Rachel's Story

   The Poisonwood Bible, written by Barbara Kingsolver, is certainly one of the most intriguing novels we have read thus far. It discusses the Congo and the culture there in a way no other story has that we have read and it is very though provoking because of this. With the story having many different narrators, there is always a different perspective offered to the reader that is refreshing and quirky in their own respective manner. Although all of the narrators provide interesting stories and angles of what is going on in their lives while living in the Congo, my favorite narrator is Rachel. Rachel is the eldest of the daughters of the Price family and she is a sassy teenager that is quite displeased with moving to the Congo. She demonstrates this frustration through the judgements she makes and the observations she describes to the reader. It is made clear early on by Kingsolver that Rachel has no interest in getting comfortable while living in the Congo. She is represented as a stereotypical teenage girl that wants everything her way. She is quick to judge people, especially about things such as clothing and nudity because she has strong opinions on these things. However, what I find most interesting about Rachel is how her narrative changes throughout the book. As time goes on, she becomes more involved and intrigued with what is happening around her. She eventually brings down the wall of teen annoyance and welcomes new ideas and people into her bubble. I think this will only continue as time goes on in the novel. To me, Rachel has the most mature outlook on life  since she is the eldest daughter, yet she is still developing her opinions and ideas and just starting to get involved with everything like wanting to read the newspaper and learn about what events are taking place around the world. I definitely think her narrative will continue to become more and more interesting as she continues to become curious about the world she lives in.
The fact that this novel is narrated by only women and children speaks volumes to the message the author is trying to send out. This allows the reader to see life in the Congo from the female perspective and not the white, male perspective that is most common. Kingsolver's narratives allow the reader to connect to the story in a more realistic way because everyone was a child once and can understand the thoughts and feelings being expressed by the children in their narratives. The fact that Nathan Price has no narrative shows the reader that his story is not the focal point of the novel, it is about how the children and his wife are dealing with living in the Congo more than it is about Nathan himself. Also, even though Nathan does not have a narrative, his story is still told through others which demonstrates that men in power like him do not even need their own narrative to have their story told because others will do it for them. This novel is certainly unlike the previous books we read that took place in the Congo, however, it is by far my favorite. I find it very refreshing to read a novel from the perspectives of only women, especially regarding a topic as important and interesting as this.