How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
We had worked things out: I cooked on weekends, and also on any week night that Lou Ann had kept Turtle. It would be a kind of payment. And she would do the vacuuming, because she liked to, and I would wash dishes because I didn't mind them. [...] Before, it had seemed picayune to get all bent out of shape organizing the household chores. Now I was beginning to see the point. (7.73)
Although Taylor insists that she and Lou Ann can't fall into the habit of acting like husband and wife, the two of them do eventually settle into a comfortable routine. Together, they build a sense of "home" that feels richer than the one Lou Ann shared with Angel. Even if picayune sounds more like the kinds of chilies Lou Ann ends up canning than the triviality of chores.
Quote #5
"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 #6
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 spikes 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. You just couldn't imagine how she'd made a home in there. (8.150)
After a visit to the doctor reveals the extent of Turtle's past physical injuries, Taylor is struck with a deep sense of sorrow. In this moment, the bird whose nest is in the cactus takes on symbolic significance, as Taylor can't imagine how Turtle survived the abusive home life she once endured. To say the least, it isn't just for the birds.