“Children learn more from what you are than what you teach” (W.E.B DuBois). Children constantly gain knowledge from their parent’s actions and decisions. Mexican Whiteboy by Matt de la Peña, The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver, and Two Kinds by Amy Tan all show different ways parents influence their child’s behavior and decisions. Throughout these three novels, parents are role models for their children through the examples they set, the way they treat them, and how they force them into situations. A child’s actions reflects the influence from their parents because they want to make their parents proud. Primarily, a parent influences their child's decisions and behaviors by setting examples for their kids. In Mexican Whiteboy, Uno has …show more content…
There are both positive and negative ways that parents can treat their children. In The Bean Trees, Taylor and Lou Ann are both mothers trying to find a new start with their children. Making sure her adopted daughter, Turtle, will receive the same treatment that every human deserves. Taylor states, “Knowing that Turtle’s first uttered sound was a laugh brought me no end of relief. If I had dragged her halfway across the nation only to neglect and entirely botch her upbringing, would she have laughed? I thought surely not” ( Kingsolver, ch. 7). Taylor treats Turtle with care, which makes a positive impact on both of them. In contrast, Lou Ann has a different experience from Taylor, but learns to use the negativity she receives from her family into a positive affect. Lou Ann tries to find a new identity away from her family. “One time Granny introduced me to some cousins by marriage of hers, I was wearing this brand-new midi-skirt I’d just made? And she says, ‘This is my granddaughter Lou Ann. She isn’t bowlegged, it’s just her skirt makes her look that way’” (Kingsolver, ch. 8). Lou Ann’s family makes comments that embarrass her and make her feel self-conscious about her appearance. Parents have a large impact on their children's lives, and depending on what type of parent they are, the child will act differently in the …show more content…
Two Kinds, is a story about author Amy Tan’s childhood. Her mother wants Amy to be smart so she will have more opportunities. “Amy screams, ‘Why don’t you like the way I am?’ I cried. ‘I am not a genius! I can’t play the piano. And even if I could, I wouldn’t go on T.V if you paid me a million dollars’” (Tan 2). Amy does not want to participate in the activities and jobs that intelligent people do and yells at her mom for forcing her to do so. After her mom unsuccessfully tries forcing her to be a genius, Amy realizes her true ability and decides to make her own path. “Unlike my mother, I did not believe I could not be anything I wanted to be, I could only be me” (Tan 5). Amy decides doing what she wants serves her best interest. She learns that she must just be herself and not try to be what anyone else wants her to be. Parents should not force their children into situations they do not want to be in. Putting this pressure on them can cause a loss of confidence and negatively affect the relationship between the parent and the
With the exception of Angel and Lou Ann’s relationship, it seems like every personal interaction in The Bean Trees is equal parts of give and take. For example, Virgie Mae helps Edna Poppy who is blind, while Edna Poppy runs interference on Virgie’s inappropriate remarks. Lou Ann teaches Taylor how to hone her abilities, and Taylor calms and reassures Lou Ann. Even Estevez and Esperanza are symbiotic; they have been through so much, with their illegal immigration that they cannot function outside of one another. In what ways do these relationships, and the other, less prominent relationships in The Bean Trees promote a network of reliance?
There is always someone that is considered to be a catalyst of change in their lives and the lives of those that surround them. In the novel “The Bean Trees”, the main character named Taylor, who from a very young age, knows that she needs to make changes in her life if she is to not become like the other girls in her small Kentucky town. Taylor embodies a personality of progression and individuality. In the novel Taylor goes through different stages of transformation and learning toward personal maturity that can be divided into 4 major segments. Those segments being first her hometown life and when she decides to move away, second when she arrives to where she moved to, third her developments with the people she meets, and finally her final commitment she makes to
She then receives a a package from him and a letter. He asks Lou Ann to move out and come live with him where he is, but she refuses and continues focusing her attention on herself, her child, and those that she loves. On the night of the first summer rain, Mattie takes Taylor, Estevan, and Esperanza into the desert to watch the beautiful storm, as it is an actual celebration for the culture of Estevan and Esperanza. During that time, Turtle is left with Edna, a blind-woman whom is great with getting around. She is so great at it that it took Taylor and Lou Ann a long while before realizing she was even blind.
She feels she has lost the ability to determine her future and her life. Moreover, she refuses to make friends with others, and “say[s] no to birthday parties, to roller-skating, to swimming at rec center, to
Some people mature faster than others, and some take their time doing so. In the book The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver, a young woman named Taylor happens to end up with a little girl, Turtle. Throughout the story, Kingsolver mentions birds often. Birds represent maturity to Turtle. She use birds to compare to Turtle's life and her situations while she is maturing and growing up.
In the novel, The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver, symbolic actions taken by the characters illustrates how anyone could be a person’s family through emotional support through hardships and life even if they are not related. Taylor ends up with Turtle and they form a family together, and when they move in with Lou Ann and her son, their family grows even bigger and stronger together. Even though Taylor and Lou Ann are no where near related, they still think of each other as family. Lou Ann talks about how Taylor and Turtle is her family and said, “I meant you all. Mainly I guess because we’ve been through hell and high water together” (309).
How The Bean Trees is a coming of age themed novel In The Bean Trees Taylor and Lou Ann struggle to come of age, or mature, with these two being very important characters I believe a major theme of the book is coming of age. There are many pieces of evidence to support this claim, therefore I will provide them. Our first example would have to be Taylor’s journey throughout the book.
The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver and My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult are both books that show a moral dilemma. Anna forces a moral dilemma when she chooses to sue for the rights to her body. Taylor is constantly facing dilemmas in her life, such as whether or not the keep Turtle or to help Estevan and Esperanza. These books have many similarities as well as differences in aspects including theme, characters, plot, and genre. The theme in The Bean Trees is that family does not have to be blood related.
Multiple plots in The Bean Trees increase suspense and depth in the story. Mattie works at a tire place where she meets Taylor, and Taylor can tell that there is more than what meets the eye with Mattie, which leads to a subplot. Mattie's home is a place for immigrants, estevan and esperanza being two of those immigrants. Estevan and Esperanza's lives quickly shifted when Mattie's place became a safe house. Taylor takes them off to start lives in Oklahoma, where they end up helping take care of turtle.
The massive amount of attention to appearance by both of Alison’s parents averts her from living her childhood in creative curiosity. Thus, it also prevents her from having the individual freedoms necessary in a traditional ethical
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.
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.
Within the novel “The Bean Trees”, written by Barbara Kingsolver. Within the book, abuse is taken into different terms. Abuse is not only physical, but it can also be categorized as sexual, mental, verbal, psychological, financial, elder, and spiritual abuse. The only four types of abuse that were introduced into the book was sexual, physical, verbal, and The first type of abuse is child abuse.
”(46) Her mother gave away her own child to someone she didn’t even know, so she can live life easier and with less stress. Later on her mother is again selfish and not thinking of others. She wants to buy Jim’s land, her brother, and she straight goes to Jeanette and tells her, “‘You can borrow the money from Eric now that he's your husband,’ Mom said. ”(171-172)
Becoming a parent is a task that cannot be taken lightly. It is a task filled with frustration, responsibilities and dedication, but is also filled with joy and satisfaction. From children learning how to behave to them going out with friends, rules, standards and expectations are set mostly by their parents. Parents make most of their children’s decision in the first couple of years from behalf from what they eat for breakfast from setting their curfew as they get older. As children began grow, they began to make their own choices and learn to deal with the consequence of their mistakes.