"The Lord God said, It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper suitable for him.- (Genesis 2:18) From the beginning of time, God saw that man must not depend solely on himself; he saw that man would not survive this way. As a result, the Lord put Eve on this world to help Adam, and because of this decision, man has had the opportunity to experience relationships, as well as heartaches, with deep meanings and lessons. The same idea of man needing someone there with him is present in Barbara Kingsolver's novel, The Bean Trees. The main characters that demonstrate this central idea are Turtle, Taylor, Estevan and Esperanza. Despite what each character thinks, none of them would be capable of having an enjoyable life, or even surviving, if it were not for others along they way that have helped them. God saw from the beginning that humans would not only become lonely, but that man would not survive without a partner; the reader sees this same idea present in each one of these characters.
In Turtle's situation, there is an actual physical dependence on the help from others. Due to her background of sexual abuse, Turtle's abusers may have scarred her for life, and left wounds, which Turtle will never forget. However, it is because of Taylor that Turtle survives; Taylor stops her entire life and embraces this infant. At first, Taylor is not enthusiastic about it, but later on, she realizes that what she did saved Turtle's life. She speaks about it later on in the book and remarks, "Turtle was having a real rough time. I don't know if she would have made it where she was,"" (73). Taylor realizes that she has helped Turtle tremendously, but others have contributed to her survival as well. Soon after, Turtle is in Dog Doo Park, a local sitting area in Taylor's neighborhood, when someone attacks her. It is at this time that Edna, the blind neighbor, steps in.