Culture of the Congo

Barbara Kingsolver's novel, The Poisonwood Bible represents the culture of the people in Congo. Throughout the novel, the layers of the Congo peoples' culture unfold, and each narrator -- Rachel, Leah, Adah, Ruth May, and Orleanna -- helps to dissect different aspects of it. For instance, Leah Price's explains to the reader that the women "look as old as the world. Any colorful thing they might hold in their hands, like a plastic bucket, stands out strangely. Their appearance doesn't sit square with the modern world." (109) As a reader analyzing this new culture, I came to the conclusion that the women in Congo starkly contrast to women in America in almost every way possible. Leah, in this case, chose to expose just one way in which The Poisonwood Bible openly represents a non- American culture. Leah further explains that unlike American women, women in the Congo traditionally, according to their culture "have no real hair to speak of... [but] if they've got an inch or town to work with, hairdressers would wrap springs of it in black thread so it stands up in little spikes." (109) Throughout the novel too, cultural differences are explained by the characters. For instance, Mama Boanda Number Two's is an example of a woman who has "little spikes" sticking out from the top of her head because in general, women in this region chose to express their beauty in this fashion.

In addition to women's hairstyles, the characters explain that women too, instead of opening a bottle of water, or filling a glass of water from the tap, as Americans often do, women in the Congo carry buckets of water above their heads. Walking miles, these women fill a bucket of river water and carry it home to boil out the bacteria. In this way, it is evident that even the task of consuming water is different in a culture where technology has yet to reach that side of the world.

In one of Ruth May's early chapters, she does not hesitate to describe the culture of those living in the Congo by expressing her concerns for how they dress. As she entails " the girls don't ever, ever wear pants. And the little babies don't wear a speck of clothes so they can just squat down and pee-pee ever-when they take a mind to." Kingsolver chooses to add this tidbit of information to merely reflect the difference between American culture and the culture of those living in the Congo. In America, women are able to dress in any item of clothing they choose such as dresses, skirts, pants. In the Congo, however, women in pants is not allowed and considered shameful. This is yet again, another example of how Kilanga's culture differs from American culture.

Barbara Kingsolver's Inspiration.

The very first pages of Kingsolver's novel are dedicated to her own Author's note. Within the page and a half of writing, Kingsolver expresses her gratitude to many of her friends and family for helping her piece together the novel by giving her valuable tidbits of information regarding Africa and the Congo/ Zaire. After reading the novel and then again analyzing her authors note, I believe I have a strong premonition as to why she felt compelled to write this novel.

In my opinion, Kingsolver chose to write this novel to open the eyes of human beings all across the world, in an attempt to show the reader a destination so unique, so desolate, and so wondrous. As written in her author's note, Kingsolver has traveled all across Africa, witnessing new cultures, regions, weather, people, among other things. I believe her travels have influenced her writing because she feels that these small tokens of a culture or region need to be shared with the world. Furthermore, Kingsolver mentions that her parents went to the Congo to help the sick, working as medical and public-health workers. Although Mother and Father starkly contrast with the author's parents, it is evident that Kingsolver was inspired to write about this journey from America to the Congo due to her families' travels. By adding different personalities and character traits, Kingsolver managed to differentiate her own travels to the Price family travels. In this instance, Kingsolver takes a personal inspiration and creates two characters with similar backgrounds but freely lets Mother and Father take on completely different traits than those of her parents.

For American's, I believe that Kingsolver attempted to reach both adults and young adults on a deeper level. I believe that she was inspired by the amount of American's unaware of just how different housing, living, eating, and drinking are in a place such as Congo. For instance, the young girls describe the scenery as so vastly different than America's fast-paced and busy world. To Rachel, Adah, Leah and Ruth May, the Congo is a whole new experience that they all never truthfully were used to.  For this reason, Kingsolver most likely felt the need to craft a novel that captures these reactions of young adults such as Rachel, Leah, Adah, and Ruth May in order to show the emotions of how a teenager or child grasps such a culture shock.

Reacting to G.K. Chesteron's quote

“People wonder why the novel is the most popular form of literature; people wonder why it is read more than books of science or books of metaphysics. The reason is very simple; it is merely that the novel is more true than they are.”- G.K. Chesteron

In general, it is a strong belief among students that novels are more popular than reading books of science or history. In my own opinion, I agree with G.K. Chesteron's quote in regard's to Barbara Kingsolver's novel The Poisonwood Bible. Novels such as The Poisonwood Bible tend to tell stories that the reader can often relate to or find truth in the words of such fictional characters. In essence, readers often see a part of themselves in the characters, whether it is there way of speaking, movements, voice, reactions, etc.

 The Poisonwood Bible captures this sense of truth for me as a teenage girl in a unique way. I grew very fond of the character Rachel because I found that some of her mannerisms and reactions would have been similar to mine. For instance, the way that she spoke of the missionary trip seemed as though she did not want to go to the Congo for a year. In my own personal opinion, I would have reacted in a similar fashion, as leaving a country so bountiful in resources would have been an extremely difficult transition. As soon as I initially "bonded" with Rachel's character, I was intrigued to find that her longing for home seemed more truthful than any other character. For instance, Rachel tells the reader that she "was of a mind to slip them [Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus] a note, like a captivated spy girl in the movies: 'Help! Get me out of here!'" Her desperation highlights her everlasting desire to return to a place where the floors are made of anything but dirt, and where malaria ceases to exit. For this reason, I felt compelled to Rachel's story, as if it had more truth than a book of science because I seemed connected to Rachel as if she were myself, observing an outlandish lifestyle that she is forced to accept as reality.