Choosing Favorites

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver is easily one of the best books I’ve ever read in a classroom setting. However, after many weeks of trying to decide, I find that I do not have a favorite narrative. I like each one in different ways, for different reasons. Most of all, I find it so refreshing to be reading a book with the viewpoints of five completely different, three-dimensional female characters. Part of the reason I like it so much is because I can’t decide; each character is strong and likeable.

From each narrative, an entire personality can be seen just in the first few words. “Imagine a ruin so strange it must never have happened,” says Orleanna, and suddenly, you know that she is pensive, poetic, and haunted by something tragic and horrifying. “We came from Bethlehem, Georgia, bearing Betty Crocker cake mixes into the jungle,” says Leah, and you know that she is observant and witty, seeing the irony of suburbia in a place like the Congo. “God says the Africans are the Tribes of Ham,” says Ruth May, and you know that she is innocent and so very misguided, taking her religious upbringing and trying so hard to use it to make sense of the world around her. “Man oh man, are we in for it now, was my thinking about the Congo from the instant we first set foot,” says Rachel, and you know that she doesn’t have a very good grasp of language, but she is honest and unafraid of hiding herself and her feelings. “Sunrise tantalize, evil eyes hypnotize: that is the morning, Congo pink,” says Adah, and you know that she, unlike Rachel, is very fond of language but uses it in a way that is darker and more mysterious than her sisters would think of using. All of this is available in one sentence, and each one holds an attitude that remains throughout the novel, making the development and life of each character very interesting to read, for very different reasons.

That said, look at all these different women! Some of them like books and academia, some like makeup and boys, some are tomboys and some are not, but each one is fully fleshed-out and interesting, drawing sympathy and support from readers. Even if Rachel is the type of person you hated in middle school, or if Adah and Leah are the type you resented for being so smart, or if Ruth May is the type you used to be stuck babysitting on a Friday night, you feel for these characters. Even Orleanna, who only has one chapter per book to speak her mind, draws attention and sympathy from anyone who reads her words.

No, I do not have a favorite narrative. I love each narrative differently, and more than anything, I love how they all come together to make a patchwork family quilt. To me, picking a favorite narrative would be like picking a favorite family member. That’s because these characters are so realistic and such strong, unique women that they have become like my family, even reminding me of some of my cousins and aunts. A book that can do that is probably written on magic paper, and I have loved every moment of it.