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Themes In Barbara Kingsolver's The Bean Trees

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In Barbara Kingsolver's novel, The Bean Trees, many themes appear as the reader analyzes the novel. Themes of womanhood, friendship, responsibility, and community tend to be a highlight of the novel. Taylor Greer goes through many of these themes and learns more about herself than she ever did in her hometown with her mother.
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1270 Words | 6 Pages

To began with, Symbolism is literary element used often in The Bean Trees and Mirror Image. In Kingsolvers book, symbolism is used in the very title The Bean Trees. Turtle’s first word is bean which she gets from seeing a wisteria plant that has gone into seed form and produced bean like pods. Later the author emphasizes the symbolism by having Turtle read about how the plant thrives in bad conditions.

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1017 Words | 5 Pages

In Barbara Kingsolver’s novel The Bean Trees, Taylor represents a bildungsroman character. A bildungsroman story is a coming of age story that consists of four stages. In the first stage of a bildungsroman character’s journey, she experiences a loss or painful experience that drives her to start a new life. The character goes through a baptismal rite in the second stage, which always involves water. The character endures many difficult trials in the third stage, but ends up gaining a new insight about life in the fourth stage.

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(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.

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1132 Words | 5 Pages

Individuals have different views of the world and to be fair this world has many flaws that individuals can’t see because they’re not willing to see those flaws. These flaws are seen by Barbara Kingsolver, the author of The Bean Trees. In the society, there are many social justice issues that people think it is normal for it to be happening, those social justice issues can be child abuse, racism, over-sexualization of women and poverty. Barbara Kingsolver is an author of the book called The Bean Trees which is a story about the journey of Taylor from Kentucky to Arizona. This journey of hers brings out a purpose to show these social justice issues within the society we had and we still have.

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1290 Words | 6 Pages

The plants represent the other Blackwoods in this case, as without the sun they could not live. Because my cover projects all of the plant-related symbols to the reader, it accurately conveys Constance providing stability through independence. Constance uses the garden as a way to defend the Blackwoods, providing a way to protect themselves. Uncle Julian, sensing the unease of Helen Clarke more so than Mrs. Wright towards the topic of having visitors at the house and believing that no one wants to visit due to the fact that Constance is associated with murder, says, “My niece can tell you of the most unlikely perils -- garden plants more deadly than snakes and simple herbs that slash like knives through the lining of your belly, madam” (Jackson 30).

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1647 Words | 7 Pages

By using the metaphor “like peas and carrots” Forrest was able to express his difference to the audience but at the same time show the ability to have a successful relationship. The theme of relationships affected the audience by it being a relatable theme and the audience showing empathy towards Forrest and his relationships. This theme provokes the joy and happiness within the audience when Forrest uses his innocent nature to find relationship. Relationships are a main theme because it illustrates the two main

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711 Words | 3 Pages

The vivid imagery used to describe the former glory of the mother and daughter’s farm coupled with the enjambment used to mirror the women's chaotic inner thoughts paints a more complete picture of the complicated relationship between the tree and the

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The main character discusses the significance of the sugar bush as she moves through it and says, "It's our sugar bush. It looks different because there are three streets and 150 houses and one thousand people living in it, but it is my sugar bush. It is our sugar bush" (Simpson 5). The protagonist still views the sugar bush as her home, a place where she feels a sense of belonging and connection to her ancestors, despite the changes that have taken place in her community, such as the building of new houses and roads that changed the terrain.

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660 Words | 3 Pages

Through her use of symbolism the author shows how much the marigolds mean to Miss Lottie. Through her use of point of view readers have a clear view of the look and atmosphere of the old town and the how the marigolds were the only beautiful thing

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455 Words | 2 Pages

In the short story “The Flowers”, Alice Walker sufficiently prepares the reader for the texts surprise ending while also displaying the gradual loss of Myop’s innocence. The author uses literary devices like imagery, setting, and diction to convey her overall theme of coming of age because of the awareness of society's behavior.     At the beguining of the story the author makes use of proper and necessary diction to create a euphoric and blissful aura. The character Myop “skipped lightly” while walker describes the harvests and how is causes “excited little tremors to run up her jaws.”. This is an introduction of the childlike innocence present in the main character.

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983 Words | 4 Pages

Her major themes are motherhood, the transference of misery, dependence, bees as an example of human society, and race relations. Motherhood is totally one her major theme because the protagonist only wants to understand her true mother and wants to know if her she really loved her. Also, I like how one of the theme is the race relations in American history because Kidd pictured the life during the time in the setting. In addition, I feel like I relate to August because I would also want to help others who is needing it and believes something good will happen, always being

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572 Words | 3 Pages

For example, the house and the magnolia tree reminded Lily of her childhood, family history and roots in the land born on while for Thomas, they remind him of all the pain slavery brought upon him and how his brother died there. The idea of past and present was foggy. However, the fact that the costumes distinguished the characters,

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725 Words | 3 Pages

All the themes of the novel link together, as family and friends resolve Taylors story arc by giving her a place to belong. Ultimately, the themes of the novel are used in such a way that allows readers to gain a better understanding of the characters. The themes of the novel are themes of the major characters worlds, essentially giving readers a look inside the characters head. Melanie Marchetta applied language techniques to furthermore emphasise the themes of the story. Overall, the authors use of themes created a fictional world full of complex and realistic

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1002 Words | 5 Pages

Transitional states of maturity can be challenged or championed by unexpected discoveries which can be confronting or provocative. This is explored through Alice Walker’s 1973 prose fiction, “The Flowers”, as the protagonist’s view on the world is transformed due to the personal zemblanic discovery made. The short story explores the themes of loss of innocence and death in order to address cultural indifference and the prejudice experienced by certain groups within society, which in turn causes individuals to be effected negatively. Walker hopes to evoke sense of political and social reflection in her audience, hoping that intimate discoveries of past inequity by her readers will ensure cultural equity maintains future momentum.

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