Taylor is independent and spirited, whereas Lou Ann is fearful and feels worthless. Aside from having children, the two mothers are quite different. In effect, they create a community in which members are as concerned about others as they are about themselves. Taylor and Lou Ann, both single mothers living at poverty level, decide to combine their resources and share Lou Ann's house. An immediate bond forms between them because they are both from Kentucky and speak the same dialect. She turns down a cup of alfalfa tea and humorously tells the three roommates that she and Turtle are going to 'envision in some other space.'Īt the next house, Taylor meets Lou Ann Ruiz. Taylor can't imagine giving up toxins found in junk food or spending hours straining curd.

Kingsolver includes a comical sketch of individuals who are perceived as living on the fringe of society when she has Taylor meet three New-Agers looking for a roommate. Without a job, Taylor is unsure whether she can still afford the room at the Hotel Republic, so she begins looking not only for a job but a new place to stay. A woman named Jessie, who claims leftover fruit and melon rinds, always has an 'interesting-smelling shopping cart' with her and professes to be an artist, collecting the fruit 'for still-lifes.' Kingsolver uses Jessie to allude to homelessness. Taylor begins scouring the local coffee shops for newspapers left lying on the tables for help-wanted and housing ads. Perhaps unknowingly, Taylor is growing more protective of Turtle and more committed to motherhood. Although Taylor is fired from her job after only six days, at least she no longer has to leave Turtle at Kid Central, which she doesn't like. The child care service is free, and Taylor and Sandi, whose son is there also, take turns going to check on their children. She leaves Turtle at Kid Central Station, a baby-sitting service for shoppers at a local mall, while she's at work. After eating breakfast at Burger Derby on several consecutive mornings and getting to know Sandi, a young waitress at the Derby, Taylor applies for and gets a job as a waitress there. Kingsolver shifts, for the last time, to a first person point of view, allowing Taylor to tell her own story as she experiences and perceives it.

The bean trees