Just like the village, Rachel started to flee. Before she actually ran, Rachel committed an act that showed her true colors. In a panic, any sensible person with good morals would help their crippled sister or their other sick baby sister. Rachel didn’t do either of these things. In the moment, Rachel thought “I only had time to save one precious thing. Something from home. Not my clothes, there wasn’t time, and not the Bible- it didn’t seem worth saving at that moment, so help me God. It had to be my mirror.” (Kingsolver, 301) In the Congos, nobody is as materialistic as Rachel is. The children around only have clothes that have battered and tattered. They don’t care about how they look. The little boys are out having fun, learning to be …show more content…
After a string of snakes being found becomes strangely to frequent, Nelson, the family helper, believes he is to be the next victim. In order to help calm him down, the Price sisters come up with a plan to catch who is planting these snakes. The plan is to spread ash around to the chicken coup, where Nelson lives, to see the footprints of the guilty. In the morning, they checked their trap and it was sprung. Footprints that matches the local witch but a snake was hiding in the shadows. It snapped and slithers away. The kids believed they catched away the evil creature but in actuality it did permanent damage to the family. The snake bite Ruth May and in a few moments, she was gone. Leah was the first one of the Price sister to notice their sister being bitten by seeing “Ruth May’s bare left shoulder, where two rd puncture wounds stood out.” (Kingsolver 364) Rachel’s reaction to the death of her sister says a lot about the character she developed into here in the Congos. When her sister passed, she thought about what would happen when she got home. The only thing that really got her feelings in a twist is how she believes she will be seen as the “girl they’d duck their eyes from and whisper about as tragic.” (Kingsolver 367) She was sad at first but just cared about what others back home thought of home. Selfishness is in full force in Rachel at this moment. When a kid dies in Congo, the mother and whole …show more content…
Rachel from The Poisonwood Bible was forced into a journey that also lead her to her true self, too. One of the many themes of The Poisonwood Bible is of how America can be blinded with their own ignorance to the struggles of race in the world. Rachel is the perfect example of how messed up America can act and its ability of creating people with harmful morals. From America’s history of racism and racism that spread around the world, the place you grow up in can and will affect the person you become. In Kingsolver’s book, Rachel doesn’t open her mind to the people around her and this hinders her morals. This is exactly how Americans can act like and did act like in the 1950-60’s in the Congo, as seen though The Poisonwood
The clash of the West and Africa, creates unique situations that everyone must face. The Poisonwood Bible, written by Barbara Kingsolver, shows how foreigners who enter another land are affected by the countries culture and faith, and in return how a society is affected. In the novel, children are led by the missionary father, Nathan into the Congo, where they face the task of religious conversion. Also, the Price children were influenced by the African culture and faith, in which changed how they view life and their attitudes toward the Congo. Each child’s perception of life distinct and molds them into the person they will become.
The tone of the story is important in making the story sound like it is being to through the eyes of an eleven year old girl, such phrases like “pennies rattling in a band-aid box” and “my whole head hurts like when you drink milk too fast.” All these are certain phrases that would be used in an eleven year old's life, bandaids for the bumps and scrapes, and the milk that your parents would make you drink. That is the tone Eleven sets, a young girl telling us her humiliating story while she is still a child. Sandra Cisneros does an excellent job at using literary devices to characterize Rachel in “Eleven”. By using imagery, simile, and tone we can see that Rachel is a empathetic, bashful, wise, but still naive in her own ways.
Her completely refuses to believe that this is now her life. Her way of coping with the Congo is trying to cling to anything that reminds her of home. Her small hand mirror is something that she holds very dear. It is one of the first things she thinks of to grab in a life or death situation. Rachel never fully connects with any of the Congolese people, and finds it absolutely revolting about the idea that the Chief wants her as a wife.
This further expands on the meaning by showing the contrast of how little the Congolese care for others’ appearances when compared to the American view. The Congolese shared their view on appearances near the beginning of the novel when describing Mama Mwanza and Mama Nguza. The Americans think Orleanna became tainted while she was in the Congo. Even though Orleanna used to live in Bethlehem, the other residents of the town don’t view her the same way as they did before she went to the Congo. Adah even commented on their reception: “...welcome home the pitiful Prices!
