In the portrayal of male and female characters, does it matter if the writer is a man or a woman? Give specific examples from the books we have read this semester. [The Bean Trees and Ethan Frome are the only ones written by women: Barbara Kingsolver and Edith Wharton]

The author's sex sometimes does play a role in the way a character is portrayed. First and foremost, many authors feel more comfortable writing in the perspective of a certain sex, usually their own. Most authors though, write characters of different sexes, in which they attempt honesty, and realism to leak through their words, so that they may not only be words. In The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver, me are portrayed to be rather astringent, in order to further exentuate the struggles the characters faced regarding men. The Natural on the other hand, was written by a man whom purposely failed to include a women's elaborate personality. From the opinion of a women, Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton, seemed to portray the male persona accurately. Although some author's lack the ability to be insightful, and honest when regarding characters from the opposite sex, most are able to portray them accurately, to a certain extent at least.