Elucidating Gyn/Ecology in the Novel The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to prove that women and nature are mutually integrated with our ecosystem while they face oppression at the hands of materialistic greed and hegemony. Expanding this hypothesis, the paper discusses women’s oppression by a patriarchal society and how the patriarchal society exploits nature as depicted in the novel The Bean Tree (1988). The novel The Bean Tree (1988) by Barbara Kingsolver is set in the southern part of America and revolves around Plucky Tylor Greer, a young woman who is running away from her difficult past and becomes a guardian of a child by accident. As she comes to terms with her situation, the readers could witness the destruction of nature and women in the narration. In the elucidation of the concept Gyn/Ecology, the researcher also examines the sub-themes of domestic violence, child abuse, geopolitics, etc. Employing the theoretical conception of Mary Daly’s Gyn/Ecology, the researcher also calls attention to the prioritization of Gyn/Ecology in sustaining nature.