Chapter One: The One To Get Away:

The Bean Trees takes place in rural Pittman County, Kentucky, in the 1980s and its narrator is Marietta Greer, a young woman from an impoverished family. She begins the novel with an admission that she has always been afraid of putting an air in a tire ever since she saw a tractor tire blow up and send Newt Hardbine's father flying over the top of the Standard Oil sign. Although her name is Marietta, her Mama has called her Missy for years, ever since she was a three year old and demanded to be called "Miss Marietta" just as her Mama called her employers (the name soon shortened to Missy).

Although not an outstanding student in high school, Marietta stays out of trouble and does well enough. By her senior year she is one of the few girls not to drop out of school, and feels it is the girls' "special reward" to get the science teacher Mr. Hughes Walter, a blond northerner who resembles Paul McCartney. Mr. Walter changes Marietta's life when he tells his students about a possible job opening at the hospital where his wife works. Marietta thinks that he will offer the job to a Candy Striper, but Mama insists that Marietta demand the opportunity and tell Hughes Walter that she is the best person for the job, "even if" he has already given it to a Candy Striper. When Marietta confronts Hughes Walter, he immediately gives her the job, for she is the first person to ask about it.

At the laboratory in the hospital where she works, her supervisor (Eddie Rickett) treats her well and teaches her a great deal about working in the lab. During her first week at the hospital, Jolene Shanks, the wife of Newt Hardbine, comes into the hospital in a stretcher, covered in blood and fighting and cursing. Although she had been shot, she was screaming at her husband. In another stretcher, this one meant for the coroner's office, is her husband. Marietta attempts to console Jolene, and when she asks Jolene "why Newt?" she answers that her father had been calling her a slut since she was thirteen, so "why the hell not?" Although Marietta considers quitting after this incident, she decides to stay at the hospital, thinking that she has seen the worst. When she tells her mother this, she replies "I have never seen the likes of you."

Marietta stays in the job for five and a half years, but she develops a plan to leave Pittman County. When she first buys a car, a '55 Volkswagen bug with no windows and no starter, Mama immediately knows that she'll use this car to get away. Eventually, when Marietta leaves Pittman, she makes two promises to herself: one that she keeps, and one that she does not. The First she decides to get herself a new name: she chooses the name Taylor after going past Taylorville. The second promise is to drive west until her car stopped running and stay there. Her car gives out in the middle of a Cherokee reservation when the steering wheel stops working. A man called Bob Two Two fixes her car, and he charges her nearly half the money she has. Taylor has one eighth Cherokee blood, and her Mama had always claimed that she could claim "head rights" because of this, if she ever needed to do so, but going to the Cherokee Nation, she now sees, is not even acceptable as a worst case scenario.

While staying the night in the town on the Indian reservation, Taylor goes to a diner and writes a postcard to her mother. There are only two men at the counter, a white guy and an Indian. The cowboy, Earl, makes a joke when Taylor asks if there is anything at the diner for less than a dollar, but Taylor quickly reprimands him. There is a woman in the bar at the back who looks frightened. After Taylor leaves the diner and returns to her car, the woman, an Indian, follows her and tells her to take her baby. She warns her not to take the child back to the diner, indicating some unimaginable harm that could be done to her. Taylor argues with her, claiming that she can't take the baby because she doesn't have the papers, but the woman says that nobody knows that the baby is alive or cares. Finally Taylor takes the child; she does not know whether the child is a boy or a girl, and even wonders at one point whether it is still alive.

Taylor and the child arrive at a hotel, and Taylor begs the woman who runs the hotel for a room despite her lack of money. When she bathes the child, a girl, she sees that the girl has "bruises and worse." From this hotel Taylor sends the postcard to her mother, writing that she "found her head rights" and "they're coming with me."

Analysis

Barbara Kingsolver's The Bean Trees is a comic bildungsroman, a novel charting the character development of its main character, Taylor Marietta Greer, as she branches out from her secluded, rural upbringing in Pittman County and begins to view the world on a national and even an international scale. Told primarily in the first person, with only a few minor shifts from Taylor's perspective such as the second chapter of the book, The Bean Trees begins by establishing compactly the details of Taylor's upbringing before the narrative begins in earnest with her departure from Pittman County.

Kingsolver tells the novel in a very compact fashion; even some of the most seemingly minor details recur, such as Taylor's early admission that she has been afraid of putting air in tires since the accident with Newt Hardbine's father. This anecdote works on two separate levels: the first foreshadows the later, critical event concerning the Hardbines later in the first chapter, while the second foreshadows Taylor's work once she arrives in Tucson, Arizona. Kingsolver is sparing in her details, thus any seeming diversion from the narrative likely will be critical at a later point.

Even those anecdotes that do not directly relate to the plotline create a vivid picture of the young Taylor Greer. From the beginning of the novel, Kingsolver paints her narrator as a strong and assertive woman, demanding that her mother treat her with respect even as an infant. This particular anecdote is the first instance that demonstrates the importance of names, a theme that will be prevalent throughout the novel. The infant Marietta demands to have a different name as a sign of respect: the name Missy is significant in defining her place within her particular world and her relationship with her mother. The second change in the narrator's name, from Marietta to Taylor, demonstrates an equally significant change in the character: she adopts a new name as she adopts a new perspective on the world, broadening out from her rural Kentucky background to a larger view of life.

The character of Hughes Walter also contributes to the importance of names and naming in The Bean Trees. One of the means by which Taylor and her classmates identify Hughes Walter as different is his Œinverted' name, endowing him with the foreign quality of an educated northerner with a greater perspective on the world. Taylor's interaction with Hughes Walter provides yet another example of the narrator's determination and fortitude: she gets the job simply because she asks for it, yet is prepared to demand the job and prove herself the best suited for the position.

Yet an equally important dimension of the interaction between Taylor and Mrs. Walter is the third important character in this anecdote, Mama Greer. However assertive Taylor might be, she is not without her doubts and reservations, believing that Hughes Walter might offer the job to a Candy Striper. Taylor draws a great deal of strength from her mother, who bolsters her confidence and demands the best from her daughter. Mama Greer provides a clear indication of how Taylor came to be the independent girl that she is, but her role also shows that, in some respects, she draws this confidence from others around her.

The first major dramatic event in The Bean Trees concerning Newt Hardbine serves several purposes. The first is to demonstrate the environment in which Taylor lives; although the novel takes place in the not distant past (the 1980s), the rural Kentucky society is often backward and reactionary, a fatalistic society in which many women find their prospects no better than becoming housewives for errant and unstable husbands. The second is to demonstrate the difference between the other Taylor and the other members of that society such as Jolene Shanks. While Taylor has been brought up to believe that she can achieve or demand anything, Jolene has been raised to believe in her own worthlessness. The third effect is to serve as a harbinger for Taylor; this more than perhaps any event is the impetus for Taylor to leave Pittman County.

The first chapter of the novel establishes the primarily feminine tone to The Bean Trees. With one obvious exception later in the novel, all of the men in The Bean Trees are unreliable (or worse), or in cases such as Hughes Walter, are merely engines for the plot without any discernible inner life. Part of this perspective comes from history of the narrator; until the introduction of Estevan later in the story, Taylor has little direct use for men, in particular in a society and class that demands her submission to them. When Taylor finally leaves Pittman County and travels through Oklahoma, Kingsolver provides further evidence of this perspective, introducing an unscrupulous mechanic (Bob Two Two) and the anonymous men in the diner responsible for abusing the child that the Indian woman leaves her.

Taylor's sudden Œadoption' of the Indian child is an event filled with irony, for just as Taylor escapes a society in which she could have a role only primarily as a mother, she suddenly comes to become the mother to an Indian child. Having spent so much time trying to avoid having a child she would not want, she finds one simply placed in her lap. The details of the Œadoption' are significant, and Taylor's objections are well-founded: she foreshadows later legal problems that she will have in establishing custody for the child.

Chapter Two: New Year's Pig:

This chapter shifts from the first person narrative to a third person perspective, telling the story of Lou Ann Ruiz, who lives in Tucson but thinks of herself as a Kentuckian who is far away from home. She acquired her "foreign" last name from her husband, Angel, who left her on Halloween. She knew that they would divorce eventually, but did not expect him to leave her while she was pregnant. He claimed that it was because of his leg: he had been in a car accident in which his boot caught on the door frame, and he had to have his leg amputated. On the day that Angel left, Lou Ann visits the office of her gynecologist, Dr. Pelinowsky. Lou Ann had decided to give her baby, once it was born, a Catholic baptism, because it was easier to upset her mother, who lived in Kentucky, than to upset her mother-in-law, who lived down the street. After visiting Dr. Pelinowsky, Lou Ann goes past a garage called Jesus Is Lord Used Tires, which reminds her somehow of Kentucky, and goes into Lee Sing Market. The elderly Chinese owner, Lee Sing, remarks that the girl that Lou Ann will have will be like "feeding the neighbor's New Year pig. All that work. In the end, it goes to some other family." When she returns home, she realizes that Angel had left.

