The Bean Trees

The peaceful and idyllic feeling is abruptly shattered and changed to frustration, anger, and despair when Taylor finds out that Turtle was hurt while in the park with Edna. Ironically, Taylor can't console the traumatized Turtle because she herself is overwhelmed with guilt. Instead, she helps Virgie Mae free a bird trapped in the house, a symbolic representation of Taylor's wish to free Turtle from her catatonic state. Luckily, Turtle wasn't molested. She has a bruise and was a bit shaken up. Although a social worker tells Taylor that Turtle will most likely speak again, as children are quite resilient, the social worker's encouragement does nothing to relieve Taylor's feelings of despair. She feels that she is an incompetent mother because she wasn't able to protect Turtle. Overwhelmed with the "ugliness" in the world, she is upset about people hurting children, people hurting people who can't fight back, and people not feeling sorry for other people anymore. Her world has changed, and she has difficulty knowing what to do about it.