The last statement is told by Estevan, Estevan implicitly conveys that Taylor is such a responsible person as she wants this terrible responsibility that she will
raise Turtle. When Taylor doubts her in being a decent mother for Turtle, she asks
Mattie, her friend and also her boss, for some opinion. “Tell me the honest truth. Did you think I seemed like any kind of a
decent parent?” “I thought you seemed like a bewildered parent. Which is perfectly
ordinary. Usually the bewilderment wears off by the time the kid gets big enough to eat peanut butter and crackers, but knowing what I do now, I
can see you were still in the stage most mothers are in when they first bring them home from the hospital.”
… “You knew, didn’t you? I didn’t know the first thing about how to take
care of her. When you told me that about babies getting dehydrated it scared the living daylights out of me. I realized I had no business just
assuming I could take the responsibility for a child’s life.” “There is not a decent mother in the world that hasn’t realized that.”
“I’m serious, Mattie.” She smiled and sipped her coffee. “So am I.” 177
This conversation indicates that though Taylor hesitates whether she is a decent mother or not, she is still responsible for Turtle’s life.
b. Brave
Taylor’s being brave appears since she was a child. It is showed from her mama’s encouragement when she is waiting for the decision whether or not she is
accepted to be a lab assistant in Pittman County Hospital. Taylor’s bravery is analyzed based on Murphy’s theory of characterization, character as seen by
another Murphy 162. “Earl Wickentot my hind foot” is what Mama said. “Girl, I’ve seen you eat
a worm whole when you were five. He’s no better than you are, and none
of them Candy Stripers either.” Still, I believed that’s who he would choose, and I told her so. 4
Taylor’s mama is always proud of her and she never stops encouraging Taylor, her only daughter.
Besides Taylor’s bravery in childhood, she is still brave when she grows up. On the way traveling to leave her hometown, Kentucky, to Arizona, she met
many kinds of people. One of them is a guy whom she met when she needs a place to protect her and Turtle from rain, but unfortunately they met a tarantula.
Taylor’s conversation with the guy reflects Taylor’s being brave. It is analyzed by using Murphy theory, which is from Taylor’s speech.
“I’ve seen worse,” I said, although to tell you the truth I hadn’t. It looked like something that might have crawled out of Midnight Creature Feature.
“That’s tarantula,” he said. “You got to watch out for them suckers. They can jump four feet. If they get you, you go crazy. It’s a special kind of
poison.” This I didn’t believe. I never could figure out why men thought they could
impress a woman by making the world out to be such a big dangerous deal. I mean, we’ve got to live in the exact same world every damn day of
the week, don’t we?
“What’s it coming around here for?” I said. “Is it your pet, or your girlfriend?” 38
What Taylor said to the man is such a brave thing. Actually, the time when she decides to leave Kentucky and start her trip also shows one of her bravery.
When Taylor decides to adopt Turtle legally and she finds some difficulties in the process of adoption as Turtle has no document at all, then she
asks some helps to Estevan and Ezperanza, a couple of illegal immigrant. Taylor requests them to pretend as Turtle’s parent. Moreover, the proof to convince the
officer is only a picture of Estevan, Esperanza and Turtle at Lake o’ the Cherokees
a few days ago. The process makes Taylor nervous, but due to her bravery, she keeps going on. Taylor’s being brave can be seen from her thought.
By this point we had run out of small talk. I was over my initial nervousness, but without it I felt drained. Just sitting in the small, crowded
office, trying to look the right way and say the right thing, seemed to take a great deal of energy. I couldn’t imagine how we were all going to get
through this. 214
However, it is such a hard process though finally they can overcome it and Taylor gets the official document that Turtle belongs to her from that moment on.
c. Optimistic