Analysis:

In the second chapter of The Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver makes the one significant shift from Taylor's perspective in order to tell the back story of Lou Ann Ruiz. This is one of only two chapters in which Taylor does not appear and does not narrate; breaking from the first person perspective is perhaps the only way for Kingsolver to resolve the problematic dilemma of providing the volumes of information concerning Lou Ann Ruiz. Lou Ann certainly contributes to the pattern of women in the novel unjustly treated by men; her husband Angel, whose appearances in the novel are primarily recalled second-hand, is portrayed as an unstable and immature man bitter over his fate and unable to continue his relationship with a doting wife.

Before Kingsolver even brings together Taylor Greer and Lou Ann Ruiz, she establishes the parallels between the two women. Both are, in some sense, refugees from Kentucky and maintain their Southern sensibility even in their new locations. Additionally, both characters suddenly find themselves as single parents, Taylor because of the sudden abandonment of the Indian child, Lou Ann because her husband leaves her while pregnant. Yet Lou Ann possesses a different manner from the assertive Taylor; she is more easygoing and diplomatic, allowing her marriage to fall apart as it inevitably would instead of taking a stand to end it, and ceding her wishes for a Protestant baptism simply because it is practical to please her nearby mother-in-law over her distant mother. Lou Ann does not have the demanding persona of Taylor, and has come to accept the difficulties in her life instead of struggling against them; this sets Lou Ann up for an eventual transformation and character development as she will assert herself within the world.

Lee Sing's remark to Lou Ann at the market underscores a theme of the novel, the devaluing of women throughout society. Lee Sing views a female child as merely a possession that will serve only as the property of another family when she becomes married. The analogy is certainly a harsh one, placing the status of a woman as equal to the status of a farm animal prepared for the slaughter. Among the female characters of the novel, it is Lou Ann who is most ready to accept this pessimistic viewpoint, and is thus most ready for a drastic development and maturation.

Chapter Three: Jesus Is Lord Used Tires:

Taylor and the Indian girl enter into Arizona on the second day of the new year. She remains at the Broken Arrow through the holiday season, making money by changing beds for the owner, Mrs. Hoge. Mrs. Hoge adores the Indian girl, who has come to be called Turtle, for she wishes that her heavy daughter-in-law Irene would have children. Taylor and Turtle reach Tucson during a hailstorm, just as the car breaks down once more. They take cover at a building, where a man in army pants and a shirt that reads "visitor from another planet" questions Taylor and tries to impress her by warning her about a tarantula. Although initially wary, Taylor decides that this man is dumb but not harmful. Taylor leaves the building and drives down several blocks before reading Jesus Is Lord Used Tires. A woman named Mattie at Jesus Is Lord helps Taylor with her car, and asks Taylor what her little girl's name is. Taylor asks how Mattie knows that Turtle is a girl, and she replies that there is something about the face. Mattie serves Taylor coffee and Turtle peanut butter crackers. She tells Taylor that her husband Samuel was from Tennessee, and it was he who started this repair shop.

While Mattie gets apple juice for Turtle, two men enter; one man wants an alignment and a tire for his ORV, while the other has a black shirt, blue jeans and a priest's collar. The priest seems jumpy, and when he leaves Taylor notices that there is a whole family of Indians in the back of his station wagon. Taylor watches Mattie fix Roger's Toyota and is impressed by her kind of know-how. Taylor refuses to buy the tires for her car, telling Mattie that she can't afford them, and Mattie recommends that she keep Turtle from becoming dehydrated, which can often happen in such dry country. Taylor suspects that Mattie has grandchildren, and Mattie admits that she has "something like that." Mattie asks what type of work Taylor is looking for, and she replies that she is looking for anything, but has experience in "housecleaning, x-rays, urine tests, and red blood counts. And picking bugs off bean vines." Mattie tells her that they have bean vines, even purple ones. Mattie shows Taylor the purple beans that Lee Sing had given her from seems she brought over in 1907.

Turtle and Taylor take up residence in the Hotel Republic, within walking distance of Jesus Is Lord. Life in the Republic is an improvement over the Broken Arrow, for Tucson is lively, with secretaries and executive types and outlandish prostitutes at night. There are also groups of homeless people. There is also another group of people who wear embarrassing hand-me-down clothes and have studios and galleries in empty storefronts. Taylor enters one of these buildings one day, intrigued by something that looks like "cherry bombs blowing up in boxes of wet sand, and the whole thing just frozen mid-kaboom." Taylor asks the woman there what it is supposed to be, and she answers that it is non-representational. The thing is entitled "Bisbee Dog #6." It is on days like this, looking through the art gallery, that Taylor begins to feel a bit crazy. She applies for a job at the place where people give blood, but the man there asks whether she is a licensed phlebotomist in the state of Arizona, as if she were impertinent to think that she "could be on the end of the needle that doesn't hurt."

Taylor becomes friends with Sandi, the waitress at the Burger Derby. She is horse-crazy, and was ecstatic to learn that Taylor is from Kentucky, because of its Derby. Taylor shocks Sandi when she tells her that the famous race horse Secretariat was a homosexual. Sandi suggests that Taylor work at Burger Derby, for she could even take Turtle to Kid Central Station during work shifts, just as Sandi does with her little boy (Seattle, like the racehorse Seattle Slew). Taylor tells Sandi that Turtle is not really hers, but is "just somebody I got stuck with," and Sandi replies "I know exactly what you mean."

Analysis:

Barbara Kingsolver fills The Bean Trees with a multitude of female characters sympathetic to the plight of Taylor during her journey west. There is a sense of camaraderie between Taylor and even minor characters such as Mrs. Hoge, who provides Taylor with work before she can move farther west. A more important female character with which Taylor will find some affinity is Mattie, the owner of Jesus Is Lord Used Tires. Kingsolver establishes Mattie as sensible, perceptive and tough (quickly identifying that the androgynous Turtle is a girl, fixing a tire with supreme confidence and know-how), and like both Taylor and Lou Ann, a refugee from the South who has found her way west.

The incident with the priest at Jesus Is Lord Used Tires (and the Indian family in his car) foreshadows a later elucidation of Mattie's role within the novel; Mattie is vague about the role she plays as mother or grandmother, demonstrating knowledge of the job but leaving the specifics of this role ambiguous. This foreshadows later events in the novel in which Taylor finally realizes the scope of Mattie's work.

Taylor's first experiences in Tucson demonstrate the extent to which she exists as a foreigner in the large city. Kingsolver portrays Taylor as nearly overwhelmed by the new sights in the city; she bolsters this with the random depiction of Taylor walking into the art gallery, in which the woman is rude to Taylor because of her lack of knowledge and, likely, because of her class status. Applying to the blood bank gives additional evidence of this condescension against the obviously new and inexperienced Taylor, yet these incidents do not diminish her indomitable spirit. Kingsolver portrays them as obstacles but not setbacks.

The theme of Taylor as a foreigner takes a comic turn when Taylor becomes friends with Sandi from the Burger Derby. Sandi appreciates Taylor as an outsider because she may be privy to information about racehorses (being from Kentucky) that Sandi could never garner. Although Taylor genuinely appreciates Sandi, she uses this status to shock the impressionable Sandi.

Sandi provides yet another example in the novel of a single mother coping with an unwanted (but not unloved) child. Like Lou Ann and Taylor (and, as the novel will show, in a more abstract sense Mattie), Sandi finds herself parenting Seattle through compromises and the sheer fortitude of necessity.

Chapter Four: Tug Fork Water:

Lou Ann Ruiz found her Grandmother Logan asleep with Lou Ann's new baby (Dwayne Ray) in the afternoon heat. She claims that she is merely resting her eyes before her trip back to Kentucky. Angel had moved back in with Lou Ann while Grandmother Logan and Lou Ann's mother, Ivy, stayed with her, for Lou Ann and Angel did not want her mother and grandmother to know about the divorce yet. Lou Ann asks her mother whether Granny Logan always lived with her, from the beginning, and she replies that "not her with us. We lived with her," and that it was easier that way. Granny Logan suggests that Lou Ann and the baby come home to live with them, but Lou Ann reminds them, falsely, that she cannot leave because of her husband. When Lou Ann mentions the sights and industries in Tucson, Granny Logan accuses her of putting on airs. Granny Logan has a coke bottle filled with Tug Fork water for baptizing the baby. She reminisces about how Lou Ann was baptized in Tug Fork, then complains about how Angel is working on Sunday and how she should not expect better from a "heathern" Mexican.

Lou Ann buys tomatoes from Bobby Bingo's truck. He asks Lou Ann if she knows his son, Bill Bing, who sells cars on TV, but she admits that she doesn't have one (her husband took it to his new apartment). Bobby Bingo brags about how his son says that he could buy him a house in Beverly Hills.

At home, Lou Ann sees the coke bottle and tries to remember being baptized in Tug Fork. Angel comes home while Lou Ann nurses Dwayne Ray. He asks whether she has seen his belt buckle or Toros cap. Lou Ann can smell beer on his breath. He asks what is in the coke bottle, and when she tells Angel he pours it down the drain. As Lou Ann nurses her baby, she feels as if he might such the pain right out of her breast.

