Taylor wants to be mature and be someone that is not just a stereotype, but who lives a full, rich life. Taylor's defiance in her name proves that she hasn't accepted her position in life. After Taylor acquires Turtle, she finds herself not knowing what she is doing and where she is headed in life. "On some days, like that one, I was starting to go a little bit crazy. This is how it is when all the money you have can fit into one pocket, and you have no job, no prospects." Taylor is questioning her actions and is losing confidence in her. Also, she is very unsure of how she is going to handle certain situations, when it comes to Turtle. Taylor is wearing a mask to hide behind, for she is falling apart on the inside, but is trying

The beans that are continually revealed throughout the novel represent Taylor's life. The earliest mention of the beans took place when Taylor takes a close look at the reality of her life: "I had never done anything more interesting for a living than... picking bugs off somebody's bean vines for a penny a piece"(4). The beans are a symbol of Taylor's weaknesses, as she and the beans are both of poor quality. Subsequently, Taylor and Turtle are in the garden and "For the next half hour she sat quietly between the squash hills, playing with her own beans. Finally she buried them there on the spot where they were all to be forgotten, until... a ferocious thicket of beans cam plowing up through the squashes"(89). Gradually, the beans are becoming of some significance in the novel, since they are truly beginning to echo Taylor's life. Just as the beans did, Taylor begun her life without a great deal of impact on anyone, only to come plowing up and impact people where they did not expect it. At the end of the novel, the reader again encounters the beans for the last time. Although this time, the reader captures the complete significance of the beans. "Wisteria vines...thrive in poor soil...Their secret is something called rhizobia. These are microscopic bugs that live underground in little knots in the roots...Wisteria vines on their own would just barely get by, but put them together with rhizobia and they make miracles"(229). The bean's symbolism reflects Taylor's development throughout her life perfectly. Taylor grew in poor soil and without the influence of the people, whom act like rhizobia that she encounters, she would have never been able to fight her weaknesses and realize her strengths. Taylor grows to become more mature and at the end of the novel the beans reflect Taylor's growth.

Throughout the road

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1228
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)