Barbara Kingsolver's The Bean Trees

1995 Words8 Pages
The Feminine Dilemma The sky is dark, cloud wisps brushing over the bright crescent that is the moon. A young woman walks out of a restaurant, laughing with her most trusted friends. One by one, they get in their cars parked along the city streets as she waves goodbye to each of them. Once she’s left all alone in the empty, dimly illuminated street, she begins her trip home. Minute by minute she walks, the tapping of her shoes on the sidewalk echoing and quickening, fearing someone may be following her. Footsteps are heard quietly behind her, increasing in volume every second. A hand comes down on her shoulder, giving a heavy weight that makes her become unbalanced. She turns, quickly smacking the broad silhouette in the face and kneeing them…show more content…
Books and writing are, and will always be, a large influence to people of all ages. They will continuously affect people with their characters and themes taught in them. In the story, The Bean Trees written by Barbara Kingsolver, one of the main characters Lou Ann commented about her inability to ride on a bus without “... remarks under their[high school boys] breath or try rub up against her when the bus made sudden stops and turns”(Kingsolver 30) unless she was pregnant. Lou Ann was also discredited of her ability to work when she was interviewed by the male store manager who only viewed her body and doubted that she could protect herself from burglars. This is one of the many examples of situations that occur in society today. Likewise, the short story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck includes a minor female character who has a role in the storyline. Throughout the entirety of the writing, she is not given a real name, only referred to as her husband’s wife. As imagined, her name is “Curley’s Wife” and nothing else. She is also commented about rudely by the male associates of her husband, one of the characters indirectly calling her a flirt and directly calling her “jailbait.” Steinbeck shares his beliefs of women rights through his female…show more content…
Those movies, magazines, books, and beyond, influence young adolescent females further than it may seem at first. It can been seen through many different ways from how women live daily to how they survive in a world where money is the main goal. To survive in the economy of the world, people have to get some type of basic education to be able to support themselves. From the 1900s males are always been the prime supporters of the family by working while females stayed home and tended the children. Although the amount of women in the workforce is steadily increasing compared to the 1950s, women still have disadvantages compared to men(Shedlock). Lou Ann from The Bean Trees is an example for she was unable to get a job due to her gender and its stereotypes given by society of them being weak. Curley’s Wife from Of Mice and Men also has a similar issue when she was unable to follow her dreams to become an actress when she had to marry Curley instead. Due to Curley, she was stuck being a housewife and not able to travel out to places like Los Angeles where she could be
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