Analysis

The fourth chapter is the second and final chapter that breaks from Taylor's first person perspective, and like the previous chapter that did so, it takes the perspective of Lou Ann Ruiz. This chapter largely portrays the demands upon Lou Ann as she attempts to deal diplomatically with her difficult situation; in attempting to please her mother and grandmother, she and Angel must pretend that their marriage is still stable. And, as Kingsolver demonstrates through Lou Ann's interactions with her family, placating each member of her family is difficult to do.

Kingsolver portrays Ivy Logan and Granny Logan as women uncomfortable out of their habitat in Tug Fork, Kentucky, and suspicious of the changes that Tucson has brought to Lou Ann. They are unerringly provincial, complaining about the Hispanic-American Angel as being a "heathern" Mexican, revealing their suspicions about both Hispanics and Catholics. They also suspect that Lou Ann has changed into a person who Œputs on airs' because of her relatively metropolitan lifestyle.

The dynamic within the Logan family is the one instance in the novel in which Kingsolver breaks from the solid bonds between the women of the novel and portrays the relationships in unflattering terms. Yet this new dynamic is necessary, for it demonstrates that Lou Ann does not have a solid support system from which to draw when she needs help with her new child (and thus conveniently foreshadows her relationship with Taylor). Also, this adds a greater and necessary complexity to the relationships of the novel; while certain patterns emerge, they are not set in stone: not every female character is supportive of every other, just as the character of Estevan will prove that not every male character is an errant and unfaithful parent.

The actual appearance of Angel in the novel, the only instance in which his presence is not recalled second-hand, underscores the character details already established about him: he is bitter and surly, drunken and callous toward Lou Ann. Yet Lou Ann draws strength from her son: in the novel, caring for children serves a redemptive role and establishes meaning and significance for those who care for them. In particular, for Lou Ann her son is a rationale for existing; he not only dilutes the pain she feels, but his presence gives her energy and passion for life.

Chapter Five: Harmonious Space:

Taylor began to consider the train that ran near the Republic Hotel as her alarm clock, awakening her at six-fifteen every morning. Taylor worked at the Burger Derby for six days before she quit after a fight with the manager, Jerry Speller. At work Taylor had often teased Sandi with information about horses, but she could at least admit that Sandi had a rough life: the father of her baby had told everyone that Sandi was a schizophrenic who picked his name out of the yearbook when she found that she was pregnant. When she lived with her sister Aimee, Sandi had to pay rent because the devout Christian Aimee thought that it would condone sin for her to let her sister and illegitimate son stay there for free. Taylor admits that Sandi was very helpful with child-care advice. Taylor began looking for roommates, but found the ads maddeningly specific. She finds two ads, one that reads "Must be open to new ideas," the other which reads "New mom needs company. Own room, low rent, promise I won't bother you. Kids okay." The first woman wanting a roommate is Fei, who lives with La-Isha and Timothy, whom Fei says must be excused because he "used caffeine yesterday and now his homeostasis is out of balance." When Timothy asks whether Turtle is a boy or a girl, Fei sharply reprimands him that "gender is not an issue in this house." Fei tells her that a house requirement is that each person spend at least seven hours a week straining curd as part of a soy-milk collective.

The second house on Taylor's agenda is right across from Jesus Is Lord Used Tires, and belongs to Lou Ann Ruiz. Within ten minutes Lou Ann and Taylor are in the kitchen drinking Diet Pepsi and laughing about homeostasis and bean curds. Taylor tells Lou Ann about how she came to care for Turtle, while Lou Ann explains about her cat (Pachuco or Snowboots) who has a split personality. Lou Ann offers Taylor to move in.

Analysis:

While Kingsolver employs a generally light tone through most of The Bean Trees, she uses the fifth chapter of the novel primarily as an absurd satiric comedy. The centerpiece of the chapter, Taylor's visit to the odd commune, proves a savvy parody of ŒNew Age' principles, particularly when filtered through the view of the practical, down-to-earth narrator. The members of the commune are sharply rendered types, claiming to adhere to an unconventional lifestyle and to be "open to new ideas" but instead proving themselves to be rigid, dogmatic and humorless. Kingsolver does not spare any satiric details, from the pretentious names (Fei and La-Isha) to the politically correct dogma that gender is not an issue (when the question about Turtle's gender was asked innocently) to the adherence to strict yet unproven diet principles. Kingsolver portrays these characters essentially as hypocrites and frauds, and justly uses them as comic material to help Lou Ann and Taylor bond.

The interlude at the "harmonious space" is a mere break from the larger themes of the novel. The opening of the chapter further establishes the history of Sandi as a woman coping with a child in an uncaring, masculine world, while the final section of the chapter, in which Taylor and Lou Ann finally meet, proves the most potent example of the strong bond between women, rendered all the more solid because of the common experiences between the two Kentucky natives.

The chapter also returns to the theme of names with a short anecdote about the cat (Pachuco or Snowboots). Lou Ann indicates that the two disparate names of the cat reflect two different personalities: when called Pachuco, the cat acts accordingly, but when called Snowboots, the cat adopts a different manner.

Chapter Six: Valentine's Day:

Taylor takes a job at Jesus Is Lord Used Tires, for she loves Mattie, but she cannot get past her fear of tires. Mattie's place is always busy, not simply with customers but with people who just pass through. There is a set of people who speak Spanish and live with Mattie upstairs for various lengths of time. She says that it is like a sanctuary. When Taylor says that she remembers a sanctuary as "a place they set aside for birds, where nobody's allowed to shoot them," Mattie replies that "they've got them for people too." The people are generally brought and taken away by the priest in blue jeans she had seen the first day, Father William. When Mattie introduces Taylor to Father William, she says "You are old, Father William" despite his youth, simply because it is a poem from a book she had as a child.

Eventually, Taylor tells Mattie about her secret fear of exploding tires. Mattie takes a five-gallon can and fills it halfway with water, then throws it at Taylor. She tells her that it is twenty-eight pounds of water, which is the weight in a tire. She says that the damage Taylor just suffered (she just got the wind knocked out of her) is the worst that could happen with the small tires in the shop.

Taylor shops for a book for Turtle, since she has never had one, and finds a Valentine's card for her Mama, which reads on the cover "Here's hoping you'll soon have something big and strong around the house to open those tight jar lids," and inside has a picture of a pipe wrench. Lou Ann buys a book of names to find a real one for Turtle, and she suggests that Turtle doesn't have much of a personality. Lou Ann sees life as a life-threatening experience, saving newspaper stories of every imaginable type of freak disaster. Eventually Taylor tells Lou Ann to have a beer with her, and suggests that she doesn't have to help her out so much, because they're acting "like Blondie and Dagwood." They keep on drinking, and Lou Ann becomes nervous when she realizes that she is drunk. Lou Ann constantly worries about saying something totally dumb and blowing her friendship. She believes that, although she is glad that Angel left, one is supposed to love the same person all their life and "if you don't, well, you've got to have screwed up somewhere." Taylor's opinion of men is the same as her view on toilet repair: "Parts are included for all installations, but no installation requires all parts." She believes that there isn't a man out there that could use all of her parts.

Analysis:

As shown in the previous chapter, Barbara Kingsolver is willing to use the novel for its comic purposes, and in this chapter she turns her comic aim on her narrator by exposing the absurdity of Taylor's irrational fear of tires. There is certainly irony concerning Taylor's job at Jesus Is Lord Used Tires: of all the irrational fears that one could have, Taylor fears tires, and of all the jobs that Taylor could get, she finds one at a used tires shop. It is the tough but compassionate Mattie who exposes the absurdity of Taylor's fear: if her solution to Taylor's fear is less than graceful, it nevertheless relieves Taylor of her phobia.

Yet a more important detail in this chapter of The Bean Trees is the development of Mattie's role, not only in her relationship with Taylor, but in her larger role within society. It is Mattie who introduces the international scope of the novel, broadening Taylor's world even farther from her original view of a world limited to Pittman County. Mattie is the exemplar for the values that Kingsolver espouses through The Bean Trees: she is the epitome of a caretaker, not simply for family, but for all of those in need. She expresses most of Taylor's best characteristics: determination, courage and a no-nonsense attitude, but does so to a larger extent. While Taylor is the narrator for The Bean Trees, Mattie is to a great extent its paragon and heroine.

Mattie's sanctuary for refugees deals with several prominent themes of the novel. These refugees are mostly from South American dictatorships, as will later be revealed. This is the fullest and most literal expression of the idea of most of the novel's characters as foreigners, the logical extension to Lou Ann and Taylor's status as outsiders living in Tucson. The sanctuary also operates under the principle of communal, unselfish help, just as the women in the novel (Lou Ann, Mattie, Taylor, Sandi) aid one another.

Considering the pattern of female relationships established throughout The Bean Trees, Taylor's reprimand of Lou Ann is a jarring shock, as she seemingly retreats from the idea of living with Lou Ann and Dwayne Ray as a family. Yet upon closer inspection Taylor's words betray a different anxiety; she does not wish to live in a family environment like "Blondie and Dagwood," in which Lou Ann plays the submissive wife to Taylor's dominant husband. It is not the idea of a family to which Taylor objects, but the idea of a paternalistic relationship, even with Taylor in control. She instead strives for greater equality.

