The Bean Trees Journals:
Journal
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Chapter Prompt
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“I found my head rights, Mama. They’re coming with me” (Kingsolver 23).
Explain the context and meaning of this quote. How do you think Taylor’s
decision will shape the rest of the story/her life?
Describe Lou Ann. What do you know about her? What do you think about her
marriage/life? How are she and Taylor alike so far?
Think about the bean vine that Mattie shows Taylor in her backyard. It grows
from Beans that were brought from China in the early 1900’s. Describe the
symbolic significance of this plant in terms f the American population and
particularly Taylor, Turtle, and Lou Ann.
Why do you think this chapter is called “Tug Fork Water”? How can this be a
metaphor for the entire content of this chapter?
Discuss Taylor’s attempt to find a place to live. Why do you think the Author
hooks her up with characters so different from her? Describe these characters.
Describe Taylor’s first meeting with Lou Ann. What are the “first impressions”?
How do Lou Ann and Taylor bond? Give specific examples. Particularly, what is
their philosophy toward men?
Why is this chapter called “How They Eat in Heaven”?
“‘I have always thought you had a wonderful way with words,’he said. ‘You don’t
need to go fishing for big words in the dictionary. You are poetic, mi’ija.’ . . .
‘Well, thank you for the compliment,’ I said, ‘but that’s the biggest bunch of
hogwash, what you said. When did I ever say anything poetic?’ ‘Washing hogs is
poetic,’ he said” (Kingsolver 118). Why do you think Kingsolver has made Estevan
the character with the best command of the English Language? What do you
think this means? How is the relationship between Taylor and Estevan
developing?
Describe what you have learned about the situation in Guatemala.
“Turtle shook her head. ‘Bean trees,’ she said, as plainly as if she had been
thinking about it all day. We looked where she was pointing. Some of the wisteria
flowers had gone to seed, and all these wonderful long green pods hung down
from the branches. They looked as much like beans as anything you’d ever care
to eat. ‘Will you look at that,’ I said. It was another miracle. The flower trees were
turning into bean trees.’” (Kingsolver 143-144) Explain the context and meaning
of this quote.
How does Lou Ann change in this chapter?
“The whole Tucson Valley lay in front of us, resting in its cradle of mountains. The
sloped desert plain that lay between us and the city was like a palm stretched out
for a fortuneteller to read, with its mounds and hillocks, its life lines and heart
lines of dry stream beds” (Kingsolver 161) Explain the context and meaning of
this quote.
“There is no point treating a depressed person as though she were just feeling
sad, saying, 'There now, hang on, you'll get over it.' Sadness is more or less like a
head cold- with patience, it passes. Depression is like cancer.” (Kingsolver 173).
Explain the context and meaning of this quote. Do you agree with this idea?
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“A human being can be good or bad or right or wrong, maybe. But how can you
say a person is illegal? You just can't. That's all there is to it” (Kingsolver 195).
Explain the context and meaning of this quote. Do you agree with this idea?
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How have the characters evolved throughout the book and how does it change in
these chapters? For example the roles of Lou Ann and Taylor and how Turtle is
maturing or falling back where she began.
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It didn’t seem to matter to Turtle, she was happy where she was. . . . She
watched the dark highway and entertained me with her vegetable-soup song,
except that now there were people mixed in with the beans and potatoes:
Dwayne Ray, Mattie, Esperanza, Lou Ann and all the rest. And me. I was the main
ingredient (Kingsolver 232). Explain the context and meaning of this quote.
Reflect on the book as a whole.