Broad and Deep

The Poisonwood Bible is unique in that the variety of narrators lends the audience multiple perspectives of the events in the novel.  Although they are all part of a family, the women relating their lives to the paper are all very different.    The daughters especially provide a range of lenses; they may even represent different perspectives of literature.  Kingsolver is a genius when it comes to narration, providing a broad scope of the time period within a single piece.  As far as the four daughters, they all have their own charisma and set of ideals.  Rachel represents a secular point of view, more concerned with worldly pleasures and goals than keeping the big picture in mind at all times.  For Leah, the world is far more spiritual and religious.  Though she is not necessarily a strict Christian throughout the book, being deterred by the actions of her father, she remains hopeful that there is a form of spirit in the universe.  Adah portrays a more scientific and logical point of view.  What is seen is what is to be believed, and anything not deeply founded in the apparent is to be deeply questioned.  Ruth May, for the short time we get to read her side of the story, is slightly more innocent and ignorant, explaining events as a child would.  She sees the world as fascinating and a place to let imagination run free, not caring so much about how things truly came to be.  These perspectives encapsulate much of the different types of literature, providing a strong basis for Kingsolver to present multiple interpretations of what truly happened to the Prices.

For the Price family, each member lost and gained a lot during their time together in Africa.  For Nathaniel, he slowly lost all credibility and sanity over his time in Africa.  When the family arrived in Kilanga, he could pass for a normal person and fooled everyone into thinking he could make sound decisions.  However, as time progressed, his true mentality started shining through, exposing the coward who could not forget the reason why he survived Vietnam- straying from the group because he could not bear the strain of the task.  He carries this reexposure of character with disgrace, allowing himself to self-destruct.  Orleanna takes a very different message from Africa- inexplicable events happen without our control, but we can remove ourselves from any situation.  After Ruth May dies, Orleanna has a one-track mind, keeping busy doing exactly the opposite of what she would have as Nathaniel’s wife.  Rachel sees Africa as a means to an end, living her life as head-strongly as possible.  Her time in Kilanga taught her nothing about how to treat those unlike you, her trajectory through life remaining relatively unchanged.  Leah transforms from someone who blindly and wholly followed what she was told into someone who makes up her own mind about the world and is strong in her opinions and ideals.  With her new family, she grows so much in the Congo that going back to America seems like devolving into a sterile, unwelcoming realm.  Adah uses her experiences in Africa to fuel her drive for justice, and sees her time in diaspora as the captivity of her body.  Once she gains control of all her motor functions, she looks back to Africa as another type of bondage.  And Ruth May, leaving Africa in a different way, gains the ability to see her family and the world from up above, just like when she would climb the tallest tree to see the world around her.  All members of the Price family change in some way during and because of their time together in Africa.