TBT Discussion Director, Post 3
I feel that as much as Taylor cared about Turtle she wasn’t ready to face her about breaking her promise to Turtle about never letting anyone hurt her (pg.226) and yet she describes a feeling of hopelessness, not only about Turtle growing up in an environment that wasn’t expected for her ever since Taylor took to handling her or having to put up with things that are disconcerting to Turtle’s life that could have easily killed her but of the World in general. She used to feel that not all this malevolence was dispersible in the world she felt she knew so well. And yet, things were happening right in front of her eyes to which she was blind toward, but it’s as though she has opened her eyes and finally looked at this world that has turned itself full of arrogance, detestation and callous. She feels that this is not the world she knew, because she never really looked outside her community which may not have got along so well, but compared to the world is full of pacification.
When Turtle got hurt, did you expect Taylor to respond to this happening by acting as though her life was in excess of Turtle, or do you think she felt she had no possible control over Turtle being taken away from her?
I have told you Taylor’s views on the world, do yours differ, are they alike to Taylor’s view, or do you think that Taylor should just ignore the world that is surrounding her and live her life peacefully and try to find a way designated for Turtle to stay with her according to LouAnn?
-Kianat Zamir
Category: Discussion Director 3 comments »
March 1st, 2009 at 3:00 pm
To answer your first question, I believe that Taylor honestly felt that she had no control over what was happening to Turtle. She knew and acknowledged that she had no idea how to handle the state’s attempt to control the situation. It even seemed that Kingsolver was trying to relate Taylor’s predicament to Turtle’s. Both are feeling helpless. Turtle is too young to do anything about her life, which is slowly spiraling out of her control. Taylor does have an opprotunity to help both herself and Turtle, yet she does not see any way to do so.
To answer your second question, I feel that I agree with Taylor’s views to an extent. I must say, now that I think about it, my views on the world and on others are quite negative. Usually, I will think the worst of people until they prove to me otherwise. At least this once was my opinion. Now, my views are a bit more cheerful, but I must know others for a bit before I build up courage to talk to them.
My opinion of Taylor is that she should keep a watch on the outside world. If you do not keep an eye on it, the world will change, and not always for the better.
Now, I have a question for you: What is your opinion? How do you feel that Taylor should act like?
There’s my post!
-Jenni Kantor
March 2nd, 2009 at 4:10 pm
I’m not quite sure I agree with Jenni’s comment that Turtle’s life is spiraling out of control. That seems like somewhat of an exaggeration. Taylor didn’t really have any control about what happened to Turtle. Taylor wasn’t with Turtle when it happened, and when the government steps in, there’s not a whole lot you can do. I agree with Jenni in the fact that Taylor wanted to help, but I think that Taylor had the determination to fight. However, her personality changes during this period as a result of Turtle’s attack.
Taylor’s view of the world changes dramatically over the course of the novel. In the beginning, she was unaware of some the hardships that people have to go through. After she meets Esperanza and Estevan, her eyes are opened up and she starts to see the world as a crueler place. I normally don’t have the problem of being unaware of life in different parts of the world because I read a lot, but during this time period, information was not recieved as quickly, so it would have been harder.
March 2nd, 2009 at 5:12 pm
I think that Taylor desperately wants to help herself and Turtle live the best life possible, but as Jenny said she just doesn’t know how. As Brandon said, her life is not spinning out of control though. Some things you just cannont control, such as when Turtle was attacked. There is no way that Taylor could have prevented this. Also, with the government, that is completely out of your control. Maybe Taylor should have thought about this before she accepted this baby into her life.
Her view of life has deffinatley changed. At the beginning she was care free, and fun, and didn’t think anything could go wrong with her life. As she moved away, she saw say that life is hard, and things do not come easy. Her experiences with Turtle and the people she meets are the reason she changes as a person. I don’t completely agree with Taylor’s view on life because I am not a negative person. I think that you shouldn’t be nieve to the types of things that happened in Taylor’s life. She could not have expected theses things to happen though.
-Dan