If friends can become family in The Bean Trees, it stands to reason that family can be friends. That's certainly true for Taylor and her Mama: Alice Stamper Greer has been her daughter's closest companion and biggest fan since "Missy" was a child. No wonder some of the best friends Taylor makes in Tucson are people she can look up to and learn from—people like Estevan and Mattie, who teach her about the ugly and the beautiful in the world. And Lou Ann? Well, someone has to protect Taylor and Turtle from every choking hazard known to man!
Questions About Friendship
- Who were Taylor's friends in Pittman County? What kind of friendships did they have—close ones?
- How would you characterize Taylor's relationships with the closest friends she makes in Tucson? Whom does she lean on, and confide to, and whom does she help to support? Is the character of friendship different based on those varying directions of support?
- If you had to summarize Taylor's philosophy of friendship, how would you put it? What are friends for, in her view?
Chew on This
Friendship, kinship, and community go hand in hand in The Bean Trees. Although Taylor is still a young woman—no more than 22 or 23 years old—she isn't drawn to friends who could make her life exciting, adventurous, and fun. Instead, she's drawn to folks who help to take care of the people around them: friends who provide reciprocal care and support.
Throughout The Bean Trees, there are next to no examples of frivolous or toxic friendships. Characters in this novel come together because they genuinely like and need one another, not because of social climbing, backstabbing, status-seeking, or anything else like that. This ain't no Gossip Girl: The Bean Trees is straightforward and wholesome to the max.