New Year's Pig

The Bean Trees By: Barbara Kingsolver (pg. 33-46)

This section switches and starts to introduce a new character, Lou Ann Ruiz, who as far as I can tell has no connection to Taylor. Lou Ann is described as a woman who had had to work through some troubles. Her husband Angel three years prior to the present time being described, on Christmas day had a trucking accident where he lost one of his legs from the knee down. Being September and Lou Ann due to have her first child in two months, she wanted nothing more than for the baby not to be born on Christmas day. Angel had changed since the accident and had begun to blame people for things that were beyond their control. Lou Ann liked being pregnant and looked forward to having the baby but was worried about Angel. Lou Ann had never thought any different about Angel after the accident but it bothered him a lot.

That Halloween Angel left her. She had just gotten home from running errands. She had an appointment with the doctor and then stopped buy the market where the Chinese clerk told her she though she was having a girl. It was funny what the clerk said that having a girl is like feeding your neighbors' New Year's pig, all that work and it goes to a different family. After running errands she cam home to find Angel gone, no notice, no note, he just left and took what he decided was his including some books, his clothes, and the television. When the children came to the door to trick-or-treat she had completely forgotten it was Halloween. Because she didn't have any candy she dipped into her diaper savings and gave each child a penny. Later that night she had to go to sleep with her shoes on because they had Velcro straps that usually Angel would undo for her because she couldn't reach. So Lou Ann went to bed in her shoes and cried herself to sleep.

It is very sad the situation Lou Ann is in. Her family didn't like Angel to begin with, mostly because he is Mexican. Then she marries him and is ready to have his child and give it a catholic name, even though her family is Baptist. She stayed with him through thick and thin even when he lost a leg and then out of the blue, he leaves her. I wonder if perhaps this is Turtles mom and if Lou Ann is pregnant with Turtle and because Angel left her she has to give up the child. I can't figure out otherwise how this will connect to a small town girl from Kentucky.

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