Jack Butler wrote for the New York Times, "The Bean Trees is as richly connected as a fine poem, but reads like realism."[6]
Kingsolver employs irony in order to emphasize the changes to Taylor's lifestyle by the end of the novel.[3]
Symbolism is used at the beginning of the story when the main character, Taylor, changes her name while starting the journey of self-discovery. The author evokes Westward expansion through Taylor's symbolic move to the west.[3] Kingsolver's creation of the non-male dominant world, and focus on feminism and environmentalism, communicates the case of eco-feminism.[2]
