The Bean Trees Character Analysis

Women have long faced discrimination and limited social and economic opportunities. Therefore, it is vital that women try to assist and support each other. The role of women in The Bean Trees is of a disadvantaged group that finds success despite the obstacles men and society have created for them, thereby proving women’s strength, especially as they band together.

Women in The Bean Trees are characterized as socially inferior to men because they lack professional and educational opportunities. The central character, Taylor Greer, is a different kind of woman: she is disturbed by her female peers in Kentucky who get pregnant young, do not pursue higher education, and are held back socially by their circumstances. As she explains, “Believe me, those days the girls were dropping by the wayside like seeds off a poppy

The theme of success is demonstrated in a nearly exclusively female world, showing that women don’t necessarily need men in order to thrive and be happy. In fact, the few male characters are depicted as either dying or disappearing, which may be a comment on their lack of dependability, but may also simply be a way for the author to focus on how the female characters grow stronger with each other’s help. Estevan, of course, is the one exception to this otherwise almost exclusively female world. Estevan represents the opposite of the stereotypical chauvinistic male. A kind, intelligent man who treats women with respect, he and his wife, Esperanza, escaped persecution in Guatemala and found sanctuary with Mattie. As evidenced by his ability to quickly learn English, Estevan proves himself to be adaptable and easygoing, which is a useful quality for males who have to adjust to the way women are now more independent and have proven themselves