The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
The long list of the towns the writer passes is used to emphasise her lengthy journey. Although she claims to “let the gas tank decide” her new name, it is hinted that she had some preferences since she keeps her fingers crossed when passing certain places, meaning that she does not want to be named after them.
The write indicated that she knows nothing about the area as she had never been outside of Kentucky. She is trying to create an image of a lost lady, allowing destiny to decide where she would end up. She has no clue of where to go due to her lack of travel experience. She does not trust the travellers’ brochures at the gas station because her driving experiences gives an idea that these places are dirty and full of “ladies in fifties hairdos”, perhaps hinting low-class prostitutes. It is implied to us that she is a pessimist with a complex mind. She does not listen to others and only believes in herself. The line, “its abundance of potato bugs and gossips” tells us that the write dislikes the place (Pittman) she left behind. The area is undeveloped and it is plentiful of uncivilised people. She wants to leave the past behind and live a new life. However, the Great Plain filled her with “despair” because the place was so empty, with no buildings, no mountains and no nothing, unlike Kentucky, where the obstacles there give the “chance to think something good might be just over the next hill”. Oklahoma makes her feel depressed and that there is “nothing left to hope for”. The emptiness of her surroundings makes her think that her life will be monotonous and unexciting.
