had I ever heard of a sanctuary."(Kingsolver 105) It’s amazing how Mattie’s morals and beliefs make her sacrifice her everyday life for the benefit of people whom she had never met before. Taylor Greer had been running away from premature pregnancy her entire life. Afraid that she would wind up just another hick in Pittman County, she left town and searched for a new life out West. On her way getting there, she acquires Turtle, an abandoned three-year-old Native American girl. Taylor knows that keeping Turtle is a major responsibility, being that she was abandoned and abused. Yet, Taylor knows that she is the best option that Turtle has, as far as parental figures go. "Then you are not the parent or guardian?’…. ‘Look,’ I said. ‘I’m not her real mother, but I’m taking care of her now. She’s not with her original family anymore." (Kingsolver 162) As the story progresses, Taylor accepts Turtle as part of life. This sacrifice later turns into a blessing. Estevan and Esperanza’s sacrifice involved a major part of their lives. Both Estevan and Esperanza sacrificed their daughter for the lives of seventeen other people. Back in Guatemala, they were part of an secret underground teachers union where important information was passed by word of mouth.
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.
In Barbara Kingsolver’s novel The Bean Trees, Taylor Greer tries to escape turning out like everyone else in Pittman County. She has dreams of becoming something besides a teenage bride or a high school dropout. The Bean Trees, a perfect representation of an authentic Bildungsroman portrays someone who undergoes a life altering change, which will in turn send them on their way to becoming a full fledged adult. Karl Morgenstern coined the word bildungsroman, which means novel of formation in German. Loss can be used as one way to open the protagonist’s eyes to the world beyond their hometown.
Esperanza, the most liberated of the sisters, devoted her life to make other people’s lives better. She became a reporter and later on died while covering the Gulf Crisis. She returned home, to her family as a spirit. At first, she spoke through La Llorona, a messenger who informed La Loca that her sister has died. All her family members saw her. She appeared to her mother as a little girl who had a nightmare and went near to her mother for comfort. Caridad had conversations with her about politics and La Loca talked to her by the river behind their home.
Taylor was handed Turtle and she even states how "The woman told me Turtle's mother was dead, and that somebody had been hurting Turtle". (Kingsolver, pg 55) Taylor not even wanting to have children, even running away from Kentucky to prevent her from "....having babies up to her ears..." (Kingsolver, pg 54) ended up taking care of Turtle through the act of Maternal Instinct. Annawake now expects Taylor to ask for tribal permission when the tribe wasn't there for Turtle when she was getting abused. The readers and Taylor perceive this unfair and just plain
Taylor (born Marietta) grew up in Pittman, Kentucky, a small rural town where families "had kids just about as fast as they could fall down the well and drown," and a boy with a job as a gas-meter man was considered a "high-class catch." She needs to get out to get ahead and to avoid pregnancy. She succeeds on both counts when she buys a '55 Volkswagen and heads west. She leaves almost everything behind, including her name. (Taylor is the name she adopts when she runs out of gas in Taylorville, Illinois.) When her steering fails somewhere in central Oklahoma, in country owned by the Cherokee nation, she stops for repairs at a roadside service station. A Cherokee woman looks at Taylor and sees a chance for her dead sister's child to escape a life of abuse and alcoholism. She hands the child over to Taylor and disappears. Taylor's journey of self-discovery suddenly becomes a transition into a relationship where she is not the most important person.
Barbara Ellen Kingsolver was born April 08, 1955 in Annapolis, Maryland, United States. Kingsolver grew up in a rural environment, she was not exposed to many things because of that. Kingsolver was a sensitive and intelligent kid but an outcast socially. She was interested in writing and reading from an early age and was a fan of the writings of Carson McCullers and Flannery O'Connor when she was young. Kingsolver's experiences in Kentucky later influenced the topics and characters she explored as an adult author. Even though Kingsolver knew she wanted to be a writer, she took only one creative writing course however she often wrote poems in the margins of her textbooks. She knew she wanted to be a writer after she graduated but didn't know how she could make a living off of it. While pregnant with her daughter, Camille, Kingsolver suffered from insomnia, a condition that actually helped her write her first novel, “The Bean Trees”, which was somewhat based on her own life. Although the author protects her name undoubtedly, she still considers getting rid of it even though she needs to carry it on because it is who she is, but also it is keeping her
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
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 regards to Celia Sanchez, she is the backbone of the family undoubtedly keeping the family together. Being an immigrant to the United States it is noticeable that her English barrier is hindering her progress as an American Resident to move forward and understand the language and paperwork. The lack of the understanding of the language opens doors for her to be exploited since she is part of a vulnerable population.
These two refugees act as Turtle's parents and sign over custody to Taylor, so that Turtle could become her daughter legally. Taylor was very unsure about whether or not she would be a good mom, but in the end she realizes that Turtle belongs with her, and that Tucson is home. & nbsp; The first half of The Bean Trees was hard to stay interested in. Although the book had a lot of action, it could have been spread out more. It wasn't until the middle of the book that we found out what was medically wrong with Turtle, and why she was so lethargic. Considering this child was such a major part of Taylor's life, and would change her future completely, she was not talked about as much as she could have been.
At first, Esperanza is young, insecure, and immature. Her immaturity is apparent when she talks about her mom holding her, saying it is, “sweet to put your nose into when she is holding you and you feel safe” (Cisneros 6-7). This shows Esperanza’s insecurity because her mom is still a big comfort source to her. She feels a false sense of comfort because her mom is there and will protect her. In addition, Esperanza’s immaturity is shown through her dislike for outsiders of the neighborhood when she says, “They are stupid people who are lost and got here by mistake” (Cisneros 28). This indicates how defensive and protective Esperanza is towards her barrio by calling outsiders stupid for reacting the way they do, even though she dislikes Mango Street....
What does one think of when the word “turtle” is mentioned? This adorable creature is usually thought of as slow, futile, and the unsung hero of “The Tortoise and Hare.” However, Kay Ryan argues in her poem “Turtle” that turtles are more than just these things: they are strong but unfortunate creatures that must put up with many obstacles in order to survive. Despite the struggles that she faces, the turtle exhibits a multitude of different strengths to overcome them, as seen as the poem progresses.
many examples just out of love, for instance when they needed water for there farm, he
Esperanza is a very strong woman in herself. Her goals are not to forget her "reason for being" and "to grow despite the concrete" so as to achieve a freedom that's not separate from togetherness.
The horrors of the real world are hidden from most young children up to a certain age, and for many people in the United States, these horrors are never revealed. In the novel, The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver the main character, Taylor, meets many people who have been mistreated and abused. Upon meeting these miserable people, Taylor goes to great lengths to help them. Many times, the human horrors remain masked to the eyes of other people in the world and nothing is done to change the situation. But, when people come to know about these horrific stories, they are able to empathise and many are willing to help.