The Bean Trees Period 3, Illuminator
The passage that I chose for this week is a very interesting one, managing to be funny and serious at the same time. I found it on page 114, half way down. It reads:
“Lou Ann, I moved here because I knew we’d get along. It’s nice of you to make dinner for us and all, and to take care of Turtle sometimes, and I know you mean well. But we’re acting like Blondie and Dagwood here. All we need is some ignorant little dog named Spot to fetch me my slippers. It’s not like we’re a family, for Christ’s sake. You’ve got your own life to live and I’ve got mine. You don’t have to do this stuff for me.”
”But I want to.”
“But I don’t want you to.”
This passage is an important part of the story because it shows how much that Lou Ann is depending on Taylor and how much she had depended on Angel. Taylor treats this realization as you would expect a mother would react. Where do you believe this characteristic came from? Why do think her reaction was this instead of leaving Lou Ann to deal with it herself? What do you think would have happened if Tay;or never said anything? Do you think this confrontation will effect Lou Ann’s and Taylor’s relationship? Why?
There’s my blog for this week!
-Jenni Kantor
Category: Per 3 TBT I, Per 3 TBT Illum, Uncategorized 3 comments »
February 21st, 2009 at 12:11 pm
I believe that maybe this characteristic came from Taylor’s mom, it depends how Taylor was like in her childhood. If she did things for her mom, and her mom didn’t want her to her mom would tell her probably in the same way Taylor told LouAnn, but there’s also the possibility that Taylor always did everything for her mom because she was told to. And she most likely got tired of it, she knows what it’s like and she doesn’t want LouAnn to treat herself like that. Taylor didn’t want LouAnn to do everything for her because as we already know Taylor is very independent and likes to take care of herself. I think that if Taylor never said anything, LouAnn would have kept on ‘taking care’ of Taylor and Turtle thinking that she was just being kind to them, and would probably feel that it was her responsibility. I think that this confrontation will teach LouAnn with Taylor’s help how to say no to things that she doesn’t have to do. I don’t think that it will have a major effect on Taylor’s and LouAnn’s relationship, LouAnn might not talk to Taylor for a while thinking that Taylor’s mad at her because Taylor refused to let LouAnn help her. This will also teach Taylor that a little extra help can’t hurt her and she should stop being self-reliant all the time.
-Kianat Zamir
February 22nd, 2009 at 6:03 pm
Taylor’s reaction probably came from her life growing up. Taylor grew up without a father, so she is used to life without a father figure to rely on. Taylor couldn’t just leave LouAnn because Taylor and Turtle need a place to stay. If Taylor didn’t say anything, LouAnn would go on acting like they were one big happy family. I agree with Kianat that there will be some hard feelings for a little bit, but things will get better. Taylor needs to learn that she can’t do everything by herself all the time. She needs time to relax and just have fun. But LouAnn also needs to learn that she can’t always be dependent on everybody else. She needs to learn how to survive on her own as well. Likewise, LouAnn needs to learn that there are things that she doens’t always have to do for everyone else. LouAnn, like Taylor, has a life of her own that she needs to live, regardless of what other people say. They need to learn to live in a balance between independence and dependency.
February 22nd, 2009 at 6:44 pm
I think Taylor is a very independent person and she saw LouAnn helping her almost as an insult. She felt that she could do the things on her own, and that LouAnn was trying to do too much. This probably comes from a ‘do it yourself’ mindset that she grew up with. She didn’t need anyone to help her with things that she thought she could do herself. I think she felt that she needed to confront LouAnn about the situation because she thought that their lifestyles were overlapping too much. She felt that LouAnn needed to hear what she was thinking and it would help them better understand where each person is ‘coming from.’ If she would not have told her what she was feeling I think that things would have gotten worse and LouAnn would have just kept on helping. She did the right thing when she needed to before things got worse. I think they will become even closer now becuase they feel like they can put themselves out there and be open with each other. They understand each other better, and that LouAnn tries to help wherever she can.
-Dan