Hey all.
I thought that it would be a good idea to start to discuss the books we're reading along with class discussions in the future. This way, if we have some questions (because the books can get confusing) we can ask them here. I do have questions and will be posting them soon.
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I want to discuss some confusion I had about the Poisonwood Bible, but I'm not sure who's done yet. Can anyone post to give me an idea if I can ask about the ending?
I've finished it if you want to discuss it, Anisha, so ask away.
I'm guess I'm a little confused about Orleanna Price. She seems like a pretty good mother to me throughout most of the book. Although she cannot stand up for herself, she seems to at least try to take care of her daughters and keep them together. At the end, though, I was very disaspointed by her. She finally works up the courage (or the grief) to leave Nathan, but it isn't really to save her children. It's almost like its to save herself, and herself only. She leaves her fifteen year old in a war-torn land known for hating white people. She lets Rachel go off with a man she hates. She keeps Adah, but when they get back to the US, it's almost like she's not a mother anymore.
I guess its her charactor as a whole which confuses me.
Anisha, I kind of felt the same way at the end of the book... confused about how I should feel about the characters. You want to feel sympathy for all they've been through, but at the same time you don't feel any sympathy because of the actions they took. I guess that's why I loved this book, the characters were so REAL, they have their good qualities but they also have their flaws. Sometimes these flaws overshadow the good, but you still root for the good side to prevail; they were so human.
In fact, Orleanna doesn't think she deserves the readers' sympathy. On the first page she says, "Seen from above this way they are pale, doomed blossoms, bound to appeal to your sympathies. Be careful. Later on you'll have to decide what sympathy they deserve. The mother especially -- watch how she leads them on, pale-eyed, deliberate." I think she just has many regrets, especially the fact that she couldn't be strong enough for her family and that she wasn't able to get them out of Africa together.
Anisha, you said you had a problem with the way in which she left Africa. I was initially disappointed by this too, but then upon later reflection, I realized that there were so many shades of gray and that the decision is probably the one that most mothers would make. I found it sad that Orleanna seemed to have such a strong spirit and character but it took her until the death of her youngest child to stand up to her husband and leave. Also, the ways in which her family left were just as much her daughters choices as they were her choice.
I think Rachel had more say in the choice to leave with Axelroot than her mother did. It was not guaranteed that they would ever escape the civil war consuming the Congo, especially since they were white women. However, Axelroot, with his connections and role in the war was a guaranteed way out; Rachel saw this and was so desperate to get back to "civilization" that she jumped at the chance. Orleanna, despite her adverse feelings, let this happen because she knew that it was what her daughter wanted.
Leah's choice was also her own, more so than her mother's. By this point she had already told Anatole she loved him and knew that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. So somehow I think Orleanna knew those feelings existed so she didn't feel quite as bad leaving Leah behind.
As for Adah, Orleanna explains her reasoning for choosing to take Adah -- after the death of Ruth May, Adah had become her baby. I think that all mothers feel that their youngest children are the most vulnerable and therefore need the most protection. When they get back to the US, Orleanna is not the only one to blame in their drifting apart. Adah goes off to college and kind of pushes her mother out of her life. Also, I think Orleanna regrets so much that she could not save all of her children that it gets in the way of being a mother to the child she has left. Another important thing to consider is the fact that Adah grew up and didn't need her mother as much. They were still there for each other, but they weren't as necessary in their day-to-day lives.
Did that help at all?
I think the most amazing thing is the way in which the girls all changed. Ruth May wasn't really enough of a character for this to happen. At first Rachel's ignorance was silly and entertaining, but by the time she entered adulthood it became quite obnoxious and insufferable. Leah went from trying to please her father and being my least favorite of the daughters to being socially and politically active and very admirable in my eyes. As a child Adah was by far my favorite character, but as she grew up, I felt she got more distant and my feelings about the character became more platonic. Her adult self didn't really impress or irritate me.
Liz, you kind of iterated a lot of the things I'm feeling. I completely forgot about the first pages of the book, and how Orleanna told us not to pity her and her children. Wow, that really made the book feel like it came full circle for me.
My problem with Orleanna is simply that she really isn't that good of a mother. Once Ruth May dies, she gets the courage to leave, but I feel like she does it less for love for her daughters and more for simple desperation. I don't think the death made her strong at all... it just made her unable to deal with the situation anymore. Although obviously this was the right choice, I won't give her credit for intending to save her daugthers. I still think a good mother would not have left a malaria-ridden fifteen year old alone in Africa.
You brought up Rachel's choice. It confused me to a certain extent, too (I'm often confused, hmm?). She didn't like this man at all, but she married him. This I can understand; he gave her wealth and such. Here's a girl, however, who fiftey some years later still wants to go back to the United States. She dreams of American goods, the cleanness, etc, but doesn't ever go back. I think it makes her more human, but I didn't like her for it.
I think Rachel's story is the one that really hit home hard. Her reaction to Africa, sad to say, is the way I picture myself reacting to the situation - being a brat about it. Her temper tantrums, her sometimes-help sometimes-hurt attitude seemed to mirror what I would do. She didn't turn out to be a very good person, though, in the end.
When I began to read this book, I immediately thought of Little Women. There are a lot of interseting parallels which could be made, at least at the beginning of the story. Both stories have four sisters. Rachel can be compared to Meg (the eldest). They're both kind of vein and like their looks. Leah compares to Jo, the tomboy adventurer. Ruth May could be Beth- not really an important charactor, except for how her death affected her family. Adeh is kind of like Amy. Amy is actually the baby, and Adeh becomes the youngest child. They both grow up to be the most educated of their sisters (by some definitions).
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