Three Perspectives

In this unit we have looked at three different novels all focused on imperialism, colonization, and African culture. Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad is considerably different than Things Fall Apart and The Poisonwood Bible, however there are a few distinct similarities. The novels themselves are told by very different perspectives and incorporate different relationships, but the settings remain quite close in description. The Poisonwood Bible in particular as a unique way of showing intercultural relationships with animals The three novels offer different perspectives on African culture while maintaining an alike environment that they portray through different means.

The Poisonwood Bible differs from the other two novels because the perspective is female, while the other two are male, but the way Africa is described by them has similarities to the other stories. The similarities between The Poisonwood Bible and the other novels are that the descriptions of Africa all speak of a vast land and that the religion is described in similar ways. Even in Things Fall Apart,  where the narration is from an African perspective versus a white one, the superstitions and traditions are described the same. The Poisonwood Bible differs from Heart of Darkness because it is not a man narrating and because the women have no choice in going to Africa, like Marlow does. And although both novels take place in the Congo, Marlow is only passing through on a ship while the Price women live there. Lastly, all narrators of the two novels are whites wondering about the Africans and trying to figure out their humanity. The Poisonwood Bible completely differs from Things Fall Apart because they are two completely different sides. The Poisonwood Bible is white women missionaries who invade an African tribe and Things Fall Apart is black African tribe members annoyed by the disturbed by the presence of white missionaries. The differences account for very different stories, but the similarity they have is the description of the culture and religion, The superstitions are described very well in both novels with things like chicken bones and weather. All three novels are important to read to get a good picture of Africa because they all incorporate different things.

The inclusion of symbolism of animals portrays intercultural relationships by showing the new animals Westerners are either playing with or scared of in Africa. The parrot that the girls have in the beginning of the novel represents them in a way. They set him free in the African wilderness to survive on its own after it says bad words. The Prices have been set free in Africa to try and survive as well. The snakes that they are afraid of are very symbolic. The snakes to Africans are just part of normal every day life, yet they know to be scared of them still because they pose a threat. The Prices, are extremely fearful of the snakes because they are not part of their normal life. Once the snake kills Ruth May, the Prices suffer the same way all the Africans have at one point and time. Animals help show the way the Prices adjust to Congo life and represent how they deal with it.  
 

Perspective on Africa

      The three books we've read that take place in Africa have all had very different perspectives and opinions on the culture and landscape in Africa. 
      Heart of Darkness definitely characterizes Africa as an otherworldly place and basically describes the Africans as savage animals. Despite taking place in Africa, there are no significant characters who are people of color. I don't even think there were really any African characters who had speaking parts. The book did not really describe African culture whatsoever. Marlow views the Africans as animals and believes that any feeling of camaraderie towards them is "ugly". His descriptions of the landscape are beautiful, but he basically characterizes Africa as a primitive place that has not yet been "improved" by Western culture. Not only are there no significant African characters in Heart of Darkness, there are also virtually no female characters. The view we get of Africa from Heart of Darkness is extremely one dimensional. Marlow is the only narrator and he makes no effort to describe African culture. He is disdainful of it. 
      The audience definitely gets a lot more detail about African culture and customs from Things Fall Apart. The book primarily follows Okonkwo, who is an African man. His thoughts and beliefs give us a very extreme view of Umuofian beliefs. However, Achebe does include thoughts of other characters who have differing views on traditions. The African characters in Things Fall Apart are complex and have very different views on the world. The omniscient narration makes it easier to get into the heads of multiple characters. However, despite the fact that this book gives a lot more information of African culture, it is noteworthy that the female characters are practically nonexistent. Also, there are only two named white characters, and only one of them is partially developed. That's not necessarily a bad thing, though, because African voices have been kept out of literature for so long, that it is important to have those voices heard.
      The Poisonwood Bible has the most varied characters. There are white characters that are well developed, and there are also African characters who are well developed. There are white antagonists as well as African antagonists. The story is narrated through the voices of five different women who all have different views of the culture around them. Leah obviously connects with and embraces the African culture more than her sisters. Since the characters are unfamiliar with the culture, the audience can learn about the culture with them. Anatole, Nelson, and many of the other African characters are kind, complex characters with their own histories, hopes, and fears. 

Three Settings, One Place

Heart of Darkness, Things Fall Apart, and The Poisonwood Bible are all set in Africa. However, they are all completely different books telling completely different stories. This is because each novel has a polarizing description of Africa, as well as an equally polarizing opinion. In addition, each uses common symbolism in different ways: most notably, in the meanings of the animals in each story. With all of these tools, three very different worlds are shown.

