The Bean Trees

The Bean Trees

First edition
Author	Barbara Kingsolver
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Dramatic Fiction
Publisher	Harper & Row
Publication date	1988
Media type	Print (hardback & paperback) and audio-CD
Pages	232
ISBN	0-06-015863-8
OCLC	16900347
Dewey Decimal	813/.54 19
LC Class	PS3561.I496 B44 1988
Followed by	Pigs in Heaven

The Bean Trees is the first novel by American writer Barbara Kingsolver. It was published in 1988 and reissued in 1998. The novel is followed by the sequel Pigs in Heaven.

Plot[]

The story takes place in real places in North America, including Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Arizona.^[1]

Taylor Greer sets out to leave home and travel west, and finds herself in Oklahoma near Cherokee territory. As Taylor stops in the town, a woman suddenly approaches, deposits a small child, and leaves without explanation. Not knowing what else to do, Taylor decides to care for the child. The novel traces the experiences of Taylor and the child, who Taylor names Turtle.

Characters[]

Taylor Greer, a native of Kentucky, is the protagonist and narrator of the novel. She is also known by her given name Marietta and nickname Missy.

Turtle is the three-year-old child who is left with Taylor in Oklahoma.

Lou Ann lives in Tucson and has a baby named Dwayne Ray. She is also originally from Kentucky and is Taylor's roommate.

Esperanza and Estevan are Guatemalan refugees that Taylor meets in Arizona.

Mattie is the owner of "Jesus is Lord Used Tires." She grows vegetables and beans in her garden, which is filled with tire parts. Her home is a place where undocumented immigrants stay.

Major themes[]

The Bean Trees is a coming-of-age novel.

The protagonist is raised by a single mother, and there are themes of motherhood and nontraditional family values throughout the story, as Taylor herself becomes Turtle's parent.^[2] The novel further explores nontraditional extended family through the relationships between the members of the community.^[2] It also addresses the issue of parenthood through adoption.^[3] The novel makes reference to the issue of Native American parental rights.^[3]

The Bean Trees also portrays the effects of child abuse.^[2]

It portrays undocumented immigration from Latin America as some characters facilitate immigrants' escapes from persecution.

At least one reader, familiar with Native American adoption rights, thought that the sequel, Pigs in Heaven, was written to correct misconceptions in the first book by Barbara Kingsolver.^{[citation needed]} Themes of love and nurturing emerge from the violence and poverty that the characters face. The book conveys multiple symbolic meanings about shared motherhood, life and death, and beauty. The underlying themes not always recognized include those about mockery toward the judicial system, the flawed coping strategies of current day issues, and the strength of friendship.

Style[]

Jack Butler wrote for the New York Times, "The Bean Trees is as richly connected as a fine poem, but reads like realism."^[4]

Kingsolver employs irony in order to emphasize the changes to Taylor's lifestyle by the end of the novel.^[2] She also uses the evokes Westward expansion through Taylor's symbolic move to the west.^[2]

Reception[]

The novel was well received by critics and has become commonly assigned reading in high school literature classes.^{[citation needed]}

References[]

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