Have you ever been in a tough situation? An over arching theme for the books The Bean Trees, and Mexican White boy is having grit and mental toughness under pressure. In the books there are good examples of people under pressure showing their true selves. Peoples morals are tested and they prosper in a tough situation. The book Bean Trees by Barbra Kingsolver the main character Taylor's true colors when someone drops a small child into the back of her car. “I jumped when she pecked on the windshield. It was the round woman in the blanket. “No thanks,” I said. I thought she wanted to wash the windshield, but instead she went around to the other side and opened the door. “You need a lift someplace?” I asked her. Her body, her face, and her eyes …show more content…
It shows true good character when someone is given a shocking piece of information and they would crack under the pressure or soldier on. This same situation happened to Danny, in the book Mexican White Boy by Matt De La Peña, when Danny finally confronts the mysterious Mexican man in the Padres hat that would follow him around. “Your dad asked me if I could. I said yes, of course.” Danny’s stomach drops. His entire body goes numb, limp. Like he’s paralyzed. His dad? He feels light, like he could just float away at any second. He sits down in a metal chair by the door and stares at the stacks of hot dog buns.” “He shakes his head, stares down at the black-and-white checkered tiles, sighs. "He asked me if I could watch over you. While he’s away.” Danny looks back at the scout, a frown coming over his face. The scout pulls off his Padres cap, smoothes his thick black hair peppered with gray and pulls the cap back on. “Your dad asked me if I could. I said yes, of course." Danny’s stomach drops. His entire body goes numb, limp. Like he’s paralyzed. His dad? He feels light, like he could just float away at any second. He sits down in a metal chair by the door and stares at the stacks of hot dog buns.”" ( De La Peña, Mexican White Boy.) Danny could have acted iff the world had fallen down on him. But Danny acted like nothing happened and soldiered on. In the book Mexican White Boy there is another example of Danny …show more content…
For example, in the MLB David Ortiz is considered to be 'clutch' because he did well in big pressure situations in key times. The write Jeff Wise who writes for psychology today said about the psychological side of not cracking under pressure was "In some regards, the answer is clearly yes. Gross-motor skills like running and punching improve steadily the greater the pressure; even when we're on the verge of death when, say, a bear is nipping at our heels." (Wise, Extreme Fear.) When someone is in a tough situation their fight or flight instinct comes out. It shows someone's true character if they are in a tough situation if the they fight, they do well, or they flight, don't do well. A good example of not doing well under pressure is in the book Lord of the Flies. Book The Lord of the Flies is about a group of boys on a deserted island who slowly descend into madness. The boys kill one of there fellow survivors pushing him off a cliff and smashing him with a rock. The boys in lord of the flies didn't do well when they were under pressure. The true side of the boys were shown when they smashed a fellow survivor with a rock. The true side of the boys were shown when they killed the other
Throughout this book, there are many examples of conflict, including the problems Francisco faces at school, work, and home. At school, Francisco is called a “stinky Mexican” because his mother rubbed garlic on him to cure him of ringworm. Him
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
In the Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver, the main character, Taylor Greer, leaves home in hopes of adventure and something new from her home in rural Kentucky. Five years after high school, she saves enough money for herself to get an old Volkswagen bug; however, little does she know that her trip will leave her with permanent responsibilities and new friends whom she never imagined she'd meet. When Taylor's car runs out of gas in Taylorville, the place of where she changed her name to Taylor from Marietta, she decides to stop at a bar to get a bite to eat. When she gets back into her car, a woman puts a baby in her car and tells her that she, herself, is the sister of the mother and to take the child; then, she leaves with no further explanation.
In this novel the character's in the story, and the bean trees help us realize that there are a lot of miracles in life, and how quickly the world around us can change. The Bean Trees teaches us about the miracles in life. In chapter three, there was a series of sentences that stated,“Sure enough, they were one hundred percent purple: stems, leaves, and pods. . . . ‘The Chinese lady next door gave them to me. . . .
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.
There is an estimate of about 10 million illegal immigrants that are living in the United States. (Erin H. Fouberg, Human Geography) Even though they immigrated here to the US, they shouldn’t be considered as “illegals”. Immigration requires change and sacrifices for many people in order to stay in their homes. There is no wrong if you are considering to make a change in your life.
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.
Every day, a child is born somewhere in the world, which means that new family is made. The idea of family involves bringing together a group of people who love each other very much, will do anything for each other, and be with them through the good and bad times. The right to choose to stay with one’s family without anyone else’s permission in the present day is not always the same as it has been. Over time, it has changed drastically. So, when families become deprived of their freedom of choice to stay with their family because of the harsh realities of their dictators, problems arise.
In Barbara Kingsolver’s story, “The Bean Trees”, something that makes it so effective is her use of figurative language to depict scenery. In chapter 12, Mattie takes Taylor, Esperanza and Estevan to a beautiful desert at the time of the first rain, so they can see the natural world come to life. In order to make the scene come alive, Kingsolver uses sillies, metaphors and personification as a mean of figurative language. Kingsolver personifies the mountains and city.
It has often been said that once you spend enough time with someone and create a strong bond with them, you end up becoming very close and considering them family. What has also been said is that we find friendships when we need it most. As important as family is in real life, it is often shown that in literature, authors use this concept to offer a clear understanding on how close an individual can get to someone within months. Barbara Kingsolver demonstrates the importance of family through Taylor in her novel The Bean Trees, as she creates strong relationships on her way through life.
The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver uses birds to represent several of the main characters in the novel. Taylor saw in the desert birds nesting in a cactus which shows the connection between several characters in the novel. Turtle represents the birds in the nest because she is depending on taylor just like the birds depend on the cactus for shelter. Also it shows how how turtle in not where she is meant to be because birds usually nest on trees.
He ends up seeing Danny, his best friend, only as a Hasidic Jew, not as an individual person with his own feelings, thoughts, and ideas. The narrator explains himself in the novel “Suddenly I had the feeling that everything around me was out of focus.” (Potok 133) This is the way he saw Danny in his eyes, With the help of anonymous narrator’s father, anonymous narrator learns to not pay attention to his weird thoughts and later looks beneath
The cart was filled with dozens of rotting lifeless bodies, flies swarming around it. He zooms in on one dead body in particular, his mother. My mother is on that cart, her last words to me were, “Angelo,” she never finished her sentence, I’ve seen my brothers, my sister, and my dad on a cart, being hauled away. (You see flashbacks of a family sitting at a dinner table, and the family members slowly drop dead, except for himself.)