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Motherhood In Barbara Kingsolver's The Bean Trees

698 Words3 Pages

The definition of motherhood is “the state of being a mother.” Throughout the novel, The Bean Trees, written by Barbara Kingsolver, Taylor Greer learns the simple things about motherhood when a toddler, Turtle, is thrown in her car. Learning to raise the child brings up many tough decisions and obstacles, letting Tayor experience what love really is. Readers get to see everything Taylor does, reading through her eyes and getting to watch her mature into a young, independent individual. In the book, the storyline revolves around Taylor Greer’s growth, as she explores motherhood through love, maturity, and sacrifice. At first, all Taylor wants in life is to drive away from home and avoid pregnancy. As soon as Taylor gets a car, she leaves everything …show more content…

Being a loving, protective mother, Taylor is afraid to leave Turtle with a stranger for long periods of time so decides to make a schedule with Lou Ann, her roommate. She also make payments to Lou Ann by making food every day when she gets home. By doing this, Taylor does not worry about leaving Turtle in a stranger’s hands and does not need to pay for a babysitter. In the text it says, “I cooked on weekends, and also on any weeknight that Lou Ann had kept Turtle. It would be a kind of payment.” (134) This shows Taylor would give up her only freetime just to know that Turtle is in safe hands. As her love and affection grows towards Turtle, Taylor would do anything to keep Turtle safe and starts becoming more organized with motherly schedules. Starting out as a confused young lady, Taylor Greer matures into a loving individual that is not scared to take risks. Throughout the book, The Bean Trees, written by Barbra Kingsolver, readers get to see Taylor grow up through her eyes and narration. At first Taylor is unsure about what her life may look like but by the end of the story the reader gets to see Taylor with her new family in Tucson, Arizona and predict what may happen next. Without Turtle, Taylor will not get to experience motherhood and will never learn the true definition of love maturity, and

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Some people mature faster than others, and some take their time doing so. In the book The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver, a young woman named Taylor happens to end up with a little girl, Turtle. Throughout the story, Kingsolver mentions birds often. Birds represent maturity to Turtle. She use birds to compare to Turtle's life and her situations while she is maturing and growing up.

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How The Bean Trees is a coming of age themed novel In The Bean Trees Taylor and Lou Ann struggle to come of age, or mature, with these two being very important characters I believe a major theme of the book is coming of age. There are many pieces of evidence to support this claim, therefore I will provide them. Our first example would have to be Taylor’s journey throughout the book.

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The Bean Trees “The Bean Trees” was written by Barbara Kingsolver, a novelist, poet, and essayist. She was born on April 8, 1955. Kingsolver was raised in eastern Kentucky but now resides in Tucson, Arizona with her husband and children. The purpose of “The Bean Trees” is to inform people of the hardships of the real world and to promote social change.

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In The Bean Trees, Taylor exhibits independence throughout the work by planning to leave her rural hometown due to the lack of opportunities for women there. She does this by getting a job at the county hospital and uses the money she earns to buy a car. From when Taylor is a teen she plans to escape pittman. She wants to be the one to get away.

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