Anyway, the two drive west until two flat tires take them off the road for good in Tucson, Arizona.

Is she trying to make it sound more Native American? Is she just confused after her own re-naming experience? Yet another of the profound debates of The Bean Trees. Later that night, after the kid falls asleep, Taylor makes the decision to keep her.Īfter spending a couple of weeks working for room, board, and minimal pay at the same motel, Taylor gets back on the road with the child, whom she's named Turtle. But this isn't a scene for rubber ducky: as she takes off the little girl's clothing, Taylor sees something that makes her sick to her stomach: the child has been badly abused. So what do you do when you've got a strange kid in a motel room? You make them take a bath, of course. Thinking that a good night's rest might help her to think things through, she gets back on the road, and looks for a motel. Soon, everyone else from the bar is gone too, and Taylor is left with an unknown child on her hands. Um, what?Īt least, that's pretty much Taylor's reaction: she's too baffled to do much of anything, and the woman takes off before she can refuse.

The woman removes a small child from under the blanket she's wearing, and insists that Taylor take the child with her when she goes. Here we go: as Taylor gets into her car and prepares to drive away, a Cherokee woman comes out and taps on the windshield. But come on, you can't expect newly named Taylor to have known. We know, you were totally expecting something unexpected. After grabbing a cheap bite to eat at a bar, something totally unexpected happens. Hundreds of miles later, ex-Missy is forced to stop for repairs in the plains outside of Oklahoma City. To mark the occasion, she changes her name, reinventing herself as Taylor Greer after stopping for gas in Taylorville, Illinois. After saying goodbye to her Mama, she hits the road for good, not intending to ever look back. Narrating her story from an unspecified point in the future, Taylor Greer begins The Bean Trees by summing up her childhood and adolescence in Kentucky-the place where she, much like the Soggy Bottom Boys' ' Man of Constant Sorrow,' was 'borned and raised.' In case that tune wasn't already in your head from reading those pages.Īnyway, after working hard and saving up money for five and a half years after high school, Marietta 'Missy' Greer buys a beat up old '55 Volkswagen bug.

The bean trees