Kingsolver also deals with the problematic issue of Taylor's view of men in this chapter. There is definitely a subtext of androgyny around Taylor, who rejects her obviously feminine names (Marietta and Missy) for a more masculine moniker. Taylor views men only in terms of functionality: they can satisfy certain needs and serve certain roles, but no single man could use "all of her parts." Taylor's view of men as objects meant for functional purposes is one of her various attitudes that will shift through the course of the novel, as she learns to accept men for the less functional purposes that they may serve. Even the symbolism throughout the novel underscores Taylor's belief in men as mere tools: she buys a card that implicitly compares a man with a pipe wrench, then later makes the explicit comparison between a man and a toilet.

The differences between Taylor and Lou Ann become more explicit in this chapter with the greater description of Lou Ann's view on life. Lou Ann is unerringly paranoid, nervous and paralyzed by anxiety over any possible rejection. She behaves diplomatically in order to diffuse possible disasters, believing that any minor mistake might lead to the end of a friendship. Lou Ann lives her life constantly on guard against disasters, convinced that one will befall her either out of poor luck or, worse, her own carelessness.

Chapter Seven: How They Eat in Heaven:

Taylor, Mattie and Lou Ann discuss mnemonic aids for spelling during a picnic. It was Lou Ann's idea to have a picnic during that warm Arizona winter. She takes Taylor and Mattie to the place where Lou Ann wanted to marry Angel, but the idea of an outdoor wedding was too unwieldy. With the three women is a couple, Esperanza and Estevan, a Guatemalan husband and wife. Estevan is small and compact, while Esperanza's diminutive size makes her seem shrunken. When Esperanza had seen Turtle and Dwayne Ray, she nearly collapsed in the car, and she could not take her eyes off of Turtle. Eventually Taylor asks Estevan if Esperanza is okay, and he replies that Turtle looks like a child they had known in Guatemala.

Taylor swims in the nearby stream (despite Lou Ann's worry that she is swimming less than an hour after eating). On the way back to town that evening, Mattie warns Estevan, who is driving Mattie's car, that "the last thing we need is to get stopped." Mattie's car suddenly stops, nearly causing Taylor (who is driving behind them) to rear end that car. When the car suddenly stops, Turtle does a somersault and makes her first noise, a laugh. On the road up ahead they see a quail: Estevan had stopped in order to avoid hitting it.

Turtle soon says her first word: bean. She says this when Taylor points out big white beans that look like the ones in Mattie's jars. One night, Lou Ann and Taylor invite Esperanza and Estevan over for dinner, because Mattie is going to be on the six-o'-clock news. They also invite neighbors, Edna Poppy and Virgie Mae Valentine Parsons. Lou Ann admits that she would hate to be on television, for she fears she would yell out something absurd like "underpants." At the dinner, Esperanza looks exquisite, wearing a long, straight dress from Guatemala. On television, Mattie discusses "a legal obligation to take in people whose lives are in danger." Mrs. Parsons sees Turtle and remarks that she looks like a "little wild Indian," and asks if she is Estevan and Esperanza's child. Taylor remarks that she is hers, and that she is a wild Indian.

Estevan brings chopsticks, a "gift for the dishwasher," since he works at Lee Sing Market. When Estevan says that few people at the market speak English, Virgie mutters that "before you know it the whole world will be here jibbering and jabbering till we won't know it's America," and Edna reprimands her. Taylor barely contains her contempt for Virgie.

Estevan tells Turtle a story, a "wild Indian story about heaven and hell." He says that in heaven and hell there is an identical dinner table, but in hell one can only jibber and jabber and not eat, because of the very long spoons, while in heaven everyone eats until they are happy and fat. Lou Ann interrupts by asking "real fat, or do you mean just well-fed?"

Analysis

The Guatemalan couple Estevan and Esperanza serve a pivotal role in Taylor's maturation, placing a tragic human face on the world outside of Taylor's own provincial experiences. These two characters serve a transformative role, with Esperanza providing a greater look at the world, and Estevan serving as the agent for Taylor's acceptance of men.

Kingsolver portrays Esperanza as a tragic and damaged figure from her introduction. The woman seems barely alive; in her shrunken state she recalls the barely living Turtle when Taylor first took her from Oklahoma. While not describing the details of the tragedy yet, Kingsolver makes it unerringly obvious that Esperanza has suffered the loss of a child, as she nearly collapses upon seeing the infant Dwayne Ray and Turtle. Estevan bolsters this assumption with his comment that Turtle reminds Esperanza of a child she knew in Guatemala. The exact details of this loss will become explicit in the following chapters, yet the occurrence of such a loss and its effect upon Esperanza are immediately obvious.

Estevan, in contrast, is a robust and idealized character. He is the one man who registers as significant for Taylor, who views him as sensitive and charismatic; he even devotes time and attention to Turtle. Kingsolver foreshadows the later development of Taylor's feelings for Estevan; while the presence of Esperanza and her delicate state (not to mention the obvious love that Estevan has for her) prevent any tangible development of a relationship between Taylor and Estevan, the importance of the relationship is singularly one-sided. It is important that Taylor opens to the possibility of love, and not that this love actually comes to fruition. The capability for her to care for a man is more important than its execution.

Having established Lou Ann's vast neuroses in the previous chapter, Kingsolver uses them to greater comic effect in this chapter, demonstrating her worry against every possible problem (such as the dire effects of swimming less than an hour after having eaten). This chapter marks a shift in the portrayal of Lou Ann; Kingsolver employs her primarily for comic effect, yet allows the undertones of neuroses and anxiety to allow for character development and dramatics. Kingsolver portrays Lou Ann as an exemplary control freak, so worried that she may be afflicted with something beyond her control, or worse, that she will lose control of herself, that she becomes paralyzed by her fears.

Along with Estevan and Esperanza, another character emerges in this chapter: Turtle. The previously catatonic child, who has a history but no defining characteristics, emerges as a more three-dimensional character with her first noises and words. This also reflects the deepening relationship between Taylor and Turtle, as the unexpected caretaker begins to view her charge as less of a burden and more of an actual person and even a daughter.

The dinner party returns to the theme of outsiders, as it brings together escapees from rural Kentucky, refugees from Guatemala, and even bolsters this through the use of chopsticks from the immigrant Lee Sing. It is Virgie Mae Parsons who brings this quality into relief through her intense anxiety against the encroachment of Œthe whole world' into her territory. Virgie in effect takes the opposite view of Taylor in this situation: instead of opening to the vast world beyond her own experiences, she closes herself off against new experiences. Kingsolver leaves the relationship between Edna Poppy and Virgie Mae Parsons undeveloped at this point in time; however, considering Virgie's somewhat inappropriate behavior Kingsolver brings the obvious question of what role Virgie Mae plays for the more polite Edna.

Kingsolver also foreshadows later developments in the novel through Mattie's television appearance and her comment warning Estevan against getting stopped: Estevan and Esperanza are illegal immigrants and thus are in significant legal danger. Mattie risks herself by taking in these refugees, but does so because she believes in her obligation to do so, once again proving herself bold and courageous.

Chapter Eight: The Miracle of Dog Doo Park:

Taylor learns that Mama is getting married to Harland Elleston, of El-Jay's Paint and Body. Lou Ann insists that Mama is doing the right thing, for everyone deserves their own piece of the pie. The two sat outside with their kids in Roosevelt Park, which children had nicknamed both "Dead Grass Park" and "Dog Doo Park." Lou Ann says that at least her mother is living, for she feels as if Mama Ivy Logan's life stopped counting when her father died. Lou Ann says that Taylor treats men as if they were put on this earth only "to keep urinals from going to waste." Lou Ann had been telling Taylor all winter about the wisteria vines that would come alive in the spring, and toward the end of March they had sprouted a coat of pale leaves and started to bloom: these flowers out of bare dirt Taylor called "The Miracle of Dog Doo Park."

Taylor and Lou Ann see Mrs. Parsons and Edna Poppy, and Mrs. Parsons tells Lou Ann that someone was looking for her, possibly her husband or "whatever he may be." After they finish speaking to Mrs. Parsons and Edna, Taylor asks for Turtle's sake: if Angel wants to come back, would she say yes. Lou Ann asks what else she could do.

Eventually Taylor apologizes to Estevan for what Mrs. Parsons said during dinner. He simply replies that this is how Americans think. Taylor compliments Estevan for his poetic language, but she dismisses his idea that she could say something poetic herself. Taylor slowly begins to learn how things work at Jesus Is Lord Used Tires. Mattie would often leave for days at a time. A red-haired doctor named Terry would often look after refugees with cigarette burns on their backs.

Angel returns to tell Lou Ann that he is going away for good. Taylor does not see this, because she had taken Turtle to the doctor at the time. Taylor eventually realizes that she should take Turtle to the doctor because of what had been done to her. Finally she makes an appointment with Dr. Pelinowsky. Taylor cannot answer many questions about Turtle, and is relieved to think of herself as a Œfoster parent.' Taylor tells Dr. P that she suspects Turtle was molested. Dr. P suggests that Turtle suffers from a condition called a "failure to thrive," for sometimes in an environment of physical or emotional deprivation a child will simply stop growing. He suggests that the condition is reversible.

