Motherhood In The Bean Trees By Barbara Kingsolver

“The Bean Trees,” by Barbara Kingsolver, is a novel surrounding the life of Taylor Greer as she travels west while discovering the hardships of motherhood due to raising a three-year-old American Indian child named Turtle. Although Taylor grew up in Kentucky, she travels west to Tucson, Arizona, in which she moves in with Lou Ann and finally embarks on the journey that is her life. It is evident that feminism and womanhood is a central theme throughout this novel, as both Lou Ann and Taylor have to raise children on their own. Another crucial theme seen throughout this novel is transformation which is seen in most, if not, all, of the characters. The relationship between Taylor and Turtle exemplifies the glorious bond between a mother and her daughter, showing how Taylor transformed from once being appalled at the idea of raising Turtle

In the beginning, Taylor was appalled at the idea of raising a child and she even tried to come up with ideas of how to get rid of Turtle from her care. It was in Taylor’s best interest to escape pregnancy since she had witnessed multiple girls drop out of high school due to becoming pregnant. “It was in this frame of mind that I made it to my last year of high school without event. Believe me in those days the girls were dropping by the wayside like seeds off a poppyseed bun and you learned to look at every day as a prize” (4). Initially, Taylor didn’t want to raise a child due to the hardships and sacrifices it would take, as seen in the girls who had to drop out. Because it would be such a sacrifice for her education, she lasted her entire school career without becoming pregnant and