Comments on: TBT Discussion Director, Post 3

By: Dan Black

Dan Black — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:12:14 +0000

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

By: Brandon Greer

Brandon Greer — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:10:14 +0000

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.

By: Jenni Kantor

Jenni Kantor — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 20:00:24 +0000

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