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Poisonwood Bible
Poisonwood Bible
I live in a world of fantasy, so keep your reality away from me. I see what I want, I
want what I see, and that is all okay with me. –Itzah C. Kret
tone towards the perceived, ostensible superiority of the wealthy and the able.
Kingsolver conveys this diction and tone through the arrogant and rather incapable
Nathan Price, the lack of intelligence of Rachel Price, and the juxtaposition of these
his misuse of the Kikongo language and his poor treatment of the Kilanga
with the Congolese because of his lack of knowledge in their native language. During
his sermon, Price often errs in attempting to speak Kikongo due to his lack of trust
towards the interpreters, a testament to his willful arrogance. For example, his
He throws back his head and shouts these words [Tata Jesus is baä ngala!] to
the sky, while his lambs sit scratching themselves in wonder. Bangala means
something precious and dear. But the way he pronounces it, it means the
poisonwood tree. Praise the Lord, hallelujah, my friends! for Jesus will make
Kingsolver displays Nathan Price’s ignorance and lack of will to learn the Kikongo
language through his mispronunciation of the word “bangala.” Additionally, the use
of the word “lambs” to describe the Kilanga people further exemplifies that Nathan
sees himself as a superior being, believing he has been sent as a shepherd to lead the
people of Kilanga, who he believes to have been led astray by their religious
would be lost without him, just as lambs would be without their shepherd. Overall,
Reverend Nathan Price does not take the time to assimilate in the Kilanga culture
and language, a manifestation of the fact that he holds himself in a higher, holier
human quality. She is beautiful, wealthy, and of a capable demographic; by all means,
she has an advantage over her African counterparts. However, she does not take
advantage of the high-quality education she is exposed to, and she refrains from
using all of her advantages in life to assist those around her who do not have the
same opportunities. Kingsolver uses Rachel as an example of the Price family’s lack
of understanding that their work in the Congo is more detrimental than helpful,
Orleanna attempts to learn more about her daughter’s true self, Rachel states, “I
won’t tell her. I prefer to remain anomalous” (270). All in all, Rachel Price highlights
the Price family’s assumed superiority due to their being domiciled in the western
world, despite the fact that the family has done little to help the Congo.
In contrast to Nathan and Rachel Price, Adah Price, who is handicapped by
her disinclination to speak and her hemiplegia diagnosis which left her with the
inability to move her left side, is looked upon as inferior despite her precocious
intelligence and her understanding of the Kilanga culture as well as the world
around her, which she shows through her diction. This misinterpretation is proven
through the chapters that relay Adah’s thoughts and feelings regarding her family’s
poor decisions as well as a sense of respect for the people of Kilanga, something that
most of her family members seem to lack. Kingsolver utilizes Adah as an antithesis
of sorts to prove the point that her family has the potential to be a lot more of help
than the hindrance they are. In her family’s culture, Adah is perceived to be weak
and defective; however, in the Congo, she proves that these things do not define her
and that she is no less than her family for being disabled. She realizes this, stating,
“In that other long-ago place, America, I was a failed combination of too-weak body
and overstrong will. But in Congo I am those things perfectly united: Adah” (343).
profound intelligence of the Kilanga culture and Kikongo language, which she
quickly picks up on and surpasses even her father in her capability of speaking and
understanding Additionally, she has a slightly different way of viewing the world,
partially due to the nature of her condition and partially due to her view of the
illness. She continually thinks and writes in palindromes, representing her affinity
for parallelism, something she does not find in herself; she sees these words as
symmetrical, and she sees herself as lopsided. Adah manages to be the most
respectful member of the Price family, partially due to her contemplative nature and
her experience of being looked down upon similarly to the way her family looks
as he takes no time to learn the Kikongo language, thereby erring in his diction when