The Bean Trees

706 Words2 Pages

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 did really like 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. She knew what to do in a case of emergency but she was afraid to do it.

		Mattie, the sole owner of a shop named "Jesus is Lord Used Tires", was accustomed to changing and rotating tires everyday. One day she received a customer who had driven over some cracked glass pieces on the side of the road. Mattie took standard procedures by lifting the car, taking out the tire, and finally dipping it to see if air bubbles would come up. "I'm sorry to tell you, hon, these are bad. I can tell you right now these aren't going to hold a patch. They're shot through." (page 40). Mattie was exceptionally nice to Taylor and told her to come inside and have some coffee. After drinking a cup of coffee and giving Turtle some juice Mattie came up with the idea that Taylor could work for her. Taylor being the one who doesn't like tires in the first place accepted the generous offer, but went almost nuts with the huge tire wall that surrounded her. Taylor was a good worker and didn't have any real complaints about her position, but she still had a fear of exploding tires. This fear was noticeable to Mattie. Mattie being the rough-tough but nice person, asked Taylor nicely to follow her, when suddenly Mattie threw a 5-gallon Jerry can at her. "Knocked the wind out of you, but it didn't kill you, right?" "That's twenty-eight pounds of water. Twenty-eight pounds of air is about what you put into a tire. When it hits you, that's what it feels like." (page 81).

		When I was about 10 years old, my mom took me to a roller coaster theme park in Massachusetts. I was terribly afraid of the huge roller coaster that appeared in front of me, and while I waited in line, the anxiety of waiting to die in a roller coaster made my heart beat through my chest.

Show More
Related

  • Taylor's Life Choices in "The Bean Trees" by Barbara Kingsolver

    777 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... blown up on top of a sign after a tire tractor blew up, she was petrified of the same thing happening to her.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Morality In The Bean Trees

    1216 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Analysis: The Bean Trees

    997 Words  | 2 Pages

    In consideration, many unexpected events can occur to us, which helps to shape one’s belief in something that they should avoid having. The novel, The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver portrays the life of Taylor Greer, a young and spirited woman who is brave enough to move out of a rural home in Kentucky with the goal of avoiding pregnancy. Little did Taylor know, she faces a human condition of accepting a three-year-old American Indian girl named Turtle. Throughout her journey, she creates many friendships with other people and love toward Turtle so there are many things that

    Read More

  • Abandonment in The Bean Trees

    1170 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Bean Trees Analysis

    2130 Words  | 5 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • The Bean Trees

    506 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Informative Essay On Xtreme Skyflyer

    499 Words  | 1 Pages

    Kids and adults enjoy Amusement Park rides because it is fun and relaxing. If you haven’t tried it, you should try it. The Amusement Parks have rides such as Xtreme Skyflyer, Gold Striker, and Superman roller coaster. I think the most important one is Xtreme Skyflyer because a lot of the people want to try it, and people want to see whole the things when they go very high. The Xtreme Skyflyer is also one of the scary, it 153 feet above ground and dive at speed up to 60 miles per hour while falling 17 stories toward the earth (Great America). This Xtreme Skyflyer is a release of endorphins, which makes us feel euphoric. Which is heightened by the fact that a lot of people feel scared and worried while waiting in line. So, by having you wait

    Read More

  • The Bean Trees

    1044 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Symbiotic Relationships In Kingsolver's The Bean Trees

    997 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • trees

    1821 Words  | 4 Pages

    Trees, some of them a few thousand years old, have majestically stood on the face of the earth and have silently witnessed the evolution of human civilization. These trees are the living alibis of our pasts, magnificent markers of history. With their unusual shapes, enchanting legends and historical significance, some of these trees have become more than just giant trunks. Listing below ten such trees whose wooden hearts have amazing stories to tell!

    Read More

  • The Bean Trees

    2754 Words  | 6 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Barbara Kingsolver's The Bean Trees

    1031 Words  | 3 Pages

    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's graduation. She changes her name to Taylor Greer when she leaves her hometown of Pittman County, Kentucky. Taylor travels to Oklahoma, where she is unexpectedly given a toddler. When the two arrive at a hotel room, Taylor gives the child a bath. During the bath, she discovers the toddler is a girl who has been abused and sexually molested. Taylor names the toddler Turtle due

    Read More

  • My Fear of Gamma Ray Bursts in New York City

    633 Words  | 2 Pages

    Since the day I was born, scary movies, rollercoasters, and haunted houses were not my "thing". I never appreciated scary pranks, darkness, and bloody movie scenes. I never knew, however, that I would get the scare of my life seven years ago. My heart never pounded so hard and I never felt such a trembling sensation throughout my body.

    Read More

  • Roller Coaster Research Paper

    352 Words  | 1 Pages

    Although when I was younger, I was terrified of heights. On July 6th, my family decided to go to Magic Springs. Magic Springs is filled with many torturous rides. Roller coasters are one thing I have feared all my life.

    Read More

  • trees

    407 Words  | 1 Pages

    Trees are terrific. They cover the world and provide air and beauty for all to enjoy. Yes indeed trees are terrific. There are many uses for trees and their byproducts. Everywhere we look there are trees or some kind of shrub that always give us something to look at.

    Read More

More about The Bean Trees

Open Document