Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
It may come as no surprise that Aesop's Fables is the only major work of literature mentioned in The Bean Trees.Just as in Aesop's Fables, animals in The Bean Trees are often symbols, allegories, and metaphors for human beings and human social networks. From turtles, quails, and right on down to roadkill, animal creatures in The Bean Trees are usually more than they appear.
Other than Turtle's name (dig on deeper in our Characters section), the most obvious examples of this trend are the avian species that appear in The Bean Trees. As in certain turns of phrase where girls and women are referred to as "chicks," "birds," and "mother hens," or when gossipy or nagging women are said to "cluck," many of the friendly fowl who appear throughout the novel are symbols of motherhood, infancy, and domesticity. Let's get specific.
Quail
The first and most powerful example of this trend is the Mama quail who anxiously shepherds her chicks across the road on the night that Taylor and the others drive home from their picnic:
"In the road up ahead there was a quail, the type that has one big feather spronging out of its head like a forties-model ladies' hat. We could just make out that she was dithering back and forth in the road, and then we gradually could see that there were a couple dozen babies running around her every which way. They looked like fuzzy ball bearings rolling around in a box." (7.44)
For some reason that Taylor can't quite explain, she finds this sight extremely moving:
"Our mouths opened and shut and we froze where we sat. I suppose we could have honked and waved and it wouldn't have raised any more pandemonium than this poor mother already had to deal with, but instead we held perfectly still. Even Turtle. After a long minute or two the quail got her family herded off the road into some scraggly bushes. The truck's brakelights flickered, like a wink, and Estevan drove on. Something about the whole scene was trying to make tears come up in my eyes. I decided I must be about to get my period." (7.45)
Aw. Way to kill the moment with a gender stereotype.
Anyway, the mother quail's anxious "dithering" to get her chicks to safety symbolizes all of the maternal worry and fear that collects in this novel, such as Taylor's worry that she won't be a good enough mother to Turtle, Lou Ann's fear that Dwayne Ray will be killed or maimed in any number of ways, and Esperanza's inexpressible sadness due to the loss of her daughter, Ismene. This quail symbolizes maternity, and Taylor's unconscious identification with the bird is what brings tears to her eyes. That's right, it's not just PMS as she would like you to think.
Cactus Bird
The second most powerful example of this same trend is the bird that Taylor sees from the window of the doctor's office on the day she takes Turtle in for a check-up. Taylor writes:
"He put up more of the x-rays in the window, saying things like 'spiral fibular fracture here' and 'excellent healing' and 'some contraindications for psychomotor development.' I couldn't really listen. I looked through the bones to the garden on the other side. There was a cactus with bushy arms and a coat of yellow spines as thick as fur. A bird had built her nest in it. In and out she flew among the horrible spiny branches, never once hesitating. I just couldn't imagine how she'd made a home in there." (8.150)
Unlike the Mama quail who works anxiously to shepherd her chicks across the road, this bird doesn't symbolize maternity; instead, the winged creature symbolizes Turtle herself, and every other child who somehow manages to live in a world that seems about as safe and nurturing as a cactus full of thorns.
Whereas the thorns themselves represent life's dangers and cruelties, in Taylor's eyes at least, the bird in her nest is a poignant symbol of survival and resilience. You never woulda thought a turtle could be symbolized by a bird, but Barbara Kingsolver proves us wrong again!