When Taylor returns home, Lou Ann tells her that Angel is going to join up with any rodeo that will take a one-legged clown. She says that Angel told her that he might not be sending any checks "until he got on his foot," as if he sees himself as an artificial leg with a person attached. Taylor decides to tell Lou Ann about Turtle later. Lou Ann and Taylor realizes that Turtle's name is actually April when she responds to that word. Lou Ann suggests that Turtle is good enough for a nickname, but she should really be called April.

Analysis:

A recurring motif throughout The Bean Trees, as demonstrated by its title, is nature; there are numerous examples in which characters reference or notice the growth of plants or the occurrence of natural phenomena. This motif first became prominent with Turtle's first word, Œbean,' and takes a larger significance with the paragraphs devoted to the wisteria vines. The "miracle of Dog Doo Park" is the blooming of the wisteria flowers in bare soil, the growth of life from barren ground. The actual growth of the wisteria vine will be explained in the final chapter of the novel, and only then will it achieve its full symbolic significance. Yet even in this undeveloped metaphorical incarnation it proves a canny parallel to Turtle: just as the wisteria flourishes from its barren origin, Turtle now flourishes despite her harsh past. The later visit to Dr. Pelinowsky confirms this metaphor: like the wisteria vine, Turtle lay dormant during her period of deprivation, but this condition is now reversible.

This chapter also develops the idea that Taylor has little use for men, as she rejects the idea that Harland Elleston might fulfill some sort of need of her mother. Lou Ann accurately appraises Taylor's opinion of men (as if they were put on the earth simply so someone could use the urinals), but even as she does so, Taylor begins to branch out from this viewpoint. The impetus for this change is, not surprisingly, Estevan. Taylor idealizes Estevan, but more surprisingly, it is Estevan who allows Taylor to realize several of her own strengths; while others respect Taylor for her fortitude, Estevan cherishes her for more poetic qualities. Taylor at first dismisses the idea, but Kingsolver portrays her as relenting against Estevan's compliments and steadily accepting this new view of herself.

The conflict between Lou Ann and Angel resolves itself in this chapter, but Kingsolver does not provide a resolution satisfactory for both parties. Although Angel and Lou Ann make a definitive break from one another, Lou Ann has already accepted the fact that she would forgive Angel if he wanted to return to her. This resolution thus leaves Lou Ann with a state of actual finality but no emotional completion; yet this allows for a later maturation that will allow Lou Ann to grow past her dependence on her husband.

The visit to Dr. Pelinowsky more clearly defines the relationship between Turtle and Taylor, while also foreshadowing later developments and problems within this relationship. The visit confirms that Turtle was likely sexually molested, and suggests that this problem may continue to affect Turtle; however, for the first time the relationship between Turtle and Taylor becomes defined. Taylor is now a Œfoster parent' to Turtle.

Nevertheless, the question over Turtle's relationship to Taylor underlies a problem that will propel the narrative of the final chapters. The visit underscores the idea that Taylor has no legal claim to Turtle, and this will become a problem when an upcoming event forces the issue.

Once again, the theme of names returns to The Bean Trees with the decision to give Turtle a new name. Quite significantly, Turtle receives her new name when her status and position change, just as Taylor chose her new name once she left Pittman County. The new name, April, even carries with it the symbolism of spring and renewal, as the baby Turtle takes on a new role as the foster daughter of Taylor Greer.

Chapter Nine: Ismene:

Estevan tells Taylor quietly that Esperanza tried to kill herself by taking a bottle of baby aspirin. Mattie had found her and rushed her to a clinic in Tucson where she would not have to show papers. Taylor does not know what to saying, telling him "anything I can think of to talk about seems ridiculous next to a person's life or death." She offers him food or beer, for her vivid memories of times of crisis involve women preparing food for men. Taylor tells Estevan about a boy in high school, Scotty Richey, who was seemingly an electricity genius that killed himself. He did so because he didn't have anybody, for there was no mixing between groups in her high school. Estevan compares her high school to the caste system in India. In these groups, Taylor was a Nutter, the bottom group (the poor kids and the farm kids). Estevan tells Taylor about how the police in Guatemala use electricity for interrogation. When he says that it is easier for Taylor not to know these things, she says that it's not fair to think that she just looks the other way while the President or somebody sends down shiploads of telephones to electrocute people, and that sometimes she feels like a foreigner too, for nobody asked her permission.

Estevan tells Taylor that she can't know what Esperanza has been through, and Taylor replies that he can't know either. Estevan admits that Turtle reminds him of Ismene, their daughter. She was taken in a raid on their neighborhood. Since Esperanza knew the names of twenty teachers' union members, the authorities used Ismene as a leverage tool: if she told the names of these members (who would be killed), she would get Ismene back. Taylor begins to cry. Taylor thinks about how even her bad luck brings good things: her car breaks once, she gets Turtle, her car breaks a second time, she finds Mattie. And she now counts tires and children as blessings, despite avoiding them for half her life. Taylor asks Estevan if it is difficult to talk about Ismene, and he says that it is not so much now, and it helps to know that her life is still going on somewhere. He asks why she was called a Nutter, and Taylor says that it is because of the walnuts the kids would pick to earn money for school clothes.

Analysis:

Esperanza's suicide attempt places in sharp relief the anguish and suffering that she feels and indicates the gravity of both her and Estevan's situations. Their status as illegal immigrants endangers their life; Esperanza cannot get treatment at certain hospitals because of her status, and Mattie is forced to find a clinic that will save her life without endangering it once more.

Taylor's discussion of the social divide in Kentucky brings into relief issues of class that remain an underlying theme of The Bean Trees. The central characters all belong to lower or precarious classes: Taylor and Lou Ann from rural Kentucky, while by virtue of her occupation Mattie belongs to the blue-collar workforce. The anecdote concerning the suicidal Scotty Richey relates to Esperanza and Estevan in a significant sense; like Scotty Richey, the Guatemalan immigrants find themselves caught between two classes. While Estevan's education and occupation as a teacher places him in an educated class, his illegal status forces him into a lower social caste, working in a grocery store. This mixing of class markers also applies, to some extent, to Taylor. She is among the rural poor, yet her brash confidence and aspirations blur these class lines. This adds another dimension to the theme of foreigners; Taylor even explicitly refers to herself as a foreigner in her own land.

Estevan's story concerning Ismene finally establishes the details easily assumed during Esperanza's first interaction with Turtle. Esperanza had indeed lost a child, but the actual story takes a turn from the expected: the child was not murdered, but kidnapped and placed in foster care. There is a certain irony in this story: while The Bean Trees has more than its share of single mothers raising children, the one two-parent family in the novel is the one which has its child taken away. In many ways, the dilemma that Esperanza faced was worse than the mere loss of the child. She was forced to choose between the life of her child and the life of a large number of union members.

This chapter signals a greater maturation for Taylor. She finally realizes the irony of her own situation, highlighting how what she considered to be bad luck suddenly turns into good fortune. She also, to a more explicit extent, becomes aware of events on an international scale. Her world is no longer provincial: she shows a deep and intuitive understanding of the scope of her situation and her place, or lack thereof, in the world. This foreshadows the eventual time in which Taylor takes this understanding and moves into taking action.

Chapter Ten: The Bean Trees:

Mattie calls the next morning and tells Taylor that Esperanza was going to be all right. Lou Ann returns from the Ruiz family reunion, and begins to rearrange the house to fill the empty spaces left by Angel. Lou Ann is shocked to hear that several of the Ruiz family are moving to California, for her Mama believes that things are so strange there that grocery stores in California sell marijuana in the produce section. Turtle says "bean trees" when she notices that the flower trees are turning into bean trees.

Lou Ann begins a job search, and Taylor goes to Lee Sing market, where she sees Edna Poppy, who tells her that Virgie is ill in bed with a croup. She realizes that Edna Poppy is blind when Edna asks her whether she has lemons or limes. Upon thinking about Edna's relationship with Virgie, she realizes that Edna must be blind, for Virgie always leads her around and announces everyone's name when they come into a room.

On Monday Taylor goes to see Esperanza, the first time that she visits the upstairs in Mattie's place. She tells Esperanza that Estevan told her about Ismene. She also says that she knows that her name means (hope), and that she wishes that she won't give up that hope. Finally Taylor tells Esperanza that Estevan is crazy about her.

Lou Ann tells Taylor about a job interview with a convenience store in which the man says that there are a lot of armed robberies. Taylor suggests that she holds out for a better job. They notice Fanny Heaven, the porn shop next door to Jesus Is Lord Used Tires, and Lou Ann shudders at the disgusting store. Taylor says that Lou Ann should not let the place bother her, and she should talk back to it. When Lou Ann asks where Taylor learned not to let anyone put one over on her, she replies "Nutter School."

Analysis

The title of this chapter (which is the title of the novel) once again returns to the theme of natural growth and order. Turtle seems particularly responsive to these natural phenomena; Kingsolver thus relates the growth and maturation of Taylor to the natural maturation of plants and flowers.

The relationship between Virgie Mae Parsons and Edna Poppy becomes clear in this chapter. While it was previously a mystery why Edna would tolerate the rude Virgie Mae, the relationship becomes evident when Lou Ann and Taylor realize that Edna is blind; Virgie Mae is the caretaker for Edna Poppy. This revelation softens the harsh character of Virgie Mae; while still rude and judgmental, she is still capable of great care and kindness.

