The Bean Trees, Reading Questions for Chapters 1-4

5^th E English Name:_________________________

The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver

Reading Questions

Note: These questions are largely based upon the ones found on the excellent—and informative—web pages dedicated to the novel presented by Dr. Cathy Decker, Caffee College, University of California Riverside. (http://locutus.ucr.edu/~cathy/bean/beanindex.html) Lots of the information there is clickable, so you can find out about the references and allusions. Links to these pages and more can be found on the TallMania Bean Trees page.

Some Opening Comments and Ideas to Reflect on about Chapter 1, “The One That Got Away”

Characters

· the narrator, Missy, Miss Marietta Greer, Taylor Greer

· Mama (Alice Greer)

· Newt Harbine

· Newt Harbine's father

· Norman Strick

· Jolene Shanks Hardbine

· Mr. Hughes Walter

· Lynda Walter

· Earl Wickentot

· Medgar Biddle

· Foster Greer

· Foster Greer's mother

· Henry Biddle

· Eddie Rickett

· Doc Finchler

· Nurse MacCullers

· Sparky Pike

· Bob Two Two

· Taylor's great-grandpa on her mother's side

· Earl

· Mrs. Hoge (the lady at the Broken Arrow Moter Lodge)

· Turtle (the Indian child)

1. The titles of chapters in the book act as clues or symbols of ideas that are important. Taylor, the narrator or "I" of this chapter, is the one to get away, much like the lunker (the large fish) that always gets away, a fish that she talks about in this chapter. The Hardbines are typical of those who do not get away. Try to identify what are the characteristics of society that people should run away from. Or…is Turtle "the one to get away?" What if both Taylor and Turtle are "the one"? Can two people be "the one"?

2. Notice all the "thrown away" and "rejected" women and children in this chapter. Which father wants his child aborted? Which father calls his own daughter a slut? Which child is sexually molested and left in bar parking lot? Which child is hit by its own grandfather? Compare and contrast Mama, Jolene, Missy/Taylor, and the Indian woman in the way they cope with fathers, husbands, or children and life in general.

3. Consider also the way groups of people are oppressed because of race, such as the Cherokees, whose land is robbed in the misleadingly named "Jackson Purchase" and who then are starved and walked to death by the government on the Trail of Tears. How does Taylor use her sense of "entitlement" over the past oppression of her Indian ancestors to justify a questionable act? HINT: What are "head rights" and why does Taylor imply such "head rights" justify her "adoption" of Turtle?

4. Think about the symbolism of the narrator's name changes--she has three in one chapter! As the child of the cleaning lady, Taylor is not permitted to talk to the other children of the town as an equal. This leads to her wanting to be "Miss Marietta," and her first name change. Examine each name change. How do the name changes indicate changes in the personality of the narrator? What might be the symbolism of "Taylor"? Is there any connection between the narrator and tails, tales, or tailors?

5. How do you judge Taylor? Given her state of hunger, her lack of experience with any police, the isolation of the bar, her own youth and ignorance of the law, is she behaving morally when she takes Turtle with her to a motel? What other factors are involved? What crimes could she be accused of? What alternatives did she have? What were the risks to Taylor and to Turtle?

Cultural and Historical Allusions

· Lou Ann Ruiz

· Angel "Dusty" Ruiz

· Lee Sing

· Snowboots/Pachuco (the cat)

· Dr. Pelinowsky

· Mrs. Logan

· Tania Maria, singer

· Grandfather Ormsby

· Lee Sing's mother

1. There is a shift in narrative voice. This chapter is now in the third-person, not the first-person. The characters are all different. This may seem initially upsetting or confusing, but try to think of the book as a kind of puzzle. These stories are being contrasted for a reason. How are the two women, Taylor and Lou Ann, different? How are they similar? What can you predict for the future of the book? Will these two women meet? How? When?

2. Angel Ruiz is one of the rather complex male figures we meet in the novel. There are clues he has a history of substance abuse problems--(1) his nickname "Dusty" from the PCP or "Angel Dust" drugs he was involved with in his rodeo days and (2) his obvious drinking problem that led to his DUI accident and amputated leg. On the other hand, his mother-in-law is racist, which makes us feel sympathetic towards him. Also Ruiz's false leg jingles--and although the narrator and Lou Ann do not mention it, adjusting such false limbs can cost a great deal of money per visit and involve lots of paperwork. Angel's pride as the male breadwinner has been undermined. Still Ruiz abandons his pregnant wife and future child with no effort to provide child support. His behavior can be compared to the other fathers and husbands who have abandoned or abused their children in the novel so far--consider Newt Hardbine's father, Foster Greer, the man with Turtle, and Jolene's dad for example.

