Bean Trees By Kingsolver Essay, Research Paper

In "The Bean Trees," by Barbara Kingsolver, readers are given the

chance to see how two characters that have completely different lifestyles come

together and deal with everyday problems, family relationships, and motherhood.

Lou Ann chose a lifestyle that would cause her to get married, have a baby and

move away right after high school. On the other hand Taylor did everything in

her power not to end up living that lifestyle, and I think it resulted in Taylor

being a more dependent and strong person than Lou Ann. A good example of how

different their characters are is how they deal with everyday problems. For

example, the way they go about trying to find a job clearly shows that Taylor is

optimistic and Lou Ann is pessimistic. "Really, Ma’am I could understand

why you wouldn’t want to hire a dumb old thing such as myself P.144" This

is something that Taylor imagines Lou Ann saying when she is on a job search.

This statement clearly describes Lou Ann perfectly, she has no self-confidence

she is pessimistic and doesn’t stick up for herself because her husband

continuously verbally abused her, and treated her bad. Taylor on the other hand

is very optimistic and self-confident when she is out job-hunting because she

always had motivation and support from her mother. Eventually Taylor motivates

Lou Ann to have self-confidence and try hard to get a job and she notices

differences in her character "I was liking Lou Ann a great deal these days.

In a few weeks since she started working she had begun to cut her hair far less

often? having a job seemed to even out some of Lou Ann’s wrinkled edges.

Motivation and support played a big role in creating these characters

personalities. The reader really gets to see the difference in characters and

also how combining the personalities changed their lifestyles. Family

relationships played a big role in creating these characters. Lou Ann and Taylor

both came from small cities in Kentucky but they were raised differently. Lou

Ann moved to get married and raise a family but her mother disapproved for the

wrong reasons, "she disliked him because he was Mexican P26" Taylor

never wanted to live the lifestyle that Lou Ann had Taylor’s mom said

"barefoot and pregnant was not my style. P3" Taylor’s mom supported

Taylor’s decisions and gave her the opportunity to find independence. Taylor has

a really good relationship with her mother; the lines of communication and

support are wide open. Lou Ann on the other hand doesn’t have good communication

with her mother, she couldn’t even tell her mother and Grandmother she was

getting a divorce. "Angel had agreed to move back in until after her mother

and Grandmothers visit. P54" I think Taylor comes through for Lou Ann in

this situation because Taylor played a mother like role towards Lou Ann. She

gives her support she needs, consoles her, and is her friend. These two women

are both completely alone in an unfamiliar state and they both don’t have anyone

but each other except Taylor still has her mother left to talk to. Motherhood is

a big factor in differences in character. Taylor views motherhood along with

marriage as a complete failure in life for example in the end of the book Taylor

says to Turtle. That means your kid? so you’ll always know who you are.

P232" She’s finally seeing Turtle as her own daughter and not as an adopted

child. Taylor also helps Lou Ann overcome something and that was her marriage

she helps Lou Ann get over Angel and move on with her life. It was interesting

to see how two completely different people come together and rebuild their lives

together. They had many issues to overcome and it seemed that when they finally

came together they resolved many things and they made their lives better.