Taylor's attempt to communicate with Esperanza is a still step but not necessarily a significant or helpful one. Her kindness to Esperanza contains a hint of desperation and discomfort, as if she is guided by her good intentions rather than a knowledge of how she should react toward Esperanza. The name "Esperanza" takes on an ironic significance in this chapter as well, for it is this character who is in most need of a sense of hope. While this is not an unconditionally positive step for Taylor, it still points Taylor in the right direction and places her on the road to greater maturation.

Lou Ann also makes a stride forward in this chapter, as she finally decides to break from her role as a house mother to look for a job outside the house. Kingsolver suggests that the influence of Taylor has given Lou Ann the resolve to break free from her limited role; she takes Taylor's savvy and determination as an example and follows it, thus providing one more example of a positive, symbiotic relationship between the female characters of The Bean Trees.

Chapter Eleven: Dream Angels:

Lou Ann got a job as a packer in the Red Hot Mama's salsa factory, which is essentially a salsa sweat shop. Still, Lou Ann loves her job and is an enthusiastic employee. Having a job improves Lou Ann's mood and neuroses. She works mostly evening swing shifts, which fortunately means that she cooks much less (she had been using salsa with every meal). When Taylor finally asks Lou Ann why she worries so much about disaster, she says that she had a dream the week after Dwayne Ray was born that an angel told her that her son would not live to see the year two thousand. Taylor tells her that she was simply looking for a disaster to happen. When Lou Ann says that she is merely screwed up, Taylor says that she does have redeeming qualities. Lou Ann asks what these are, and Taylor replies that Lou Ann will never neglect her child.

In June, Angel sends a package from Montana, asking Lou Ann to join him there and live in a yurt (a circular domed tent of skins). Lou Ann says that she has responsibilities now at Red Hot Mama's. Mattie tells Taylor that there is trouble, and Esperanza and Estevan were going to have to be moved to a safe house farther from the border. Mattie says that Esperanza and Estevan need proof such as pictures and documents that their lives were in danger in Guatemala when they left.

Analysis:

Lou Ann reaches a new stage of development in this chapter, as she wholeheartedly throws herself into a new role in her job at Red Hot Mama's salsa factory. This transformation nevertheless fits entirely with her character; as a working woman she exhibits the same obsessive fervor that she displays as a mother, yet she now channels them into a more positive outlet. Lou Ann's discussion with Taylor highlights the rationale behind Lou Ann's neuroses; she never believes herself worthy, and thus jumps at the chance to hear her positive qualities when Taylor suggests that she has many redeeming qualities. Perhaps the fullest expression of Lou Ann's development occurs when she rejects Angel's proposal for her to join him in Montana. She no longer sees taking back her husband as a singular option, and views herself as holding a larger and more important place in the world than as simply the wife of Angel Ruiz.

Kingsolver begins to set up the final storyline in the novel with this chapter, in which Mattie indicates that Esperanza and Estevan must leave Tucson to find a safe house elsewhere. The resolution to Esperanza and Estevan's status will provide one of two conflicts that will come together through the final chapter. The second conflict will be introduced in the upcoming chapters, and will neatly fit in with the plight of Esperanza and Estevan.

Chapter Twelve: Into the Terrible Night:

In the middle of July, it is the New Year's Day for the Native Americans who once lived in Tucson. On this day, Mattie can also feel an impending storm. Mattie and Taylor go to the desert with Esperanza and Estevan, where they see the storm break the desert into smoky columns and rays of sunlight. The rain smells "clean" to Taylor and "pungent" to Estevan; this is caused by the greasewood bushes that produce a certain chemical when it rains, according to Mattie.

When the four return home, Taylor immediately realizes that something has gone wrong. Lou Ann says that it's Turtle. Lou Ann tells that Edna and Turtle were in the park. Edna heard a sound, like a bag of flour hitting the dirt. Edna can only explain details: she heard struggling sounds, then she swung her bag out high to hit someone, then Turtle clings to her and will not let her go. It took twenty minutes for Turtle to let go. The police arrive with a social worker. Taylor explains that Taylor may not talk: not now, not ever. The social worker gives Taylor anatomically correct dolls to see whether or not she has been molested. While this happens, Virgie and Taylor attempt to deal with a bird that has flown into the house.

The medical examiner finds no evidence that Turtle had been molested. Lou Ann assures Taylor that Turtle will snap out of her catatonia. Lou Ann becomes angry, and even takes a week off from Red Hot Mama's in order to stay with Turtle. She blames the perverts who hang around at Fanny Heaven. Taylor laments the ugliness in the world, but Lou Ann tells her that she is the one who fights back. Taylor says that "nobody feels sorry for anybody anymore, nobody even pretends they do. . . . What's that supposed to teach people?" Lou Ann tells her not to feel like the Lone Ranger, for nobody is.

Analysis:

This chapter introduces the final impetus for the crisis concerning Turtle. The story concerning her attack in the park is a story of perfect horror: the danger that Turtle faces is anonymous and appears suddenly. The presence of the blind Edna Poppy makes the crisis even more horrifying: she cannot identify Turtle's attacker, and only wards off the attacker by mere luck when she hits him with her purse. The anonymity of the attacker is significant, placing this evil as completely random and unidentifiable. Even the aftermath of the event is chaotic and random, as Taylor must deal with a bird that has flown into the house while the police and a social worker arrive.

While the physical danger to Turtle has subsided, new problems emerge. The first is the return of Turtle to her catatonic state. The second is the introduction of the police and social workers into Turtle's life. The presence of law enforcement highlights the precarious legal status of Turtle and Taylor that Taylor realized when she first took the baby girl. She has no legal claim to Turtle, and the introduction of the police only makes this more problematic.

The discussion between Taylor and Lou Ann is in some sense a catalyst for Taylor. Taylor now fully realizes the larger ramifications of the world around her, and for the first time is confronted with the fact that she is one of the few people to fight back against injustice. This foreshadows later events in which Taylor will take greater risks against injustice. Her lament against a lack of compassion, however, directly clashes with her personal experiences. Taylor complains that nobody feels compassion for one another, while she is surrounded by caring, reciprocal relationships such as hers with Lou Ann, Virgie Mae and Edna Poppy, and Esperanza and Estevan. This complaint sets up Taylor for the final epiphany of the novel that will mark her final character development.

Chapter Thirteen: Night-Blooming Cereus:

As the social worker predicted, Turtle proves resilient. She never does anything with the anatomical rag dolls, except for planting them under the social worker's desk blotter. She does talk to Cynthia, the social worker, about the "bad man" and how Edna Poppy "popped him one." Taylor realizes how ridiculous her pep talk to Esperanza was, for there is no point in treating a person suffering from depression as though she were just feeling sad. Taylor receives bad news from Cynthia: it had come to her attention that Taylor had no legal claim to Turtle. She says that the state of Arizona has a claim on her, and she is a ward of a state. Whether or not Taylor can qualify to become her guardian depends on income and stability.

Lou Ann becomes angry at this news, and tells Taylor that she must fight for Turtle. When Taylor appears ready to give up the fight, Lou Ann says that "I thought we were best friends, but now I don't hardly know who in the heck you are." Lou Ann tells her a story about Bonita Jankenhorn, who was the smartest and gutsiest person she knew, doing crossword puzzles in an ink pen. But when Lou Ann met Taylor, she knew that Bonita Jankenhorn had more than met her match.

Mattie had not yet found a way to get Esperanza and Estevan out of Tucson, much less to a sanctuary church in another state. Mattie tells Taylor that she knew that she was a new parent when she first met her at Jesus Is Lord Used Tires. Mattie tells her that she is asking the wrong question: she is asking whether she can give this child the best possible upbringing and keep her out of harm's way her whole life, when she should instead ask if she wants to try to do so.

Taylor makes an appointment with Cynthia, and they discuss "proof of abandonment" and the cornerstone of an adoption of this type would be the written consent of the child's natural parents. She tells Taylor that in some cases, exceptions are made. Cynthia tells Taylor that she is on her side in this. When Taylor asks whether she'd rather see Turtle stay with her than at a state home, she says "there has never been any doubt in my mind about that." After the visit, as Taylor leaves, a secretary rushes after her with a note from Cynthia: "I appreciate your sensitivity in not wishing to discuss April's custody in her presence." And below there is a name: Mr. Jonas Wilford Armistead, and an Oklahoma City address.

Taylor tells Lou Ann that she is going to drive Esperanza and Estevan to a safe house in Oklahoma, and while she is there she will find Turtle's relatives. Mattie warns Taylor of the dangers of transporting illegal immigrants. Taylor tells her that there are more important things to consider: Esperanza and Estevan will get a whole lot worse than prison and a fine. The night before Taylor is about to leave, Edna and Virgie bring over flowers: a night-blooming cereus, which opens its flower for only one night of the year. They are in awe of the flower, and Lou Ann sees it as a sign of something good. Mattie gives them money for their trip, saying that some folks are heroes and take the risks, and other folks do what they can from behind the scenes.

