The Role Of Womanhood In The Bean Trees By Barbara Kingsolver

729 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Role of Women

Fighting against being resigned to the life you born into can be difficult, fighting for others can seem completely impossible. One of the major themes within this book is overcoming obstacles and the shared burden of womanhood. The book revolves around the life of Taylor Greer as she goes on an adventure of self-discovery. The author of this novel, Barbara Kingsolver, portrays Taylor as a strong independent woman, a protagonist. Once Taylor starts her journey she discovers many traits and new abilities within herself. These discoveries lead to a better life for herself and others. Taylor finds herself in a sticky situation when she stops at a gas station were a random woman drops off a baby in her car. " If I wanted a baby I would have stayed in Kentucky," I informed her. " I could have had babies coming out of my ears by now." She left her hometown in order to avoid being impregnated at a young age and had no intentions of adopting one elsewhere. She is reluctant to take the baby in but knows morally it is wrong to leave a child in the cold. Taylor decides that it is best she takes …show more content…

" Estevan, I know it doesn't do any good to say things like this, but I don't want to lose you." She allowed herself to open up to complete strangers and by doing so it introduced her to a new life. This new life leads her to more selfless decisions, producing a happier ending for everyone. "She watched the dark highway and entertained me with her vegetable-soup song. Except that now there were people mixed in with the beans and potatoes: Dwayne Ray, Mattie, Esperanza, Lou Ann and all the rest. And me. I was the main ingredient." This little "vegetable-soup'' song portrays how the main ingredient, Taylor, brought all these people together to form something new and beautiful. The results of Taylors sacrifices, bravery, and kindness, lead to a better ending for

Show More
Related

  • Seeking Solace in Barbara Kingsolver's The Bean Trees

    728 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many aspects of life are explored in Barbara Kingsolver's novel, The Bean Trees. A young woman named Marietta Greer from Kentucky wanted to strike out on her own, leaving behind everything she ever knew, just to start a new life. Many children want to do this at an early age so they can experience life on their own yet they don't realize the dangers involved.. Everyone that leaves the solace of their own home needs loving support to keep them going through life.

    Read More

  • growaw Personal Growth and Death of Edna Pontellier in Kate Chopin's The Awakening

    992 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Awakening is a novel about the growth of a woman becoming her own person; in spite of the expectations society has for her. The book follows Edna Pontellier  as she struggles to find her identity. Edna knows that she cannot be happy filling the role that society has created for her. She did not believe that she could break from this pattern because of the pressures of society. As a result she ends up taking her own life.  However, readers should not sympathize with her for taking her own life.

    Read More

  • The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver

    2538 Words  | 6 Pages

    Running Head: THE BEAN TREES. Abstract This book report deals with the Native American culture and how a girl named Taylor got away from what was expected of her as part of her rural town in Pittman, Kentucky. She struggles along the way with her old beat up car and gets as far west as she can. Along the way, she takes care of an abandoned child which she found in the backseat of her car and decides to take care of her.

    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

  • Conflicting Directions Of Ambitions in Kate Chopin's The Awakening

    419 Words  | 1 Pages

    Often in novels, a character faces conflicting directions of ambitions, desires, and influences. In such a novel, like “The Awakening,'; the main character, Edna Pontellier, faces these types of conflicting ideas. In a controversial era for women, Edna faces the conflict of living in oppression but desiring freedom. The patriarchal time period has influenced women to live only under the husband’s thumb but at the same time, break away from such repression. These opposing conflicts illuminated the meaning of “social awakening'; in the novel.

    Read More

  • Maya Angelou and Alice Walker

    930 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...reader to walk away, giving anyone the chance who is willing to stand against the injustices of society. She uses her own personal afflictions in order to better create a stronger, individualized woman after the acquisition of hope. She uses her story; she enlists the help of the reader to put justice and hope back into society. Therefore, "Let us begin."

    Read More

  • Symbiotic Relationships In Kingsolver's The Bean Trees

    997 Words  | 2 Pages

    We see Taylor go through a major transition from confident and stubborn to tenderhearted and doubtful. After Turtle’s terrible incident, Taylor constantly blames herself for what happened. “At night I lay listening to noises outside, listening to Turtle breathe, thinking: she could have been killed. So easily she could be dead right now.” (228)

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Taylor's Quest In The Bean Trees

    1006 Words  | 3 Pages

    Taylor had a goal, a reason to achieve it, had many challenges along the way and in the end found her reason to thrive. Had Taylor stayed in town, there is a good chance she would have followed the rest of her peers, getting pregnant ad married without any thought to the world outside. Taylor Greer learned that she could rise above small town culture, be herself and thrive. This can be a lesson to readers and critics that life is a quest, and the most important part of it is our development and to find our place in the

    Read More

  • Independence In Barbara Kingsolver's The Bean Trees

    1112 Words  | 3 Pages

    Diane von Furstenberg once stated “I wanted to be an independent woman, a woman who could pay for her bills, a woman who could run her own life.” Independence plays a big role in being able to be successful in life. Taylor, a girl that can be described as “different ,” is a person who is a strong believer in doing things by herself. She moved out when she learned how to drive and never went back. She gains a child and soon settles down in Tucson Arizona, where she starts her own life. In the novel The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver, there are many obstacles Taylor goes through to set the theme of independence.

