The Bean Trees
Historical Context
Source: www.enotes.com
What is the historical backdrop
of The Bean Trees?
• Human Rights Struggles in
Guatemala
• Conservatism in the 1980s
• Division Between Rich and Poor
• Child Abuse and Native Americans
HUMAN RIGHTS STRUGGLES
IN GUATEMALA
• Widespread violence and political
upheaval marked a 36-year period in
Guatemala that spanned the 1960s
through the mid-1990s.
• During this period, Guatemalans lived in
fear and oppression as opposing forces
both tore apart the government and
terrorized its citizens.
• Anti-government left-wing guerrilla
groups systematically attacked the
Guatemalan government on many fronts,
assassinating leaders and denouncing the
series of governments that rapidly
succeeded one another.
• In reaction to the guerrillas, extreme
right-wing groups tortured and
killed tens of thousands of
citizens—among them teachers,
doctors, peasants, students—that
they believed were in league with
the leftist groups.
• Many of those tortured and killed in
the conflict were Mayans, a people
native to the region, and thousands
of those persecuted fled the country
as refugees, seeking safety in
countries like the United States.
Conservatism in the 1980s
• Taylor's statement after a troubling
incident with Turtle is "nobody feels sorry
for anybody anymore....Not even the
President. It's like it's become
unpatriotic," addresses the fallout of the
1980s mood of conservatism in the United
States.
• During the Reagan era—the two
consecutive terms of the hugely popular
conservative president—some
conservative groups used words like
"patriotism" and "traditional family
values" in ways that excluded people and
encouraged intolerance.
• When conservatives celebrated
"family values," some critics
asserted that they were referring to
values culled from a nostalgic,
unrealistic view of family life as it
supposedly was in the past.
• Many right-wing conservatives
blamed families that did not fit into
this stereotype—such as singleparent or blended families—for a
host of social ills.
• Some Christian fundamentalists,
believing that what is written in the Bible
should guide daily life, condemned any
group—homosexuals, liberals, feminists,
divorced individuals—that seemed
incompatible with their Biblical
interpretation.
• The 1986 Immigration Control and
Reform Act included an amnesty program
for illegal U.S. immigrants, yet some
people seemed to confuse anti-immigrant
sentiment with patriotism.
• Immigrants were often blamed for taking
away jobs from "real" Americans.
DIVISION BETWEEN
RICH AND POOR
• In 1980s America, the rich got
richer while the poor got poorer,
and the middle class struggled to
hang on.
• In essence, economic changes were
creating a two-tiered society.
• By the mid-1980s, Wall Street saw
the start of the most successful bull
market in American history,
creating more wealth for investors.
• Many of those who benefited spent
their money showily on expensive
cars, designer clothing, and real
estate.
• Yuppies—young urban
professionals—emerged in the early
1980s.
• At the other end of the spectrum,
homelessness in the United States
rose by about 25 percent a year in the
1980s, due in part to cuts in
government spending for low-income
housing and mental health services.
• The price of health care
rocketed out of the reach of
low-income and many
middle-income Americans,
and the infant mortality rate
in America's inner cities
neared and even surpassed
those of Third World
countries.
• Drugs and violence tore
apart low-income urban
neighborhoods, and
residents of these
neighborhoods saw their
educational and
employment opportunities
shrink.
CHILD ABUSE AND
NATIVE AMERICANS
• The Child Abuse Prevention and
Treatment Act passed by the U.S.
Congress in 1974 led to a dramatic
increase in reporting of child abuse cases.
• The number of cases reported in 1988
was four times the number reported in
1980, and in 1989 alone, 2.4 million
cases were reported.
• In 1990, hearings before the 101st Congress
led to passage of the Indian Child Abuse
Prevention and Treatment Act.
• Congress passed this act after learning how
underreported incidents were of child abuse on
Indian reservations.
• The main purpose of the act was to provide
Federal enforcement of reporting of child
abuse incidents on Indian lands, as well as
mental health support and treatment programs
for Native American children who had been
victimized.
What is the historical backdrop
of The Bean Trees?
• Human Rights Struggles in
Guatemala
• Conservatism in the 1980s
• Division Between Rich and Poor
• Child Abuse and Native Americans