The opinions and descriptions of Africa in The Poisonwood Bible compared to those in Heart of Darkness or Things Fall Apart are all quite different. In Heart of Darkness, Africa is described in a rather negative and grotesque manner with little information about the scenery or people. In fact, the author uses animal-like descriptions of the people there as descriptions of scenery. This demonstrates to the reader that the author's opinions of Africa are not too favorable. The descriptions in Things Fall Apart, however, are much more favorable towards Africa. In this story, told using third-person point of view, there are more realistic descriptions of the tribes in Africa and the lives people live in Africa which makes the story feel more genuine and pragmatic. The author does a great job of describing the culture of Africa and also provides solid details of the African setting so the reader is able to picture what is being described. Lastly, The Poisonwood Bible gives the reader a very nature-focused understanding of Africa. The author is very knowledgeable in Biology which proves useful in describing the Congo in a factual manner. Also, this novel is written through the perspectives of white Americans that travel to the Congo so the descriptions of Africa are ones seen through the lenses of non-African people. This allows the initial opinions of Africa to be shown honestly by visitors and also allows for the changes of opinions to be shown. In this novel, the perspectives of the Congo initially are negative and the Price family wants to go back home, however, as time goes on they become more comfortable with Africa and their opinions become more positive and less resentful towards their new home.
The inclusion and symbolism of animals in the novels portrays intercultural relationships are more negative than positive. Again, in Heart of Darkness, African people are described as animals which shows the reader that they apparently act more like animals than people and would never be able to act normally. There are similar conclusions drawn in Things Fall Apart due to the intense need for power from men and the weak and feeble tendencies of women. In The Poisonwood Bible, however, intercultural relationships are not shown to be as negative and frowned upon. Animals in this story, such as the mongoose, are feared initial but become welcomed by the Price family which alludes to the idea that intercultural relationships are questionable but, as time goes on, are approved of and accepted. Animals play a large role in all three stories when symbolizing humans and their relationships and interactions.
Your analysis of these books and the representations of animals is really interesting! I love that you go through each book and talk really honestly and objectively about them. It's easy to be judgemental of these books, because their topics are so controversial, but you do a really nice job of being objective and unbiased. I also love how you talk about the ways that animals show relationships in all three books, not just The Poisonwood Bible. It adds a lot of depth to your analysis. I think that you could have a few more examples to support your claims about Things Fall Apart, but otherwise great job!!
ReplyDeleteI love your recaps of the three books! All three analyses are very thorough and insightful; you capture the essence of each perspective quite well. One thing I would suggest is to add a few sentences encapsulating all three books for each prompt. This would give a clearer understanding of how each is different from the others and how they interact, as this would help tie the post together. Great job!
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