Blindness In Barbara Kingsolver's The Bean Trees

The definition of motherhood is “the state of being a mother.” Throughout the novel, The Bean Trees, written by Barbara Kingsolver, Taylor Greer learns the simple things about motherhood when a toddler, Turtle, is thrown in her car. Learning to raise the child brings up many tough decisions and obstacles, letting Tayor experience what love really is. Readers get to see everything Taylor does, reading through her eyes and getting to watch her mature into a young, independent individual. In the book, the storyline revolves around Taylor Greer’s growth, as she explores motherhood through love, maturity, and sacrifice.

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? Think of the quote, “It takes a village to raise a child", how do these reciprocal relationships enable

When blindness is referenced the first thought that comes up is the actual disability. Blindness doesn’t always come in the form of a physical impairment but can often times have a figurative meaning. Sophocles, J.C. Oates and Nathaniel Hawthorne demonstrate this act of figuratively referencing blindness in “Oedipus the King,” Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” and “Young Goodman Brown.” Although some may say that the truth will set you free, for the characters in these stories it decides their fates.

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 thought of being 16 and pregnancy has always weight down on me growing up. I was scare of my family history trying my best not to repeat the life of my mother. In 2001 I was so happy I made it. I accomplish what no one in my family was able to accomplish. I finished high school and even enrolled into college. By this point I had already set a goal for myself. Right before the fall semester was starting my plan was put on hold due to my family leaving are land to move to the city. This was a tremendous change for someone that lived on 10 acres of land and the nearest neighbor was miles away. By the end of the year I was pregnant with my first child. I remember feeling like my life was over. Like I am fresh

Girl Stolen by April Henry is about a girl named Cheyenne Wilder, that was sleeping in the car. After a minutes before Cheyenne realized that the car is being stolen along with her. Griffin only wanted the car, not Cheyenne. But when Griffin’s dad finds out that Cheyenne is from a wealthy family and her parents will do anything to get her back. Then everything changes. Now there was a reason to keep Cheyenne with them. But the biggest problem was that Cheyenne was blind.

The act of looking corresponds to physical vision, but in Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” the act of seeing involves a much deeper level of engagement. The narrator is fully capable of looking. He looks at his house and wife, and he looks at Robert. The narrator is not blind and therefore assumes that he is superior to Robert. Robert’s blindness, the narrator believes, makes him unable to have any kind of normal life. The narrator is certain that the ability to see is everything and puts no effort into seeing anything beyond the surface. The only way he can break free from this artificial world that he has isolated himself in if he lets down his guard and surrenders his jealousy and insecurity.

Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” is narrated by a man who is unhappy that his wife is friends with a blind man. He has not ever known any blind people in his life and he has many ill conceived conceptions about them and how they perceive the world. The narrator unfolds the story slowly to show his own lack of perception with regard to his wife and the world around him. He comes to realize that perhaps the man that cannot see with his eyes can “see” reality better than he can.

Vision is one of our most valuable sensory modalities, it is the way that we as individuals identify our surroundings and ourselves. African American children at a young age are more susceptible to having eye problems mainly because of the fact that they are still children and still exploring their surroundings. It is estimated that around 500,000 children become blind each year but that number is expected to grow. In developing countries that statistic is even worse as around 60 percent of individuals die within a year of becoming blinded (NIH, et al, 2015). This brings about the question as to what are the true causes of these blindness’s and why is it more prevalent in African American males here in the United States

Significance comes from the simplest of ideas. In the short story, “Cathedral”, written by Raymond Carver, he uses two very important symbols to convey his ideas and to create themes. Carver’s development of these symbols can be seen as they evolve throughout the story. Blindness and communion are important as they create a new layer.

Sometimes in life, people will have to deal with other people that are judgmental and listen to stereo types when they know nothing about the person. In the short story “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, there are some examples of stereotyping. This story is about a woman who has a good friend of hers and he is blind. The blind man, whose wife had just recently died and was traveling to go visit his family, was stopping at the women’s house overnight. The blind man and the narrator’s wife knew each other. They met when she saw an ad in the newspaper asking for help, he wanted someone to read to him, a blind man. The blind man and the wife had become really good friends over the years. Once the wife stopped working for the blind man they started

“Cathedral” is a short and warm story written by Raymond Carver. The author portrays the story in the first person narrative. Carver presents the interaction between an unnamed couple and a blind man by the name of Robert, who is visiting them. The story is told by the husband, the narrator, who is a prejudiced, jealous, and insecure man with very limited awareness of blindness. This theme is exposed through Carver’s description of the actions of the narrator whose lack of knowledge by stereotyping a blind man. However, the story takes an unpredicted and meaningful turn at the end when the narrator see things from a blind man’s standpoint.

In the works of Literature an epiphany is “a moment of profound insight or revelation by which a character’s life is greatly altered” (24). In the short story “Cathedral” Raymond Carver uses epiphany to draw on the theme, blinded views can alter someone’s behavior. On the realistic level, epiphany advances the plot and character development because they are the basis for the story’s central action. They also help define the narrator and play a vital part in revealing the story’s theme. The following changes in the character’s views have shown an evident development.

Anne Sullivan was an American teacher. She was also a 20 year old graduate from the Perkins Institute for the Blind. When Anne was 5 she got a disease called Trachoma, which left her blind. Anne went through many surgeries before her eyesight was partially restored. Anne believed the way to reach Helen was to teach her obedience and love. This was the start of their 50 year relationship together.

Appearance can be misleading, the obvious things we see are not always how things are in real.