The Southern dialect that Taylor, Lou Ann, and their relatives speak includes figurative language that creates images that tell stories about simple, daily occurrences. For example, when Taylor first meets Lou Ann, Lou Ann understands her perfectly when she says, "I'm just a plain hillbilly from East Jesus Nowhere with this adopted child that everybody keeps on telling me is dumb as a box of rocks. I've got nothing on you, girl." Other common expressions they use are "I'll swan," "ugly as a mud stick fence," and "everybody deserves their own piece of the pie." Taylor's mother uses expressions like "even a spotted pig looks black at night" and "that's my big girl bringing home the bacon." Lou Ann tells her mother and grandmother not to sit on a concrete bench because "it'll be hot as a poker in this sun."
When Estevan tells Taylor that the way she speaks is poetic, Taylor replies, "That's the biggest bunch of hogwash." Estevan tells her that "washing hogs is poetic." Because Estevan taught English in Guatemala, he is able to appreciate Taylor's colorful expressions.
The rural Kentucky dialect spoken by characters in The Bean Trees accurately depicts the dialect spoken in that particular region of the United States. Southern dialect is a tool that Kingsolver uses to realistically portray — at least to her — life lived by women from Kentucky.
