The Bean Trees

So far, I'm really growing to love The Bean Trees. The intensity and dedication of Kingsolver's writing certainly enhance my interpretation of the story. The setting, theme, plot, and characters help illustrate the overall product of the novel. I believe that characterization in The Bean Trees is abundant, and helps develop the story, but is most apparent in Turtle.
Turtle is what drives the novel forward. She is the horse to the carriage. When Taylor is handed Turtle that day, I don't think she truly understands how much of an impact the child will have on her life. Turtle gave Taylor purpose. At the time Taylor honestly didn't have much going on in her life, but I think receiving Turtle motivated her to keep themselves safe and provide for her new family. Turtle's personality is still unfolding in the novel. She sounds like just about the cutest little girl on the planet though. She is very hands on, constantly touch things and needing attention, which is understandable considering the unfortunate incident that was done upon her. Turtle also learns to speak for the first time by saying the names of vegetables. Turtle must have been at a crucial part of her mental development when she first saw Mattie's garden, because the idea certainly stuck with her. Turtle also had a sort of gap in her growing process, which caused her mental growth to be a tad bit slower. Turtles "disabilities" seem to come to Taylor more as gifts than anything else. Turtle helps Taylor see the world in a different way for the better.
One book I finally got around to reading this past summer was the Secret Life of Bees. A similarity between the two books revolve around the characters Lily and Turtle. Lily had a mother once, but she was killed, and she never really got to know her. Likewise, Turtle had a mother, and must have known her at some point, but was too young to remember. Each child deals with issues because they no longer have biological mothers. However, I think that the girls gain more confidence by seeing the will power of women joining together to raise them and act as mother figures. In some ways, when Lily and Turtle both loose their mothers it ends up having a positive affect.
I'm really excited for the project we are going to do on our outside reading books. Since Turtle really likes vegetables, I was thinking of drawing Mattie's garden with different plants and vegetables representing different parts of the story. For instance I could use the old body of the car as a symbol for Taylor getting out of her home town and moving forward in life to take her own path. Also I could draw a bean tree to represent the strong bond between Turtle and Taylor. Equally I had an idea to draw the "Jesus Is Lord Used Tires" sign to symbolize Taylor's strong will to never give up and her hope for tomorrow.
Over all, I'm immensly enjoying The Bean Trees and anticipating the project to come! :)