Analysis

Lou Ann proves herself right when Turtle shows herself more resilient than Taylor expects. This is a testament to the improvement that Turtle has shown during her time with Taylor. The anecdote about the rag dolls is a bit of foreshadowing; her burying of the dolls is significant, but not for the different reasons that either the social worker or Taylor suggest.

The conflict foreshadowed in previous chapters becomes finally established in this chapter: Taylor must find a way to gain legal custody of Turtle. Once again, it is Lou Ann who reminds Taylor of her determination and power; this suggests that an additional role that Lou Ann plays for Taylor is as he support and reminder of her strengths. In this role, Lou Ann proves herself an idealist who thinks the best of others and has great faith in their strengths.

The two major conflicts of the final chapters of the novel come together in this chapter, as Taylor decides to go to Oklahoma and take Esperanza and Estevan to a safe house in the area. The concurrence of these two plotlines fit well with Taylor's newfound realizations. She assumes the role of courageous heroine that Lou Ann expects of her, fighting to keep her Turtle, yet also moves her fight to a more dangerous and international scale, risking her safety in order to help Esperanza and Estevan. Several anecdotes in this chapter suggest how Taylor has developed throughout the novel; Taylor learns from Mattie that she appeared to be a new mother when she first arrived at Jesus Is Lord Used Tires, while Taylor realizes her own failings in her conversation with Esperanza. Mattie's conversation with Taylor also neatly parallels Taylor's final conversation with Cynthia; while Taylor doubts her role as mother, neither Mattie nor Cynthia doubt that Taylor will provide the best upbringing that she can for Turtle.

The convergence of the two major conflicts of the novel begins to take shape in this chapter, as Kingsolver foreshadows that Estevan and Esperanza will aid Taylor in securing custody. Kingsolver foreshadows this through several details, including the physical resemblance between the Guatemalan couple and Turtle, Esperanza's unresolved emotional state and her relationship with Turtle, and the discussion of securing "proof of abandonment."

The night-blooming cereus is a symbol and a harbinger. Lou Ann views this as a sign that they are undertaking the journey at the right time: the problems of each character are coming together so that each of them can be resolved. The night-blooming cereus is also a dark symbol, an example of great beauty finding its expression only when things seem darkest.

Chapter Fourteen: Guardian Saints:

Immigration stops Taylor's car about a hundred miles away from the New Mexico border. Everyone appears as American as possible, but when Taylor hesitates upon being asked whether Turtle is hers or theirs, Estevan quickly replies that she is theirs. Estevan and Taylor talk about everything, and he asks whether the alligator is the national symbol of the United States, because you see them everywhere on people's shirts, just above the heart. He says that the symbol of the Indian people in Guatemala is the quetzal, a green bird with a long tail. Taylor asks him if he misses his home, because often she misses her own home, and for Estevan it must be worse, not speaking his own language. Estevan tells her that he is a Mayan, and his native language is not even Spanish: his true name is not even a Spanish name, for he chose a Spanish-sounding name when he moved to the city. Taylor tells him that she chose a new name as well. She says that her mother chose the name Marietta because it is the city in Georgia where her parents' car broke down (and she was conceived). They listen to Esperanza singing Mayan songs to Turtle. Taylor wonders about the situation of the Indians, and wonders how a person can be "illegal."

On the second day they reach Oklahoma, and in order to fend against the boredom of watching the horizon they play word games, including finding palindromes (including the sentences "A man, a plan, a canal: Panama" and "Able was I ere I saw Elba.") They reach the Broken Arrow Motor Lodge, where Taylor learns that Mrs. Hoge had died, and Irene had lost over one hundred pounds. Mrs. Hoge had died of Parkinson's. Irene admits that she misses Mrs. Hoge, even if she was never kind to her. Taylor realizes that Oklahoma is a good choice for Estevan and Esperanza, for they appear Cherokee and can fit in easily.

Taylor notices that Esperanza once calls Turtle "Ismene." She cheerfully tells Estevan that she always tells Turtle she's as good as the ones who came over on the Mayflower, but "they landed at Plymouth Rock. She just landed in a Plymouth." Estevan chooses the name Steven for himself and Hope for Esperanza. They reach the place where the Indian woman gave Turtle to Taylor, but Taylor hesitates before going in. When Estevan asks about the worst-case scenario, she says it is that "we lose her, some way."

In the diner, she sees that most of the signs she remembered were gone, but there is the same postcard rack. Taylor tells a waitress that she is looking for someone, a woman whom Ed knew. The girl tells Taylor that her parents own the place, and bought it in March. The waitress supposes that Ed must have died. Taylor brings Esperanza and Estevan in for lunch. Taylor asks about Bob Two Two, but the waitress claims that his place closed down as well. Taylor realizes that she is on a snipe hunt: a practical joke for something that does not exist. Taylor does not want to give up, however, and wants to go to the nearly Lake o' the Cherokees.

Analysis:

The incident at the New Mexico border is a tense demonstration of the struggles that each of the characters face. The immigration patrol confronts Esperanza and Estevan with their precarious status, while by asking Taylor about Turtle also creates anxiety concerning who actually is her parents. Esperanza's quick response that she is Turtle's mother is rational and helpful in diffusing the situation, but it also creates some tension between Esperanza and Turtle. There is an underlying territorial conflict between Taylor and Esperanza that remains unspoken: while Esperanza feels some claim and kinship to Turtle, Taylor feels her own claim and emotional bond with Estevan, whom she is growing to love. This bond that Esperanza feels for Turtle becomes explicit when Esperanza once calls Turtle "Ismene," and Taylor notices that Turtle calls Esperanza "Ma."

The theme of names arises once more during the discussion of Guatemala, in which Estevan reveals that he chose his name when he moved to the city. This nearly replicates the similar choice that Taylor made when she chose her name upon leaving rural Kentucky. The news concerning how Mama Greer chose Taylor's name aligns with a subtext concerning names in the novel: names can identify where a person comes from, as Taylor's original name, Marietta, explicitly did. And, the final choice of new names for Esperanza and Estevan coincides with the recurring theme of persons choosing new names as their status changes: as they prepare to live a new life, they choose new names, Steven and Hope, to live in Oklahoma.

The events of the final paragraphs of this chapter demonstrate the significance of the changes that have occurred through the course of The Bean Trees. Taylor returns to these places as a different person only to find that these places bear little resemblance to the places she remembers. Kingsolver portrays the changes as if a lifetime has passed, when in actuality it has been only six months. Even those areas of her journey not critical to establishing Turtle's status have changed, with the death of Mrs. Hoge and the drastic weight loss of Irene. Kingsolver portrays this with a sense of surreal dread; everything has changed for Taylor, as if what she experienced never even occurred. It is, as Taylor remarks, a macabre joke, a search for something that does not exist.

This drastic change in the area where Taylor found Turtle eliminates any legal option for Taylor to establish guardianship over Turtle. However, this does not eliminate hope for Taylor. It instead leads to the logical and foreshadowed conclusion that will bring together the coinciding plotlines between Taylor and Turtle on one side and Esperanza and Estevan on the other.

Chapter Fifteen: Lake o' the Cherokees:

Over the next several hours, Esperanza and Estevan seem changed. As they reached closer to the heart of the Cherokees, they see fewer and fewer white people. Esperanza and Estevan seem relieved to be around people who look more like they do, while Taylor is the odd woman out. They reach Lake Oologah, the Lake o' the Cherokees, one of the few diamonds of the Cherokee Nation. All of a sudden, Turtle cries out "Mama," but Taylor only sees a gas station and a cemetery. Meanwhile, Turtle and Esperanza become inseparable.

The four travelers find a cottage. Although Esperanza and Estevan object, Taylor considers this vacation a present, "as an ambassador of my country." Esperanza begins to thaw and in some respects return to life, seeming honestly happy when she holds Turtle. Although they insist that Taylor call them Steven and Hope, Taylor cannot get used to changing their names, and suggests that they only use the name when they need to fool someone. While Turtle and Esperanza remain on the shore, since neither know how to swim, Taylor and Estevan take a boat out on the lake. Estevan takes off his shirt to sun himself, and Taylor wishes to know how his chest would feel against her face, so she looks away. She tells him that she will miss them a great deal.

Esperanza begins to use English more and more often, and she discusses with them whether she likes sunset or sunrise better. Turtle attempts to bury a doll in the dirt, but Taylor explains to her that beans grow into bushes or trees when you plant them, but doll babies don't. Turtle says "Yes, Mama." Taylor asks if she saw her mama get buried like that, and Turtle says "yes." Taylor explains that it is sad when people die, because you don't get to see them again." That night, Taylor asks Estevan and Esperanza to do a great favor for her, and they agree.

Analysis:

The relationship between Esperanza and Turtle becomes more disturbing to Taylor in this chapter, as Esperanza becomes closer and closer to her child. Nevertheless, her exposure to Turtle serves to heal Esperanza, and the formerly suicidal woman comes to life while around Turtle. Likewise, the relationship between Taylor and Estevan becomes stronger and more passionate, as Taylor realizes her deep attraction to him. Nevertheless, at this point neither relationship takes a turn into appropriate action. Taylor does not act upon her feelings for Estevan, while Esperanza agrees to help Taylor secure custody of Turtle. The impending resolution of custody to Turtle will also resolve the relationship between Esperanza and Turtle, averting the potentially disturbing consequences concerning the bond Esperanza feels toward Turtle.

