The Bean Trees: Notes on Chapter 9

"Ismene"

Doll Family

Chapter 9 Title, Ismene, (Kingsolver 137).

Allusion: Ismene in ancient Greek literature was daughter to Oedipus and sister to Antigone. Ismene, characterized as compassionate, compliant, prudent, contrasts with Antigone, who is passionate, unbending, independent.

...female traditions...(Kingsolver 138).

Character/Sterotype/Identity: included here are "preparing food for the men" and "run[ing] off at the mouth"

Family of Dolls (Kingsolver 144).

Theme: the "Family of Dolls", the protagonist's childhood collection of paper dolls, "a tight-knit little circle" that her own family realities put "far beyond my reach". How do the characters in The Bean Trees redefine or rather, re-establish a sense of "family" after the "Family of Dolls" image disintegrates like the protagonist's paper dolls?

What Does It Mean to be a Family, Anyway? (link to article by Barbara Kingsolver, author)


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