The Bean Trees, written by Barbara Kingsolver, scrutinizes southern culture, family, and the struggle of being a mother. The book centralizes on a young woman who leaves home to set off and live by herself, and eventually met with the burden of taking care of a child, who becomes known as Turtle, she picks up incidentally in the beginning of her journey. Along the way, the reader is informed of Taylor’s different characteristics through a variety of different motifs Kingsolver represents.
Birds are used throughout the novel to convey three common traits of Taylor’s: freedom, fragileness, and quickness. “I couldn't really listen. I looked through the bones to the garden on the other side. There was a cactus with bushy arms and a coat of yellow …show more content…
“One block down and across the street, old Bobby Bingo sold vegetables out of his dilapidated truck. Lou Ann had been tempted by his tomatoes, which looks better than the hard pink ones at the grocery; those didn't seem like tomatoes at all, but some sickly city fruit maybe grown inside a warehouse. She had finally collected the nerve to ask how much they cost and was surprised that they were less than the grocery tomatoes. On her way home she made up her mind to buy some more” (Kingsolver 81). Throughout the book, Kingsolver examines Taylor’s temptations, and this connection Taylor has to food relishes her temptation even more. Moving on, Taylor’s friendships have all been centralized around food. “Within ten minutes Lou Ann and I were in the kitchen drinking diet Pepsi and splitting our gussets laughing about homeostasis and bean turds. We had already established that our hometowns in Kentucky were separated by only two counties, and that we had both been to the exact same Bob Seger concert at the Kentucky State Fair my senior year”(Kingsolver 96). Taylor and Lou’s relationship becomes more important as the book goes on. Almost all of Taylor’s relationships have started around food, suggesting that Kingsolver thinks food is important for a friendship. The food theme is important in correlation to Taylor’s vulnerabilities, such as her anger and temptation, but food also strengthens her
Birds are used throughout the novel to convey three common traits of Taylor’s: freedom, fragileness, and quickness. “I couldn't really listen. I looked through the bones to the garden on the other side. There was a cactus with bushy arms and a coat of yellow …show more content…
“One block down and across the street, old Bobby Bingo sold vegetables out of his dilapidated truck. Lou Ann had been tempted by his tomatoes, which looks better than the hard pink ones at the grocery; those didn't seem like tomatoes at all, but some sickly city fruit maybe grown inside a warehouse. She had finally collected the nerve to ask how much they cost and was surprised that they were less than the grocery tomatoes. On her way home she made up her mind to buy some more” (Kingsolver 81). Throughout the book, Kingsolver examines Taylor’s temptations, and this connection Taylor has to food relishes her temptation even more. Moving on, Taylor’s friendships have all been centralized around food. “Within ten minutes Lou Ann and I were in the kitchen drinking diet Pepsi and splitting our gussets laughing about homeostasis and bean turds. We had already established that our hometowns in Kentucky were separated by only two counties, and that we had both been to the exact same Bob Seger concert at the Kentucky State Fair my senior year”(Kingsolver 96). Taylor and Lou’s relationship becomes more important as the book goes on. Almost all of Taylor’s relationships have started around food, suggesting that Kingsolver thinks food is important for a friendship. The food theme is important in correlation to Taylor’s vulnerabilities, such as her anger and temptation, but food also strengthens her