3. The title of the chapter is a clue to a main theme of this chapter--hostility hostile to women. How do some women themselves continue the cultural oppression of themselves? Consider Lee Sing, the women who work at Fanny Heaven, and Mrs.Logan. Discuss the sexual harassment that Lou Ann deals with on the bus when not pregnant. What does this say about her as a person? What kind of people try to sexually fondle a woman on a bus? Why can't Lou Ann defend herself from these people?

4. Notice also how both Lou Ann and her brother married people of other races despite their racist mother. If Lou Ann is treated badly for having married a Hispanic man, her mother feels her brother's wife, an Eskimo, is more animal than human. How are racism and sexism alike, and how are they different?

Cultural and Historical Allusions

· Halloween

· Christmas

· Gumby

· Jim Beam

· Meat Puppets (band)

· Gin rummy

· Beefaroni

· Mrs. Smith's pound cake

· Racism against Mexican-Americans or Hispanics

· Catholic Baptism

· Whittling with a jackknife

· Bull-riding

· Rodeo circuit

· McCall's

· Black Angus Steak House

· Around the World yoyo trick

· Whitewalls

· Firestones

· Michelins

· Yogurt

· Macaroons

· Eskimos

· Frankenstein

· Incredible Hulk

Mickey Mouse

· Irene, Mrs. Hoge's daughter-in-law

· guy on street in Tuscon, no name given

· Mattie, Matilda

· Samuel

· Roger

· Sandi

· the woman working at the art gallery

· the priest

· Cheryl

· Seattle

1) Contrast the attitude to bugs of the strange man at the abandoned gas station and that of Mattie. What does this contrast reveal about Mattie's character?

2) Note all the images associated with Mattie and her shop. What ideas do many of these images have in common--all the flowers, Jesus, the bunny mug, etc.? What does Mattie's shop suggest about her character?

3) Consider the types of people Taylor describes living downtown. How does her society judge these groups? Do the artistic people and the homeless people get along? What does Taylor's experience in the art gallery tell us about the relationship of the various groups?

4) Note other signs of how social and economic status is unequal and troubled in America presented in this chapter. Consider the contrast between the unwed, minimum-wage employed mothers and the shopping mothers at Kid Central Station. Consider also the contrast between poor Kentucky and the wealthy racing community of Kentucky.

Cultural and Historical Allusions

· Thunderbird

· Prostitutes

· Non-representational art

· Thoroughbreds

· Secretariat

· Seattle Slew

· Malls

· Day care

· mummification

· Good Year

· Reynolds Wrap

· fishnet stockings

· poodle skirt

· Disney movies

· The Flying Nun

· National Geographic

· Popular Mechanics

· The Red Cross

· J. C. Penney's

· Ivory soap

· Mr. Coffee

· ORV

· Gregory Peck

· French Foreign Legion

· Beau Geste

· Triple Crown

· crazy quilts

· Woolworth's

· cherry bombs

· retreads

1. Consider the power relationships between the generations of women in Lou Ann's family. The text specifically mentions "the power of mothers and grandmothers". What is this power? Is it healthy or not?

2. The marriage of Lou Ann is clearly a problem here. Why does she try to hide this from her family? Why can she tell Bobby Bingo about her problems but not her own family? What do Bobby Bingo and Lou Ann have in common? Think about how conditional the love of Bingo's son is--he supposedly loves his dad, yet his actions and words hurt his father. How do they differ in values? How is this situation parallel to Lou Ann's? What is the meaning of his warning, "Whatever you want the most, it's going to be the worst thing for you”? Do you agree with this view? Why or why not?

3. Consider the symbolism of baptism and the jar of water for the baptism. What does Angel do with the water? What is the symbolism of the water's fate? What is important about Lou Ann's memories of her own baptism? What does Lou Ann's inability to feel her childhood feelings imply or suggest?

4. The last five paragraphs of this chapter indicate a future direction for Lou Ann and her relationships to Angel and Dwayne Ray. What do these paragraphs imply about the future relationship of Lou Ann and Angel? of Lou Ann and Dwayne Ray? What is Kingsolver trying to tell us about family and marital relationships?

Cultural and Historical Allusions

· Greyhound bus

· Mason jar

· Coke bottle

· potluck supper

· Queen of Sheba

· Cadillac

· Toros ball cap

Ideas to Reflect on When Reading Chapter 4, “Tug Fork Water”