For a three-act plot analysis, put on your screenwriter’s hat. Moviemakers know the formula well: at the end of Act One, the main character is drawn in completely to a conflict. During Act Two, she is farthest away from her goals. At the end of Act Three, the story is resolved.
Act I
Chapter 1
The first chapter of The Bean Trees is a storytelling tour de force. In it, Taylor sums up her entire childhood and adolescence in Pittman County, Kentucky, whisks the reader on a cross-country road trip, and recounts the fateful night when her life is changed forever by a Cherokee woman and an unexpected child.
By the end of Chapter 1, Taylor has discovered physical evidence of the child's sexual abuse, and has made the decision to keep her. From this point on, there's no turning back for Taylor: she's heading westward, child in tow. And the readers don't have much choice but to tag on along.
Act II
Chapter 2 – Chapter 12
From the night when Taylor first accepts an unknown child, to the night that Turtle is attacked in Tucson's Roosevelt Park, life seems pretty steady for the pair, despite a couple ups, downs, and burger breakfasts. They settle down in Tucson, and although Taylor is learning more about the world's injustices and tragedies, few of them seem to touch her life directly. For now, at least.
And right on cue, all of that changes when Turtle is attacked one night in Roosevelt Park. This makes Taylor realize just how little she can do to protect the child from all of life's dangers and cruelties. On top of that, the attack finally brings Turtle to the attention of Arizona's child welfare services, meaning that Taylor may soon lose the little girl she has come to love. Ominous music!
Act III
Chapter 13 – Chapter 17
Once Turtle is brought to the attention of child welfare services, Taylor has a choice to make: Will she fight for the child who was entrusted to her, or will she let Turtle be seized as a ward of the state? We know she doesn't have any more credential as a parent than getting a kid handed to her while her car was pulled over, but hey, we're gonna root for Taylor.
Once Taylor makes the decision to fight for Turtle, the novel's resolution unfolds very quickly. With a few deft strokes and short chapters, Barbara Kingsolver resolves Estevan and Esperanza's troubles with Immigration while simultaneously putting a cherry on top with Taylor's "legal" claim to Turtle. Both crises are solved with next to no hassle, all but wrapping the novel up with a neat and tidy bow.