Quote 1
"Is this from Guatemala?" I asked.
She nodded. She looked almost happy.
"Sometimes I get homesick for Pittman and it's as ugly as a mud stick fence," I said. "A person would have to just ache for a place where they make things as beautiful as this." (7.95-97)
More than any other character in The Bean Trees, Esperanza feels her dislocation as a source of constant pain. Taylor doesn't know it yet at this point, but it isn't just homesickness for Guatemala that keeps Esperanza down: every day, Esperanza struggles with the anguish of having left her daughter behind. Hence the "almost happy"—this is a character for whom "almost" is as good as it gets.
Quote 2
He let out a long breath. "I don't even know anymore which home I miss. Which level of home. In Guatemala City I missed the mountains. My own language is not Spanish, did you know that?" (14.27)
As Taylor slowly realizes, Estevan and Esperanza have experienced more than one kind of dislocation in their lives. As Mayans who lived initially in mountain villages then later moved to Guatemala City, the couple went through major cultural and linguistic shifts well before they ever came to the U.S. as refugees. They've faced a mountain of difficulty, that's for sure.
Quote 3
"Tortolita, let me tell you a story," Estevan said. [...] "If you go to visit hell, you will see a room like this kitchen. There is a pot of delicious stew on the table, with the most delicate aroma you can imagine. All around, people sit, like us. Only they are dying of starvation. They are jabbering and jabbering," he looked extra hard at Mrs. Parsons, "but they cannot get a bite of this wonderful stew God has made for them. Now, why is that?" (7.141)
First, "Tortolita" is Estevan's nickname for turtle. We know, sounds like a mix between tortellini, a margarita, and a much better name for a girl than "Turtle." Anway, Estevan's story, even if it's kind of weird that he's talking to a three-year-old about visiting hell, emphasizes the importance of community and reciprocal care. The people around the table in hell can't feed themselves because their spoons are too long. But in heaven, the people don't worry about feeding themselves: instead, they use their long spoons to feed one another. Get it? It's all about taking care of the people around you. Like by calling them fun names like "Tortolita."