Identifying The Theme in The Bean Trees: Struggle and Resilience Confucius once said, “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” This piece of advice from one of the most widely renowned philosophers throughout history was one of the first to identify the importance of resilience in the face of our struggles. His teachings and philosophy would be passed down and still be relevant in modern society with many forms of media expressing a similar message. One such medium is Barbara Kingsolver’s book The Bean Trees, where all the characters are able to grow despite their hardships. The Bean Trees follows our main character, Taylor, on her journey to a new life in Arizona. During her adventure, she gains possession …show more content…
But eventually, Esperanza pushes through her hardships and accepts the harsh environment she is subjected to, and only then does she truly start to thrive. These natural settings in the background demonstrate how life thrives because of their ability to persevere and adapt to their surroundings. In a desert with extreme heat waves, frosts, and little water all year around, the plants have to adapt to their surroundings, highlighting the resilience of life in harsh environments. The plants are a sort of example for the characters to follow that teaches us that even in harsh conditions, one learns how to adapt to thrive in an unforgiving environment. Kingsolver uses the setting around the characters and the wildlife to convey that even in the most harsh environments, we can still thrive through our resilience and adapting to our surroundings, just like the characters and the plants in the desert. Kingsolver uses many comparisons in her book to drive home her theme of resilience. Once Turtle is assaulted in the park with Edna, she returns to her catatonic state: “All these months we had spent together were gone for