human being can be good or bad or right or wrong, maybe. But how can you say a person is illegal?”
“I don’t know. You tell me.” “You just can’t,” I said. “That’s all there is to it.” 195
Both Taylor and Estevan think that everybody knows the answer, yet they just cannot say it.
In this novel, Taylor’s being sensitive is seen from her perception about the world which looks so unjust to people who cannot fight back. She feels really
upset about it. One time as she goes home, Lou Ann told her that someone will kidnap Turtle when Turtle is playing in the park with Edna Poppy, a blind woman,
and her neighbor who help to take care of Turtle and Lou Ann’s son while they are working. Taylor becomes very upset then. She tells her feeling to Lou Ann.
“I don’t know where to start, Lou Ann,” I told her. “There’s just so damn much ugliness. Everywhere you look, some big gut kicking some little
person when they’re down-look what they do to those people at Mattie’s. To hell with them, people say, let them die, it was their fault in the first
place for being poor or in trouble, or for not being white, or whatever, how dare they try to come to this country.”
“I thought you were upset about Turtle,” Lou Ann said. “About Turtle, sure.” I looked out the window. “But it just goes on and on,
there’s on end to it.” I didn’t know how to explain the empty despair I felt. “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?” 170
As a woman, Taylor is so sensitive that she can easily get upset or sad, especially when she is facing such unfairness.
e. Loving
According to Pikunas, if a young mother has happy memories about her childhood and feels good about the way in which she gets connected with her
parents and siblings and what they do to her, she will look for the way to recreate similar experience in her family. She may model her mothering upon her mother’s
example Pikunas 61. That’s what Taylor does to Turtle. She is a loving mother, knowing that her mama loves her so much and so does her. When she comes
home after working all day long and feels tired, she wants her mama to be home. “I wanted Mama to be home when I got there, so I could bawl my head off and
tell her I was quitting.” 9. After they meet each other, mama gives her the biggest hug and they
prepare for dinner. This routine shows that her mama loves her so much. She gave me the biggest hug and said, “Missy, I have never seen the likes
of you.” We didn’t talk too much more about it but I felt better with her there, the two of us moving around each other in the kitchen making
boiled greens and eggs for dinner while it finally went dark outside. 10
Her mama’s love is also shown through Taylor’s opinion about her. There were two things about Mama. One is she always expected the best
out of me. And the other is that then no matter what I did, whatever I came home with, she acted like it was the moon I had just hung up in the sky
and plugged in all the stars. Like I was that good. 10
Taylor’s mama always encourages Taylor to do her best, and no matter what she does, her mama will always support her. She considers Taylor as a good
daughter. That is why after leaving her home, Taylor misses her mama so much. Taylor’s love is depicted through her reaction. “While the water glugged out over
the sweet peas I noticed Mattie looking at me with her arms crossed. Just watching. I missed Mama so much my chess hurt.” 81. It obviously shows that
Taylor loves her mama as well.
Taylor also inherits her mama’s characteristic as loving. Taylor loves Turtle so much though she has just met her. When Taylor bathes Turtle, she
shows her love from her reaction while Turtle smiles. As she hands her a washcloth, Turtle hugs that washcloth and smiles. Taylor is very happy till she
swears to God 23. She likes Turtle’s smile because after Turtle’s relative left her in the car, she is very quite.
Turtle’s first word, which is ‘bean’, makes Taylor proud of her. She gives compliment to Turtle that she is the smartest child alive, just like the way her
mama used to give compliment to her. I scooped a handful of big white beans out of one of Mattie’s jars. “These
are beans. Remember white beans soup with ketchup? Mmm, you like that.”
“Bean,” Turtle said. “Humbean.” I looked at Mattie.
“Well, don’t just sit there, the child’s talking to you,” Mattie said. I picked up Turtle and gave her a hug. “That’s right, that’s a bean. And
you’re just about the smartest kid alive,” I told her. Mattie just smiled. 97
While Taylor and Estevan are talking about Estevan’s daughter and the injustice happened to him and Taylor cries, Turtle, who is supposed to sleep,
suddenly shows up in the doorway and looks at her. “Come here, pumpkin,” I said. “I’m okay, just sprung a leak, don’t you worry. Do you want a drink of
water?” She shook her head. “Just want to cuddle a few minutes?” She nodded, and I took her on my lap.” 137-138. Taylor shows her love and it seems that
Turtle can feel what Taylor feels. That is why Turtle wakes up in the midnight. Turtle is three years old, but she speaks less than child in her age. It may
happen due to her past life. Nevertheless, when she is sleeping, she talks a lot; more than as she is awake. Taylor who loves her so much sometimes wants to be
in Turtle’s dream so that she can talk much with Turtle. “Whoever she was talking to in her dream, she told them a whole lot more than she’d ever told me. I would
have paid good money to be in that dream.” 182.
f. Caring