The Africa portrayed in The Poisonwood Bible is much more lush and descriptive than the ones portrayed in Heart of Darkness and Things Fall Apart. This could be partly due to Barbara Kingsolver’s being a biologist, but it is more due to her characters being more observant than the others. In the case of Things Fall Apart, this is because the characters have spent their entire lives in Africa, so they describe and notice it minimally, the way we would describe and notice our own backyards. In the case of Heart of Darkness, this is because the characters do not care about their surroundings; it is a place where they work, nothing more.

Besides the physical, there is also the mental aspect of life in Africa. In Heart of Darkness, the continent is a primitive wasteland, where human beings can only survive if they are less than human (the locals as animals--more on that in a minute--, Mr. Kurtz as a god, etc.). In Things Fall Apart, again, it is home. In The Poisonwood Bible, it is a beautiful and fascinating place, but it is nothing more than a novelty for the girls and a brief inconvenience; it is a theme park that loses its appeal when they remain after they were supposed to return home. All of these opinions have similarities, but if you take away the place name, a reader would likely imagine a different setting with each one.

Then, there is the portrayal of animals. In Heart of Darkness, Africans are the animals; they are compared to animals throughout the story, and they never receive their own names or descriptions, often shown as a collective entity instead of a group of individual people. In Things Fall Apart, animals are sacred, trusted, and are thought to bring something much worse than bad luck if they are needlessly killed. In The Poisonwood Bible, the animals are feared, but they are also domesticated, serving as the family’s pets at various points in the story. Again, there are some similarities (elements of submission can be found in all of them), but each one has a very different idea of what local wildlife looks like.

All three of these novels are set in the same continent, some even in the same country. Sometimes, though, a reader can forget this. This is because the description and opinion of the continent, along with the portrayal of animals there, is polarizingly different in each one. Marlow would never be able to see eye-to-eye with Okonkwo, who most certainly would never be able to see eye-to-eye with, say, Rachel. This conflicting nature is what makes each novel, while possessing similarities to each other, so complex and interesting, even after being immersed in the others.

An Amalgam of Africas

    Kingsolver's portrayal of Africa in The Poisonwood Bible seems to combine aspects of things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness while adding a little something of its own. While Kingsolver's portrayal isn't anywhere near as negative and foreboding as Conrad's, she does portray the jungle as something powerful and independent. Achebe's Africa is largely the Africa that humanity inhabits. There is some description of flora and fauna, but not much in detail. Kingsolver takes the accuracy of Achebe in regards to describing the village, Kilanga, and Conrad's portrayal of the jungle as autonomous and powerful, and meshes them to together, along with her own knowledge of ecology and and some animal symbolism to create and amalgam that attempts to portray both the village and the natural environment accurately.
    Conrad Paints Africa as a blank canvas, the land of the unknown. This is incredibly harmful, and ignores the complex cultures that have existed there for millennia. Kingsolver (thankfully) abandons these ideas, but she and Conrad do have some similarities. Conrad portrays the jungle as something personified, something with a will and a goal. While there's a stark lack of accurate natural description in Conrad's writing, Kingsolver challenges this with her knowledge of the flora and fauna of the area. In a village where everything has a name and names are powerful, this is very important. Kingsolver accurately portrays the natural landscape while still acknowledging its power dangers in an artful manner.
    Achebe's description of the African landscape is often confined to those areas that humans have shaped. While he does escape from this occasionally, like when Ekwefi and he journey to the oracle's cave, the landscape is mostly the villages of Umuofia and Mbanta or the yam fields. Kingsolver attempts to present an honest portrayal, like Achebe, of the village she is writing about. Obviously there are many differences, as the villages are in two different places, and the narrators are not native to Kilanga like Okonkwo is to Umuofia, but there are some similarities. One thing that stuck out to me was the superstition that a snake must be called a string at night so as to not alert it to one's location. This is mentioned by Okonkwo as well as taught to Ruth May by Nelson. This one superstition must exist between The Congo and Nigeria, and other aspects of culture might as well.
    Kingsolver, with her extensive knowledge of biology and ecology, discusses plants and animals quite frequently in the novel. They aren't just ornamental or a part of the setting though. Animals are very much symbolic in the book and play an important role in the development of the characters. The green mamba, for example, is highly symbolic in regards to Ruth May. Eeben Axelroot at one point mentions that there's no way you could see one in a tree because it blends in so well, the ultimate predator. Something inescapable, invisible, and undetectable sounds an awful lot like death, and it means death for Ruth May. Other animals show strong cultural differences and facilitate intercultural interaction. The owl that Leah keeps in the house is thought to be an evil spirit by the people of Kilanga. This is seen by Nathan as idolatry, however, and portrays cultural differences.
    Kingsolver merges aspects of Conrad's and Achebe's writing along with much of her own unique style to create the image of Africa in The Poisonwood Bible. While portraying the jungle as powerful and often very dangerous, she accurately describes the flora and fauna. She attempts, too, to create an honest image of the village and people of Kilanga. With some clever usage of animals as symbols and mediums for the portrayal of intercultural relationships, her image of Africa is created.

