be a headstrong female who thinks for herself, who is supported by her mother, and who participates in traditionally "male" activity (because she wants to and enjoys it, not in order to defy the patriarchy). However, Taylor is also expressive of an empathy for the suffering men around her, particularly Newt Hardbine: "The day I saw his daddy up there [hanging over the Standard Oil sign, thrown there by an exploding tire] like some old overalls slung over a fence, I had this feeling about what Newt's whole life was going to amount to, and I felt sorry for him" (Kingsolver 1).
Taylor's mother's praise and support for her symbolizes the kind of cooperative female effort which Cixious sees as essential to creative feminism:
When I was just the littlest kid I would go pond fishing of a Sunday and bring home the boniest mess of bluegills
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