    Read More

  • My Antonia Theme Of Independence

    1078 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the words of entrepreneur Brandi Harvey, “You are enough, without anyone else’s stamp, without anyone else’s validation or approval.” In this quote, she validates the fact that people, women in particular, do not need somebody to tell them they are sufficient enough— a woman does not need a man to provide for her needs, make her happy, or make her feel good about herself. It shows that women who lose their independence often lose their dreams as well. This idea centers all throughout the book, “My Antonia” by Willa Cather. In this book, the author focuses on the life of a young man named Jim and the many diverse women that surrounds him all from he was a small boy to a grown man. The idea of independence

    Read More

  • Motherhood in Barbara Kingsolver's The Bean Trees

    757 Words  | 2 Pages

    Motherhood in The Bean Trees & nbsp; In the novel, The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver, we watch Taylor grow a great deal. This young woman takes on a huge commitment to 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. & nbsp; Marietta was raised in a small town in Kentucky. When she became an adult, she decided she needed a change.

    Read More

  • Barbara Kingsolver's The Bean Trees

    1057 Words  | 3 Pages

    Barbara Kingsolver is a part of the characters she creates just as much as her characters are a part of her. The storyline of her novel parallels the storyline of her own life discreetly, yet it's presence is undeniable given Barbara‘s background. Imagine being Kingsolver , uncomfortably pregnant and unable to sleep from the dreary darkness at dusk until the dully drawn dawn. She finds sanctuary in a clammy cramped closet where she begins to ease her mind by implementing her own distresses and successes through fictional characters with the unfortunate yet fortunate Bean Tree beginnings. Henceforth, an ongoing theme, such as single motherhood, is consistently demonstrated throughout the novel by the main character Taylor Greer, and accented by minor characters such as Lou Anne and Sandi. There are many more predominant themes presiding the literature including child abuse, poverty, homelessness, immigration, and monogamy, all implemented with inspiring strength. "I found my head rights, Mama. They're coming with me (Kingsolver 32)," Taylor declares upon acquiring Turtle. This point marks the movement of the novel henceforth, as Taylor learns the difference between a burden and a blessing.

    Read More

  • Helena Maria Viramontes’ The Moths

    1672 Words  | 4 Pages

    ... However, through the narrators partial freedom she more importantly finds a new compassionate/humane path on her journey to womanhood. Also, this new path in itself acts as a sort of self-healing for the grief experienced by the narrator. Though only partial freedom was found and cultural boundaries were not shattered, simply battered, the narrator’s path was much preferable to that of her sisters (those who conformed to cultural boundaries).

    Read More

  • The Themes of Abortion and Pregnancy in Hills Like White Elephants

    977 Words  | 2 Pages

    Another issue that is discussed in this story is abortion and two opposing views. When the conversation turns from the hills to the operation one is able to comprehend the mentality of the woman. "Then what will we do afterwards?" (465) shows the woman is concerned about what will occur after the operation. "And if I do it you will be happy and things will be like they were and you will love me" (465). Here, the woman implies she wants the reassurance that he will still be there after the operation, because an abortion places an emotional strain on the on the woman.

    Read More

  • The Color Purple, by Alice Walker and Push, by Sapphire

    3221 Words  | 7 Pages

    In today’s advanced societies, many laws require men and women to be treated equally. However, in many aspects of life they are still in a subordinated position. Women often do not have equal wages as the men in the same areas; they are still referred to as the “more vulnerable” sex and are highly influenced by men. Choosing my Extended Essay topic I wanted to investigate novels that depict stories in which we can see how exposed women are to the will of men surrounding them. I believe that as being woman I can learn from the way these characters overcome their limitations and become independent, fully liberated from their barriers. When I first saw the movie “Precious” (based on Sapphire’s “Push”) I was shocked at how unprotected the heroine, Precious, is towards society. She is an African-American teenage girl who struggles with accepting herself and her past, but the cruel “unwritten laws” of her time constantly prevent her rise until she becomes the part of a community that will empower her to triumph over her barriers. “The Color Purple” is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Alice Walker which tells the story of a black woman’s, Celie’s, striving for emancipation. (Whitted, 2004) These novels share a similar focus, the self-actualization of a multi-disadvantaged character who with the help of her surrounding will be able to triumph over her original status. In both “The Color Purple” and “Push”, the main characters are exposed to the desire of the men surrounding them, and are doubly vulnerable in society because not only are they women but they also belong to the African-American race, which embodies another barrier for them to emancipate in a world where the white race is still superior to, and more desired as theirs.

    Read More

More about The Role Of Womanhood In The Bean Trees By Barbara Kingsolver

Open Document