The Bean Trees: Notes on Chapter 4

"Tug Fork Water"

Ivy Logan, Lou Ann's mother, hummed one line of a hymn over and over again: "All our sins and griefs to bear" (Kingsolver 56).

CHARACTER: Have you noticed all of the varieties of female identify so far? Jolene Hardbine, Mattie, Taylor, Mrs. Hoge and Irene at the Broken Arrow motel, Ivy and Grandma Logan, Lou Ann? What does Ivy Logan's humming tell us about her conception of female identity? How do the other female characters define themselves, establish their identities? Taylor left Kentucky to avoid one type of female identity, barefoot and pregnant. What lies ahead for Lou Ann and Taylor?


That's Tug Fork water. For baptizing the baby (Kingsolver 60).

SYMBOLISM: Granny Logan produces a coke bottle filled with milky, cool water. What might the water symbolize? What happens to the water and how might that be significant?

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