...In “The Bean Trees” Barbara Kingsolver expresses her beliefs on social and cultural issues such motherhood, the education levels of single women and illegal immigration through the leading character by the name of Marietta Greer, but is referred to as Missy. Missy is a young woman who does not want to live her adult life “barefoot and pregnant” like the other women in Pittman County in rural Kentucky. As Missy enters her adult life she quits her job at the hospital performing platelet counts to purchase a minimalistic car and leave her dearest mother and ghost town to create and shape a fulfilling life. Along the way she is put through real life situations that test her limits. Through these trials and tribulations, Kingsolver is able to expose her views through the wild situations that Missy is thrown into. Kingsolver is unique and purposeful in all of her novels. She writes sequentially with the time period and uses brilliant writing techniques and pays close attention to detail. Although, Kingsolver’s official site says that the purpose of “The Bean Trees” was not to describe her personal beliefs, but it is quite obvious she used issues from 1980 to...
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...When my mom was expecting my older brother she was frightened because she felt like she wasn’t ready to be a mom at a young age and my dad felt the same because they were still teenagers trying to figure out their own lives. As the months passed my mom was getting so much help from the community and my dad’s parents so they felt like they had so much supporter that made them feel prepared and ready for what life had in hands for them. Now twenty years later they are living the life they have wanted. The Bean Trees by barbara Kingsolver also deals with having moments of difficulties and drastic changes in life even without you planning those changes but by having those changes you begin to go with the flow in order to continue with your life....
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...The Bean Trees In the Bean Trees, there is an idea that the guardians are expected to protect the innocent from the evils in the world. Yet, the real world always catches up. No matter how much some people do to protect blissful ignorance, something will always corrupt the peace. This relates to me and many others, who have had parents that try to shield us from the dangers of the real world. However, we are not able to completely avoid the evils in the world, and we are never ready for it. No matter how much some people may try to shield our eyes, somehow we will always learn about what really goes on. In the Bean Trees, Taylor is unable to protect Turtle from the real world’s evils, try as much as she does. When Taylor receives Turtle from a random stranger after leaving home, the real world has broken Turtle already. “I thought I knew about every ugly thing that one person does to another, but I had never even thought about such things being done to a baby girl.” (Kingsolver 24) Even...
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...Gender Inequality in ‘The Bean Trees’ Barbara Kingsolver addresses gender inequality by showing ways in which boys receive opportunities that girls do not. In Pittman County, many girls get pregnant in high school and dropout to raise their babies. The boys are generally not expected to take the same responsibilities. In her senior year, Taylor notices the amount of girls still in school is significantly lower than the amount of boys. “Believe me in those days the girls were dropping by the wayside like seeds off a poppyseed bun and you learned to look at every day as a prize… By senior year there were maybe two boys to every one of us” (Kingsolver, ch. 1). The girls lose their opportunity at an education when they become pregnant, while the...
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...Barbara Kingsolver uses the motif of mother-child relationships to accentuate the value of parenting in her novel, The Bean Trees. Main character Taylor Greer drives across the country in search of a bigger direction than small town country life. Her biggest fear was becoming barefoot and pregnant in Kentucky with no future prospects. Realizing she needed to find an escape, she buys a car and takes off in search of a new world. In the process of her transcontinental voyage, she becomes the caretaker of a young Indian child that redefines and expands her thoughts on parenting and family. This youngster came as a complete surprise to Taylor, who was left in shock and ousted 9 months of priming for the toddler. Finding solitude in a new town,...
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...The Key to Being a Good Mother Motherhood is an unconditional love that every mother provides to their child. It is a common motif throughout The Bean Trees, written by Barbara Kingsolver. Lou Ann, one of the main characters, is a single mother because her husband, Angel had left her with no reasons so she has to raise her son Dwayne Ray by herself. Lou Ann had faced multiple challenges, but she came through with the help of her friends and families. Lou Ann is the best mom in the novel. Lou Ann is the best mom because she is determined, thoughtful, and cautious. Lou Ann is a determined person which is a sign of being a good mother. After a while not being employed, Lou Ann decides to look for a job. “On the way home Lou Ann went to the...
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...When reading The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver there are many moments Kingsolver goes against the nuclear family idea that the American society has formed. A nuclear family involves a father, a mother, and children living together. The biological mother is often viewed as the natural caregiver, and the father is viewed as the provider. However in The Bean Trees this is not the case. Instead Kingsolver has us rethink the definition of family Kingsolver biggest non-nuclear relationship is between Taylor and Turtle “ “Are you saying you want to give me this child?” “Yes” ” (Kingsolver 18). This is a definite non-nuclear family. Not only is it just Taylor and Turtle, but Turtle isn’t even biologically Taylor’s. Also there is the fact...
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