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.

The West Meets Africa

The image presented of Africa in The Poisonwood Bible is very different from that in Heart of Darkness and Things Fall Apart. A large part of this is the way that Kingsolver's experiences differ from Conrad's and Achebe's, as well as the time at which The Poisonwood Bible was written. Kingsolver, because of time and culture, has a lot to lose by portraying Africa poorly, which informs the way in which she writes and describes. Kingsolver portrays Africa complexly, although still from a white perspective, and she uses the animals in the jungle to create metaphors of relationships and circumstances.

As compared to Heart of Darkness, The Poisonwood Bible is vastly inclusive and observant about social, political, and racial issues in colonial Africa. Conrad writes from a white perspective, but includes no thought, speech, or culture of the African people that Marlow encounters. He never talks about cultural traditions, he makes no distinctions between African tribes and villages, and he does not include any African languages (or even names of black characters). Conrad's portrayal of Africa is overwhelmingly negative, where the jungle is a corrupter of good men and the refusal to accept western culture is a mark of depravity. In contrast, though Kingsolver and her narrators are white, she makes a point to include culture, language, and diversity in her depiction of Africa. All of her black characters have names and personalities, an enormous part of the novel is the role of politics in cities and villages within central Africa, and Adah especially makes note of the profundity of Kikongo language. The observation of Africa is neither passive nor objective; each character has a specific way of reacting with the culture and environment, which presents diversity and shows many different perspectives on a very complicated continent.

It is very interesting to compare Things Fall Apart to The Poisonwood Bible. Okwonko is black and belongs to a village in Africa. There is no awareness of politics outside of the village and the nation of villages that it belongs to, except for the intrusion of white missionaries on the established lifestyle of the people of the villages. Kingsolver shows many different sides of Africa and imperialism, focusing slightly less on the effect of imperialism on individuals and focusing more on the effect on the Congo as a whole, or the Congolese people as a whole. This perspective is still really important, especially since Kingsolver is a white woman making retrospective observations of the Congo and the political turmoil of the mid- to late twentieth century. Both books show African cultures, religion, and language, showing how these things differ between villages and how they contrast and collide with Christianity, capitalism, and western agricultural systems.

The inclusion of animals in The Poisonwood Bible shows the relationships that exist between Africa and western nations. In Africa, there is a harmony between the environment and the animals. Adah says as much in her final chapter of the book, where she discusses the balance between parasite and host, between animal and nature. Even destructive animals like the driver ants are Africa's way of "cleansing itself" (529). They exist as part of a harmony that is essential to the survival of all life forms. The African people are a natural part of this life, in the way that they farm, hunt, travel, and die. Each interaction between a white character and an animal shows that the Europeans and Americans are not part of this harmony, that they are trying to force their way in but get upset when they are not on top of nature as they are in Europe and America. The pain and outrage of the Price family at the driver ants, the crocodiles that keep children from being baptized, and the snake that kills Ruth May show that they are not accustomed to their lot in this natural balance. The west attempts to take advantage of the land without expecting to receive any pain in return, and I think that Kingsolver's way of telling us this shows the differences between western and African cultures. The characters that fit best in to African cultures -- Ruth May and Adah -- were the characters who accepted their subservience to a natural order.

I think that Kingsolver tries to use the subjective views of her characters on Africa to show a greater, more subjective view of the relationships between the west and Africa. Conrad's entire novella was a single very subjective view of the continent, and Achebe's novel was a slightly less subjective view of the effect of missionaries and imperialism on individuals and villages. Kingsolver shows the greater picture, I think because she knows that, as a white woman, the story of African individuals is not necessarily hers to tell.

Africa Through Different Lenses

   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.