This chapter also clears up a mystery concerning Turtle. The reason that Turtle buries her dolls is that it replicates the burial of her mother, as shown by Turtle's reaction to the cemeteries in the area. The burial of the dolls adds shading to the theme of natural growth through the novel. While these instances of natural phenomena generally concentrate on growth and maturation, this anecdote incorporates the presence of death. While Taylor considered the burial of dolls (like seeds) to be a metaphor for life, it is in fact a metaphor for death, blurring the lines between the two events and placing them both as part of a natural continuum.

Chapter Sixteen: Soundness of Mind and Freedom of Will:

Mr. Jonas Wilford Armistead is a tall, white-haired man who seems more comfortable with the notarizing job than the public. He has a complicated hearing aid that his secretary, Mrs. Cleary, always attempts to adjust. Estevan and Esperanza discuss the various forms to arrange for transfer of legal authority. Mr. Armistead says that this is permanent: after six months, the old birth certificate will be destroyed and the new one will be permanent. Mrs. Cleary reminds Mr. Armistead that there was no birth certificate, for "it" was born on tribal lands. Although nobody has any identification, it seems enough that Taylor has a Social Security card. Esperanza is nearly at tears, and tells Armistead that she loves Turtle, but cannot take care of her. Estevan tells Turtle that she must be a good girl, strong like her mother. Taylor wonders which mother he means, for there are so many possibilities, but is touched to think that he might mean Taylor. This is the only time in which Taylor believes she might lose Turtle, for if Esperanza had not let go of her, she would have let her have the girl. Everyone signs the form transferring guardianship of Turtle over to Taylor. In some way, Taylor wishes that years later Mr. Armistead and Mrs. Cleary could know what they actually did.

Analysis

This chapter proves a final resolution to the question of Turtle's custody, but does so in a way that also allows for Esperanza to resolve her feelings over Turtle, and by extension, Ismene. Kingsolver creates tension over two major points during the visit to Armistead's office: the first source of tension is whether the entire ruse will work, while the second is whether Esperanza will relinquish her Œcustody' over Turtle or attempt to take Turtle for herself. The first source of contention is easily resolved, partially because of the contempt that Armitead shows for his clients. He readily believes that Esperanza and Estevan would want to abandon their child because of their supposed Indian background, and even considers Turtle as little more than chattel, calling her "it."

Kingsolver plays with the dualities of parenthood with Estevan's comment to Turtle that she must be strong like her mother. Taylor considers it a compliment that he might be referring to her as Turtle's mother, but in an equally and not mutually exclusive way he likely refers to the strength of his wife at this moment, praising her for her strength in letting go of Turtle just as she nobly let go of Ismene. Kingsolver leaves no doubt that the emotions that Esperanza expresses as she gives up Turtle are real; she genuinely mourns the loss of Turtle, both as the loss of a child she cares for and as a loss by proxy of her actual daughter.

Chapter Seventeen: Rhizobia:

Taylor wonders whether the cemetery that they passed is where her mother is actually buried, but her concern is alleviated when Turtle says "Mama" every time that she passes one. They find the Pottawatomie Presbyterian Church of St. Michael and All Angels, where Esperanza and Estevan will live. The search for the church is a difficult one, and they find it a day later than Reverend and Mrs. Stone expect. When Taylor prepares to leave Estevan and Esperanza, she deliberately awakes Turtle so that the baby girl can see them before going, for Taylor says "it's happened too many times that people she loved were whisked away from her without any explanation." Everyone is exhausted, so goodbyes are nearly impossible. Estevan puts his hand on Taylor's arm, and she asks what he will do. He answers: "Survive." He tells her to think of him and Esperanza back in Guatemala "when the world is different," but she says that the world will never be different. He touches her cheek as she prepares to cry. He says that he can send news by way of Mattie. Estevan and Taylor discuss how transferring custody in the office was a catharsis for Esperanza, and now she seems happy. He says that "in a world as wrong as this one, all we can do is to make things as right as we can." Taylor thinks that all four of them had buried someone they loved in Oklahoma.

Taylor calls her Mama from Oklahoma City, but bursts into tears at the beginning of the conversation. She tells her mother that she just lost somebody that she is in love with, and will never see him again. She says she let him go because he wasn't hers to have. She tells Mama that she feels like she's died. Her Mama says that she is far past her prime, but is still in love as if she were a teenager. Mama tells Taylor about how she told off her employer, Mrs. Wickentot, as she quit, criticizing her for the trash she kept in her closets and the way she let her children run wild. Mama says that her former employers are too scared to be rude to her anymore, considering the secrets she learned while she worked for them. They discuss Turtle, and Mama tells Taylor that blood is not the only way that kids become connected to their parents. Taylor tells her that Turtle is now legally her daughter.

Turtle and Taylor wait in Oklahoma City for the adoption paperwork to clear. Turtle plays with Esperanza's medallion of St. Christopher. Taylor tells Turtle that she counts as a refugee, for she is as "tempest-tossed" as they come. Taylor had remembered "tempest-tossed" from the inscription on the Statue of Liberty. Taylor tells Turtle that she has only one Ma now. The rest: Lou Ann and Edna and Mattie are all friends, but Taylor is her Ma.

On a whim, Taylor calls 1-800-THE-LORD. Instead of pledging money, Taylor says that she has always thought of the number as a Fountain of Faith, but the operator merely asks if she wants to make a pledge at this time. Taylor and Turtle spend time in the library, where they find the Horticultural Encyclopedia and look up wisteria. Taylor reads to her about wisteria: they thrive in poor soil, for their secret is rhizobia, microscopic bugs that live underground in little knots on the roots and turn the soil into fertilizer. Taylor compares the wisteria and the rhizobia to relationships such as Edna and Virgie.

At Mr. Armistead's office, while waiting for paperwork, Taylor makes a call to Lou Ann, who tells her that she spoke to her mother-in-law. Mrs. Ruiz told her that Angel wants what he can't have, and that Lou Ann is worth five or six of Angel. Lou Ann also found out that there was never a meteor shower, as Angel had told her. Lou Ann says that she is now dating Cameron John from Red Hot Mama's; the inverted first-and-last names remind her of Hughes Walter. Cameron John was once a Rastafarian and has a Doberman with pierced ears. Lou Ann recalls how Taylor got mad at her because she didn't want them to act like a family, but says that she realized that they are a family, because they've been through hell and high water together. Lou Ann says that she doesn't mean "till death do us part," but Taylor agrees that they are a family. Taylor says that Turtle is now her legal daughter. Taylor and Turtle head back to home in Tucson.

Analysis:

The final chapter of The Bean Trees ties together the disparate themes of the novel and demonstrates the evolution of each of the characters throughout the novel. The beginning of the chapter resolves the final material conflict of the novel, as Estevan and Esperanza safely reach the new sanctuary in which they will stay. Yet more importantly this chapter fully explains and resolves the dynamics between Turtle and Esperanza as well as Estevan and Taylor. The incident at Armistead's office serves as a catharsis for Esperanza; as she transferred her fictional custody of Turtle to Taylor, she found some relief concerning her lack of a real transfer of custody of Ismene. Estevan makes clear that Esperanza was saying goodbye to Ismene in the notary office.

The resolution of the relationship between Taylor and Estevan is one-sided by necessity. Taylor realizes the depth of her love for Estevan, but also realizes that she had to give him up because he is not hers. The importance of the relationship is the very fact that Taylor realizes her ability to love; she makes a final break from the idea that no man could satisfy all of her needs, and allows one to affect her deeply. It is once again Mama Greer who places this in perspective, giving her perspective and strength in this time of need, much as she did after the incident with Newt Hardbine and Jolene Shanks early in the book.

Two major themes of the novel, natural growth and female reciprocity, come together with the final anecdote concerning the wisteria vines. The information about the wisteria vines growing because of a symbiotic relationship, as Taylor explicitly states, parallels the various relationships of the novel. This highlights the fact that the growth of each character is not an independent thing: Taylor teaches Lou Ann to become more independent and assertive, Estevan teaches Taylor to open herself to love, Mattie helps Taylor take a more vast look at the world, and so forth. Lou Ann also contributes to this theme with her insistence that she and Taylor form a family: just as Mama Greer reminds Taylor, a family is not simply blood, but a bond between those who love one another. Taylor accepts this definition of family as she did not before, for it is a relationship of equality and reciprocity.

Barbara Kingsolver thus ends the novel almost as it began, with the journey of Taylor and Turtle Greer back to Tucson. Yet they return as a family engaged in a world larger than their own experiences, bound to others who similarly care and depend on one another.

• Biography of Barbara Kingsolver
• About The Bean Trees
• Character List
• Major Themes
• Short Summary
• Full Summary and Analysis
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 1-3
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 4-6
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 7-9
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 10-12
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 13-15
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 16-17
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• Author of ClassicNote and Sources
• Purchase The Bean Trees and Other Works
• Test Yourself! Quiz 1
• Test Yourself! Quiz 2
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