Comparing the Family of Kingsolver’s Bean Trees with the Ideal Family

Comparing the Family Presented in Barbara Kingsolvers The Bean Trees with the Ideal Family of Socrates In The Republic, Socrates mentationlized the perfect city. star of the aspects that he deliberated on was the raising of peasantren and family structure. The conclusion reached by Socrates is that no advance will know his own offspring or any child his parents (457 d). It was Socrates belief that the best atmosphere would be created in a common upbringing of the citys children. In the same sense, he believed that they should take every upkeep to insure that no mother knows her own child (460 c). Not even so the mother, the traditional child-rearer, would be permitted to know or have a take in the lives of her own children, but in all of the children as a whole. Likewise, Barbara Kingsolver presents numerous similar ideas of family in her novel, The Bean Trees. bandage Kingsolver values the common family, she differs from Socrates in that her primary focus is on th e maternal force that drives the family. Socrates idea of the collective family is evident in Barbara Kingsolvers work, as well. In The Bean Trees, Kingsolver illustrates the many different families that can be present in ones life, and the importance of that common role. As Maureen Ryan blossoms out, in the different world that Kingsolver envisions throughout her fiction, wed all carefulness for everyones child (81). In Kingsolver vision, Taylor, Lou Ann, Turtle, and Dwayne Ray can live together as a family, supporting each other physically, spiritually, and mentally. Kingsolver also makes a point to include Taylor befriending Sandy, and how they help each other out by checking up on each others kids at the mall day-care (67). Sandy is not the scarce on... ...and, does not acknowledge or consider the good that is to be gained by the eternal bond of mother and child, nor does he consider this bond when speculating on the possibility of his city. Kingsolver creates a muc h more realistic image of an archetype family - one that is nurturing and loving, while also teaching the child the basic necessities for survival. While his idea of a communal role is emphasized, Socrates idea of how motherhood should be handled is debunked by the powerful presentation by Kingsolver in The Bean Trees. whole works CitedKingsolver, Barbara. The Bean Trees. New York Harper, 1988. Plato. The Republic. Classics of Moral and Political Theory. 2nd ed. Michael L. Morgan. Indianapolis Hackett issue Company, 1996. 32 - 246. Ryan, Maureen. Barbara Kingsolvers Lowfat Fiction. Journal of American Culture 18.4 (1995) 77 - 82.