Family, friendship, home…it only makes sense to round out all that cushiness with community. The Bean Trees makes it look like community is just as important as family when it comes to love, care, and support, and most importantly, it takes a broad view of community, implying that human beings have a responsibility to care for others no matter where they live in the world. It's basically the exact opposite of Neighborhood-Watch-style thinking. It argues that rather than working to protect what's ours, the most ethical kind of community care is to help others protect what's theirs, and what's everyone's: i.e., what matters is to care for and support those in need.
Questions About Community
- How is community structured in Pittman County, Kentucky? Is the town an inclusive community? Is it hierarchically organized?
- What different kinds of people does Taylor notice when she first arrives in Tucson, Arizona? Do all of these groups combine to form an integrated community?
- Over the course of the novel, Taylor gets to be part of a close community of friends. Who are the most important figures in the community that gathers around Taylor and Turtle?
Chew on This
In The Bean Trees, community isn't limited to the specific neighborhoods where people live, nor to the social networks they build up around them. As Mattie's work with Central American refugees proves, concepts of community can extend much, much farther than city limits.
Although individual characters in The Bean Trees extend the concept of community to a global level, at the same time, the novel explores a breakdown in communities closer to home. The people of Tucson don't come together as one community to accomplish any goals, and examples of extreme poverty and homelessness throughout the novel suggests that Tucson's residents are failing to take care of one another.