Mr_Shank

Taylor volunteers to drive Esperenza and Estevan to Oklahoma because she had a hint of hope that she’ll find one of Turtle’s relatives there. It’s dangerous for Esperenza and Estevan to get past the New Mexico immigration because they could’ve easily gotten caught. But they managed to get past because it was night time and Estevan answered the officer in his English accent. Taylor goes back to the pub to search for the woman that gave her Turtle. When she gets there she sees that the pub is under new management but and she learns that the Cherokee Nation is full of mountains, lakes and is better than she anticipated. There is a new desire aroused in her to go there but she doesn’t articulate the reason why, all the while Esperenza and Estevan stick along with her.  

All the while Taylor is driving with Esperenza and Estevan through the Cherokee Nation, Turtle starts to become really attached to Esperenza she called her “Mama” Turtle had never referred to anyone as mama as far as Taylor knew.  Not to mention Turtle starts to whine when Esperenza goes to the restrooms by herself. They stay the night at a cottage, where Taylor sees that Esperenza has a happy time with Turtle and she seems so joyful. The next day everyone goes to the Lake of the Cherokees where Estevan and Taylor make a wish. Soon afterwards, everyone has a picnic, where Turtle buries her doll in a mound of dirt and says “Mama” again. When Taylor asks her if she saw her mother get buried like that she replies “Yes”. Before the end of the chapter Taylor asks Esperenza and Estevan if they will do her a favor she doesn’t explain what the favor is, but she does tell them that it will be very risky for them, and without hesitation they agree to help her.  

The favor that Taylor has in mind is a plan about getting Turtle to stay with her. She tells Estevan and Esperenza to pretend to be Turtle’s birth parents, so they go to an adoption agency, where they make up stories about Esperenza and Estevan not having a birth certificate issued for Turtle because she was born in a Plymouth on Tribal Lands. So they tell the agent that they want a birth certificate created along with an adoption certificate, so Turtle can be adopted by Taylor. When Turtle is adopted by Taylor, Taylor sees Esperenza crying but Esperenza seems happy about Taylor getting Turtle once and for all, she seems renewed and there seems to be a will in her to live.

Taylor takes Esperenza and Estevan to the church where she drops them off and waves goodbye hoping to still keep in contact. Then she talks to her mother and Lou Ann. She heads home to Lou Ann who isn’t going to move in with Angle and promises to tell her how she got Turtle adopted.

Some words that I didn’t know and found interesting were:

Transient:  lasting for only a short time and quickly coming to an end, disappearing, or changing.

Ageratums: a low-growing garden plant. Flowers: blue, white, or purplish, in thick clusters

Parsonage: the house, usually provided by the parish or congregation, where a parson lives

Catharsis: an experience or feeling of spiritual release and purification brought about by an intense emotional experience.

Tempest-tossed: a severe commotion or disturbance, especially an emotional upheaval.

Horticultural: the science, skill, or occupation of cultivating plants, especially flowers, fruit, and vegetables, in gardens or greenhouses

Legumes: plant that has pods as fruits and roots that bear nodules containing nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Peas and beans are legumes.

The word Legumes is a type of bean tree plant that has roots connecting to it that keep going on, how do you think that the word Legumes related to Taylor’s and Turtle’s lives? Consider that the title is “The Bean Trees”, is it named mainly after this? Did you expect the story to end this way, or did you think that Taylor would be successful in finding Turtle’s relatives?

-Hey, sorry for posting at 2:00 AM, I just got home a little while ago!

Kianat Zamir