Chapter 9 & 10

1. Chapter 9 & 10 Bean Trees

2. 1. This quote reveals how important class has been in Taylor, and Scotty’s, lives. How does the above quote explain how Taylor sometimes feels “like a foreigner” too (135). • 2. Do you think this is true of Saratoga? Explain. • 3. What are the benefits of “mixing” with people from other groups? • 4. What message does Kingsolver deliver through this story? Journal: Cliques “But the way I see it is, he just didn’t have anybody. In our school there were different groups you would run with, depending on your station in life…The main rule was that there was absolutely no mixing” (133).

3. Adversity Builds Strength Lou Ann says, “The thing about you Taylor, is that you don’t let anybody put one over on you. Where’d you ever learn to be like that?” Lou Ann wanted to know”(150). Taylor responds, “Nutter school”(150). What does this mean? How message is revealed here? You might also note that Estevan has made the conscious decision to not let his past hinder him. He has figured out how to find the strength to move on.

4. Discussion Questions • Who is Ismene? Be specific.  • What happens to Esperanza in this chapter? Why? How does Esteven react to this? Why? • When Taylor says, “I can’t even begin to think about a world where people have to make choices like that,” what does she mean? What is she referring to?

5. Note the gender role commentary “he was crying in the secret way men feel they have to do”(136) When Taylor asks Estevan if he “got up in the middle of the night to do the feeding and diapering,” he replies “no”(139). “He kept on calling me sweetheart and talking to my boobs instead of my face”(149). “That door’s what gets me. The way they made that door handle. Like a woman is something you shove on and walk right through. I try to ignore it, but it still gets me”(150)

6. Chapter 9 – Key Passages “Sometimes I feel like I’m a foreigner too. I come from a place that’s so different from here you would think you’d stepped right off the map into some other country where they use dirt for decoration and the national pastime is having babies” (133). “Do you know, I spent the first half of my life avoiding motherhood and tires, and I’m now counting them as blessings?” “I played with those dolls in a desperate, loving way until their paper arms and heads disintegrated. I loved them in spite of the fact that their tight-knit little circle was as far beyond my reach as the football players and cheerleaders’ circle would be in later years”

7. Chapter 10 – Key Passages “It’s surprising, considering Roosevelt Park, but we always heard birds in the morning. There must be transients in the bird world too, rumpled-feathered outcasts that naturally seek out each other’s company in inferior and dying trees” “Edna Poppy was blind” “Her eyes flew up at me like a pair of blackbirds scared out of safe hiding” “I guess the main thing I came up here to tell you is, I don’t know how you go on, but I really hope you’ll keep doing it. That you won’t give up Esperanza. I thought of that last night. This is all you get, no second chances”

8. Assessing the Situation What does this teach us? What does this teach us? A. Taylor try to justify her ignorance concerning the situation in Guatemala. Let’s defend and criticize her perspective. What political statement(s) and personal message(s) does this reveal? B. Estevanand Esperanza can’t choose to save their daughter if they must sacrifice 17 other people. Defend and criticize their choice. What political statement(s) and personal message(s) does this reveal? (Why is it that these kinds of decisions exist in the world?)