Searching relief from the blazing sun above was challenging in “Dog Doo” Park, for the trees would not suffice. Trees here were really only parts of trees, leaves found in small clusters, yet it was astonishing that anything had managed to grow here – plants in such poor soil. Surprisingly enough, close by the glittering constellations of gum wrappers that didn’t quite make the can, green life had sprung out of the desolate dirt. Taylor and Lou Ann’s polluted and barren park seems least likely to be the place where we might find beauty, yet beauty can be found anywhere if you look hard enough. Most people that had visited “Dog Doo” Park had not truly seen its beauty, or at least potential, which happens all too much in our busy lives. Through our new and fast paced world we may not miss all of the important things in life, but we surely do loose our appreciation for the world around us. The one thing that has always slowed us down and brought us together is food, a common need, and in Kingsolver’s The Bean Trees, this is just the notion she portrays.
This way of coming together satisfies and fills our hunger while satisfying and filling our hearts and we come away from it fuller people in more than just one way. It is true, in hard times we must turn to the ones we love or anyone trustworthy to us, for no one can walk this world alone. “There is a whole invisible system for helping out the plant that you’d never guess was there… It’s the same with people.” (pg 241) It is only because of this system that plants may thrive in poor soil. It is only because of this system that people may thrive in poor circumstances. With help and tenacity people may rise above whatever situation they were born in and create a better life for themselves, but never did these people accomplish such things alone. The reference to the wisteria vines reflects to the triumphs of people. How we can not do it all on your own; everyone, no matter what position, needs someone, and if they seek help, they are never alone.
Especially in these times, families become torn apart and with this the definition of a family is split right open. With no set dogma, like many other things, this is left for us to decide; what defines a family? Lou Ann suggests the idea that nothing you have on earth is certain. “‘Nothing on earth is guaranteed, when you get right down to it; you know? I’ve been thinking about that. About how your kids aren’t really yours, they’re just people that you try to keep an eye on and hope you’ll all grow up someday to like each other and still be in one piece. What I mean is everything you ever get is really just on loan…’ ‘Like library books. Sooner or later they’ve all got to go back into the night drop.’” (pg 245) So why would we take on all of this responsibility and all of that work to do something that does get difficult? Everybody needs somebody; this is why we congregate, form families, go out to eat. Ideal families settle down to the table after a long day of work or school and enjoy a meal together and laugh and talk about each person’s day. We are attracted to that sense of belonging, and again, food is a part of us coming together, enjoying ourselves, forgetting about all of the troubles we had earlier in the day and pushing them aside for the moment so that we may rest easier, if only for a little while.
Food has always brought people together, a common ground for all of us. It is there in times of need, celebration, anger, joy, triumph, and loss. “From my earliest memory, times of crisis seemed to end up with women in the kitchen preparing food for men.” (pg 138) Kingsolver proposes the concept that even “fast food” restaurants have been able to bring people together. Taylor received Turtle in a “fast food” restaurant and Turtle has stayed with her ever since, a loving duo. The cheap Burger Derby burger joint found a way to bring two new mothers together and bond, helping each other make it through the day. Through Turtle, Kingsolver also intertwined idea that people can be mingle together with the aid of food. Turtle’s first words were all names of vegetables and plants and as she grows a little bit older and as the book advances she begins to learn the names of people she knows. As we near the end of the book Turtle is learning to say more and more, but the order of the way she learned her words wasn’t just coincidence. At the very end of the book, Turtle sings Taylor her “Vegetable Soup Song” but now the words had changed. Along side and mixed among the potatoes, beans and other vegetables there were the names of all of the people that she knew. Again symbolizing no matter what background, circumstance financial or socially, food finds a way to bring us all together as people.
Repetitive it may be, but the fact stays the same; since the dawn of time food has gathered people together and it is still something effective today. Business, family and friends can all meet on one common ground, answering a universal need. Nearly everything we have and nearly everything we do has drastically changed over the centuries, even our ways of thinking have changed in ways, but if there has only been one thing that hasn’t changed it is the way we use food to bring people together. Not yet warped by this world we have created, it truly remains sacred and is still used for its original reason.