Throughout one’s life, many circumstances take place that will change the individual forever. In Contending Forces, written by Pauline Hopkins, the author states, “And, after all, our surroundings influence our lives and characters as much as fate, destiny or any supernatural agency.” The character of Orleanna Price in The Poisonwood Bible undergoes sharp changes throughout her journey from a quiet home in Bethlehem, Georgia to the new, unpredictable environment of the Congo. Orleanna alters from a woman who involves herself in the Georgian church community frequently to a woman whose only concern is surviving dangerous and chaotic events the African Congo beholds. Her character’s feelings toward her husband, Nathan Price, wane in terms of
Imagine being fourteen years old and living in a small town in Georgia, packing up as much as you can, or what could fit under your clothes and into a bag, and moving to the Congo of Africa. That’s exactly what the Price family did under their father’s will. Throughout Barbara Kingsolver 's Poisonwood Bible, Leah price experiences the Congo to its’ full potential. Both her psychological and moral traits were formed by cultural, physical, and geographical surroundings. The congolese people influence her decisions and thoughts throughout the book.
During his spiritual process, Covington has a strong sense that he has somehow been a part of the snake handling culture in his past in one way or another. His intuition and his inability to shake off the notion of his connection with the snakes leads him to look into his family history and the Sand Mountain region. The more Covington looks into his connection, the more he becomes
Bearing Guiltiness within The Poisonwood Bible Foreshadowing is a literary device many authors use to hint at future events containing influential and thematic material; and authors tend to introduce their major themes through foreshadowing in opening scenes or a prologue. Barbra Kingsolver’s novel, The Poisonwood Bible, follows this very trend. Orleanna Price, in the first chapter, describes her burden of guilt toward choices she has made and the death of the youngest of her four daughters, Ruth May. Throughout the story, you discover the guilt within each of the five women: Adah, Leah, Rachel, Orleanna, and Ruth May. Due to supporting implications within the opening chapter of The Poisonwood Bible, with continuing evidence throughout the novel, it can be concluded that guiltiness is a motif.
Spending a generous amount of time in the heart of the African Congo is bound to change an American family. After spending over a year in the small Congolese village of Kilango, the Price family comes to terms with the fact that they cannot leave Africa without being changed by it, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Living in the Congo at a time when their race was doing all in their power to Westernize Africa, the Price women left Kilanga feeling immense guilt for being a part of this unjust manipulation of the African people. By the end of the novel, all of the Price women leave with the task of reconciling the wrongs they have committed and learning to live with the scars of their mistakes. Kingsolver showcases the moral reassessments
However, there’s only a slim chance of him actually coming home and a large chance of her mom finding out and forbidding her from going in the first place. When Rachel steals almost 300 dollars from her college fund to try and bring her family together, a major theme falls into place. People will do anything for a sliver of hope. Another, equally important theme found in this novel
Her vanity makes it hard for her to connect to the people of the Congo. In the Republic of Congo, the natives are dressed in whatever they can get or make. Rachel does not see the difference. In The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver, Rachel Price experiences ? which prevent her from being able to learn some lessons in the Congo and cause her to be physically
This is paralleled when Keith’s corpse is identified outside the wall and neither Lauren or the Reverend cry for him. When Keith dies, his torment against the family ends and the family is able to move on. The result of the temporary conflict in the family caused Lauren to trust and respect her father more, as his guidance helped her prepare to one day leave. However, soon her closest companion disappears. Now, without the closure of death and the sense of duty to her family, Lauren forces herself to stay in the neighborhood: “[they’re] a rope, breaking, a single strand at a time” (Butler 116).
The author, Sandra Cisneros, uses literary techniques in “Eleven” to characterize Rachel by using metaphors, comparisons, and repetition. In the beginning of Sandra Cisneros’s short story, she states that when a person becomes an age older they will not feel a difference. The character Rachel explains that in different situations, for example, “Like some days you might say something stupid, and [you will feel ten]” a person might feel different from their actual age. She then competes growing old to layers of an onion, rings of a tree, wooden dolls that fit inside each other because, according to her, “that’s how being eleven years old is”.
While many people would have given up within the first week or so of their hardships of being alone in such a large, unforgiving city, Doris keeps her head held high. Though, this is because she is willing to do whatever it takes to survive. In a letter to her mother, Doris remarks: " . . .you [my mother] were poor as I am poor, you slept with men because you liked them or because you needed money - I do that too" (Keun 73). Doris 's self-candor is both her best and worst quality: it helps her make sense of her surroundings and stay a step ahead of others, though she often is self-critical because of it.
Rachel’s entire birthday was ruined because of the ugly red sweater. She felt upset and embarrassed all at once in front of everyone. She hated that she was forced to wear the sweater. Some evidence from the text for her birthday being ruined is “I'm eleven today. I'm eleven, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, and one, but I wish I was one hundred and two.