The story The Bean Trees, is written through the
point of view of Taylor, a girl from Kentucky who just happened to pick up a
baby on her way to Arizona. Through
her point of view we experience the story
as her everyday life. Taylor is pretty naïve and thinks that once she's out of
Kentucky everything will be fine and there will be no dangers in the world.
Because of her thinking, some of the events we experience are taken too
lightly. When she gets the baby, she just decides to go along with it and keep
the baby. She also doesn’t seem to realize that she can’t continue living off
ten dollars for the rest of her life. Although Taylor might not be aware of
everything, I think she is a trustworthy character. I trust her to make the
right decisions for the baby, and for herself.
If the point of view
changed and it was from Mattie's point of view, I think it would sound a lot
different. Mattie seems to be more
aware of the dangers of the world. For example, she knows what will happen if
the baby doesn’t drink enough or get enough food, whereas Taylor doesn't seem
to know. The similarity between the two, is that they are both free women.
Taylor is on the road, living by herself and making her own money. Mattie is
owning her own business and showing that women can make their own money.
I
could see the girl pulling up to the tires. Her car looked like it was going to
fall apart with it's two flat tires, no windows, and rusting doors. I looked
through the tires at her, as she walked towards me. She looked like she was only nineteen. She
was carrying a baby and they seemed like they were on the road for awhile.
"Hi darlin, these bugs aggravate the dickens out of me after it rains, but
I can't see my way clear to squashing them. A bug's just got one life to live,
after all. Like us." I said. The girl looked at me then kind of smiled. I
could tell she accepted me. "I know what you mean." she said. I
looked at her car and saw not only one flat tire, but two. "Oh, bless your
heart. Looks like you've got a couple of flats. Drive it up onto the big jack,
we'll get them off and have a look. We'll fix your little wagon right up."
I told her. She asked me if her baby could ride in the car, but I told her it
wasn't safe. "What's your baby's name?" I asked. The baby was cute
but I could tell it wasn't her baby due to the fact that they looked nothing
alike. She told me the babies name was Turtle and I wasn't surprised.
