The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

The Bean Trees is a novel written by Barbara Kingsolver. The protagonist of the story is Marietta Greer who later changes her name to Taylor. Marietta is a typical Kentucky girl whose objective is to avoid getting early pregnancy by all means and to leave Kentucky once for all. In the process of leaving Kentucky, her old car ends up with two burst tires at Tucson. In the process of mending the tires, a stranger dumps a child in her lap and then disappears. Taylor who has avoided getting pregnant by any possible means now has the daunting task of either accepting or rejecting the child. After some thought, she decides to keep it since its obvious the baby has been battered. In this way, without planning to, she finds herself being a single mother.

On arrival to Tucson, Taylor befriends Lou Ann Ruiz. By coincidence, Lou is also from Kentucky making the two women instant friends. The character of Taylor can be defined as patient and adaptive. While every other girl in Kentucky is getting pregnant, Taylor decides to stay chaste. She keeps to her promise and successfully goes through high school. When she is presented with a baby, she changes her mind and decides to adapt to motherhood.

Just like Taylor, Lou Ann Ruiz is also a woman trying to find her identity. Lou has broken up with her husband Angel who could not adapt to an amputation of his leg. In a way, both women are running from their past. Lou is running from a resentful husband while Taylor is running from her fear of getting pregnant. Both Lou and Taylor can be said to be strong willed since both have children whom they are determined to raise up on their own. Both Lou and Taylor feel that they are outsiders and they have to accept loving themselves and those who hurt them. Taylor on one hand has to love a child whom she does know her origin while Lou is presented with the challenge of loving a man who abandoned her during her hour of need.

In Tucson, both Lou and Taylor are outsiders trying to find a place on the inside. This is so challenging since they are living with total strangers whom they have to learn to live with. These two ladies show us how love can help transform people whose lives are defined by the perception that no one wants to associate with them. Taylor for example shows love to baby Turtle whom nobody wanted from the start. Lou on the other hand proves to her husband that she can love him even when he has only one leg. Through this love, even Angel decides to make up though by this time Lou has moved on.

The other character who is quite like Taylor is Mattie. This lady decides to give a job to Taylor in her Jesus Is Lord Used Tires shop. The most important thing we learn about Mattie is that she is caring. She is moved by the plight of this woman to an extent that she decides to offer her a job in her shop. This is despite the fact that Taylor does not have any experience in selling tires. This is just like the case where Taylor decided to adopt baby Turtle in her point of need. Just like the way Taylor showed love to this baby, Mattie shows love to her and makes her feel loved. Though illegal, Mattie is also in the business of housing immigrants in her shop who do not have a place to go to. This clearly defines both women as loving and compassionate. (Kingsolver)

Conclusion

The character of Lou, Taylor and Mattie clearly show us how we are supposed to love others. Through love, these women make the lives of other people bearable and make them accept their situations. This is an objective that every one of us should have in the society. Through our love, we can make the lives of other people worthy living. This also in a way gives us satisfaction in life. We should be ready to adapt to change like Taylor who despite the fact that she had vowed to stay away from getting babies, she changed her mind and decided to adopt baby Turtle thus making her life better.

Works Cited

Kingsolver, Barbara. The Bean Trees: A Novel, Harper & Row,1988. Print.

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The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver

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