The Bean Trees

There seems to be a buzz going around about Kingsolver's indifference towards men. Much of that, though, is generated by one of her first novels, The Bean Trees. It does ring true, for this particular story, that only one man out of many plays a laudable part. But that novel fails to represent Kingsolver's entire spectrum of stories. Another one of her just as successful novels, Animal Dreams, highlights a major male character, and a …

…character and a man. Now that there are two equally successful novels by Kingsolver, it is impossible to say that she is all for women and totally against men. There is a huge difference between Taylor's life and Codi's life. Taylor will have nothing to do with males, it seems, while Codi's life was virtually changed for the better by a man. It is possible, then, for Kingsolver to recognize the virtues in a man.