Bean Trees Essay
On her journey to self-discovery, Taylor Greer manages to overcome her weaknesses and start a new way of life in the novel The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver. Throughout the novel, one may discover Taylor's process to obtain a better life: to escape, to seek a new way of life, to find adventure, to find love, and to discover oneself by simply to keep moving. Her main objective is to lead a full life and in the process other influential people help her do this and the beans are symbolic of her journey.Taylor wants to be mature and be someone that is not just a stereotype, but who lives a full, rich life. Taylor's defiance in her name proves that she hasn't accepted her position in life. After Taylor acquires Turtle, she finds herself not knowing what she is doing and where she is headed in life. "On some days, like that one, I was starting to go a little bit crazy. This is how it is when all the money you have can fit into one pocket, and you have no job, no prospects." Taylor is questioning her actions and is losing confidence in her. Also, she is very unsure of how she is going to handle certain situations, when it comes to Turtle. Taylor is wearing a mask to hide behind, for she is falling apart on the inside, but is trying
a ferocious thicket of beans cam plowing up through the squashes"(89). Since, being on her journey to self-discovery, Taylor has encountered many people who have helped her slowly evolve into the person she always wanted to be. But nothing seemed to throw Sandi"(65). In the middle of the novel, Taylor finds a job in Arizona, where she meets a girl named Sandi, whom helps Taylor build her confidence and strength. The bean's symbolism reflects Taylor's development throughout her life perfectly. The path is set for her now, and a new beanstalk of life has replaced her old one in Taylor's new journey as a mother. At the end of the novel, the reader again encounters the beans for the last time. The beans are a symbol of Taylor's weaknesses, as she and the beans are both of poor quality. Wisteria vines on their own would just barely get by, but put them together with rhizobia and they make miracles"(229). Just as the beans did, Taylor begun her life without a great deal of impact on anyone, only to come plowing up and impact people where they did not expect it.
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