The Bean Trees: Notes on Chapter 12

"Into the Terrible Night"

The Night of the Hunter, 1955 (film) http://filmforno.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/6a00d8345282f769e200e54f44fd438833-800wi.jpg

Mattie said all the things that looked dead were just dormant. As soon as the rains came they would sprout leaves and grow (Kingsolver 172).

Does it rain toad frogs in Arizona? ... I was amazed. There seemed to be no end to the things that could be hiding, waiting it out, right where you thought you could see it all (Kingsolver 172).

Theme: again, life, meaning, lie beneath the surfaces of things.

How can I just be upset about Turtle, about a grown man hurting a baby, when the whole way of the world is to pick on people that can't fight back? (Kingsolver 179).


Character in Conflict, Crisis: Taylor struggles with an overwhelming sense of injustice in the world around her. Lou Ann comforts her.

Click here for more note on chapter 12.