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The Bean trees essay
The Bean trees essay
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Taylor’s Quest In the book, The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver, the notion of a quest is very prevalent. According to Thomas Foster, a Quest consists of five things a quester, a place to go, a reason to go there, challenges and trials, and an actual purpose (Foster). Taylor Greer’s journey in The Bean Trees embodies Foster’s ideals through which she gains self-knowledge, learns to thrive and finds her place in the world. 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 …show more content…
Self-knowledge is the complete understanding of one’s moral standing, personal goals, and capabilities. By finding this, an individual is better equipped to handle life’s challenges with confidence in their abilities. Usually found in the last part of a quest, the protagonist’s realization of their “real” goal, or actual reason of the quest, brings self-knowledge. When a reader finds this, they realize the other stated goal was just a shallow act to move questers into certain places (Foster). Taylor found her place in the world and the book describes this realization, “She watched the dark highway and entertained me with her vegetable-soup song, except that now there were people mixed in Esperanza, Lou Ann and all the rest. And me. I was the main ingredient,” (Kingsolver 312). In this final crucial moment at the end, Taylor reveals that she finally realizes her purpose, her place, in Turtle’s, Lou Ann’s and everyone’s life. Her goal to escape Kentucky and not get pregnant transforms into a goal to help Turtle and herself thrive. However, Taylor finds another part of her life that she previously never thought possible. She falls short, fails, but around her there are people to lift her back up. The book states, “wisteria vines… often thrive in poor soil… Their secret is something called rhizobia. These are microscopic bugs that… suck the nitrogen gas right out of the soil and turn it into …show more content…
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
These feelings drive O’Brien to seek out a journey in order to find out what is truly valuable to his self being. His adventure of self-knowledge mirrors the narrative archetype of the Hero’s Quest. One might argue that as a result of O’Brien’s uncooperative nature towards his circumstances, he is able to pursue the main motive of the Hero’s Journey, in which he departs from his ordinary world and is able to obtain the life treasure of self-acknowledgement.
The Quest Pattern theory states that during adolescence a youth is looking for their identity. This individual will look for a place where they are accepted. The quest fits a loose pattern; the first step is determined by fate, destiney provides a troubling situation before the individual can embark on their journey. Then the initial change happens, or the event that sets the quest in motion. Next is the unchartered territory, in this stage the real adventure happens; a person can geographically venture into new territory, or an experience an emotional journey somewhere outside of their comfort zone. Next, is the required learned knowledge; this is the information that the individual learns about his or her self in order to reach self-acceptance. There is the journey home, which is a quest within itself, but also a stage where more knowledge is gained. Lastly the reward, it is the happiness that occurs from the knowledge that the individual has gained; this stage is also known as finding the meaning of life. The Quest Pattern is a journey of personal evolution that every antagonist can relate to.
The Arizona atmosphere was visibly different in both literal and nonliteral ways from Kentucky. Taylor’s lifestyle would have been drastically contrasting with how she thrived in her new home of Tucson. Apart from having a night and day experience at maternity, and getting a fresh start at life on her own, Taylor also met a new group of people who changed her in many ways. Lou Ann, who molded her into a better mother, Mattie, who helped her to overcome fears, Esperanza, though she spoke very little, managed to open Taylor’s eyes the horrors of a life she would never have to experience, and finally Turtle, who made Taylor realize what she loved most in life. Pittman, Kentucky did not have any of these individuals to teach the protagonist of this story.
In this story “The Bean Trees” by Barbara Kingslover we meet Taylor Greer, an average teenager from Pittman, Kentucky. Even though Taylor has never been through anything truly horrific in her life how can she truly understand how unpleasant the world can be? Taylor’s personal growth in the “The Bean Trees” is a part of an uncertain journey because Taylor is thrown into motherhood and forced to see the bad experiences people go through in life.
In this chapter, a quest is defined to consist of five main elements: (a) a quester, (b) a place to go, (c) a stated reason to go there, (d) challenges and trials en route, and (e) a reason and go there. Element (a), the quester, is understood to be embarking on a journey while being with or without the realization that he/she is on a quest. The quester is also often depicted as one of youth because youth is accompanied with inexperience and a lack of self knowledge which allows the ultimate goal of the quest to be fulfilled which is the gating of this knowledge.
Throughout the story, Taylor grows as a person and learns what it means to be part of a family. Kingsolver's choices for point of view, setting, conflict, theme, characterization, and style help support the plot and create an uplifting story with a positive message.
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
Since the earliest literature, many of the world’s greatest stories have been built around a quest. According to Thomas Foster, “when a character hits the road, we should start to pay attention” (Foster 3). Throughout Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Foer, Oskar Schell, a young who boy who lost his father in the tragic events of September 11th, experiences a quest of his own. The journey he embarks on seemingly appears to follow the structure of the quest archetype set up by Foster in his novel, How to Read Literature Like a Professor, as it consist of the required elements of a quest being: a quester, a place to go and reason to go there, and challenges and trials along the way. These elements eventually culminate in the event
Thomas C. Foster’s novel How to Read Literature Like a Professor, helps the reader understand the beginnings of a quest by breaking down the task into five steps. A quest will always consist of 1) a quester, 2) a place to go, 3) a stated reason to go there, 4) challenges and trials en route, and 5) a real reason to go there. A quester, the protagonist, typically is not aware that they are partaking in a quest. Step two and three are thought of together usually because the protagonist is told to go somewhere to do something. However, the stated reason to go to their destination is not the real reason they go there. As Foster explains, “In fact, more often than not, the quester fails at
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.
In his book, Foster sets out five guidelines that define quests: a quester, a destination, a stated reason to travel, difficulties faced on the way, and an “actual” reason for
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.
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.
...t this theory in development, Tracy must decide what is truly important in her life and head in the right direction. She still has a lot of growing up to do.