The Bean Eaters Essay, Research Paper

Differences in Characters 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.