Selflessness In The Bean Trees By Barbara Kingsolver

Selflessness and Selfishness

By definition, selflessness means being “concerned with the needs and wishes of others that with one’s own.” Selflessness can also be interpreted as completely forgetting themselves for the sake of another person. Being selfish on the other hand, is defined as “lacking consideration for others; concerned chiefly with one's own personal profit or pleasure.” Being selfish can also be associated with greed and gluttony. Even though these two words have completely opposite meanings, they are two traits that every human being has. Everybody is both selfish and selfless; we all give and take. Nobody is wholly one or the other. When to be one or the other, or how is an act one or the other, are the questions.

Selfishness

She is well aware of the consequences if she gets caught driving two illegal immigrants across the country. Even though this may have been a selfless act, she did it for some selfish reasons. Of course she wanted to help two of her friends find a sanctuary, but she also used this trip to spend time with Estevan, whom she was in love with. She also used Estevan and Esperanza to get custody of a child who was in her

Imagine a single mother working laboriously to support her three children, her disabled sibling, and their family so they can have a more comfortable life. From her perspective, she can be choosing to be selfless out of the love she has for her family and sibling. However, she can also be doing this because her parents threatened to write her out of their will if she did not take care of her sibling when they could not. Defining someone as selfish or selfless depends on their reasoning.

Selflessness does not mean how charitable or benevolent the act looks, it means truly doing something without expecting anything in return. Another example of choosing to be selfless in literature can be the situation of the characters in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. In Salinas Valley during the Great Depression, the story introduces the character George as a caretaker and friend of the mentally challenged Lennie, who has been in George’s care ever since Lennie’s aunt had died. As migrant workers, George and Lennie had difficulty finding jobs in California farming