The Bean Trees: Symbols and Hidden Meanings The Bean Trees by Barbara Kinsolver is a book that discusses many of the problems in today's society. I found it to be over all insightful yet a little boring at time. There are many hidden meaning and symbols too many to mention so I'll look at just a few. One of the main symbols appears right at the beginning of the novel. The symbol is the tires and how Missy (later named Taylor) fears them. The tires come up several times in the story and so does Taylor's fear of them. This fear originated from the accident with a tractor tire that Taylor viewed as a child. Her fear leads to