I find
it particularly interesting how Barbara Kingsolver brings forth the
perspectives of just the four daughters and wife. This stylistic technique is
unique because the novel itself is based mainly upon the decision of
"Nathan Price," ( a character that does not once narrate the story)
to take his family to the Congo, to spread his Baptist beliefs as a missionary.
I
believe that the author structured the novel this way for a particular reason.
In my own opinion, I believe that Kingsolver structured the novel in this way
to reflect inferiority for the women in this novel. It is almost as if this
novel was their outlet, and the only time someone could hear their true
feelings of living in the Congo was through the words written down on paper.
Each girl is painting her own canvas, blind of the rest of their families
thoughts, and all struggling from an internal conflict. For instance, mother
states, “ like Methuselah, I had no wings.” (201) This thought nearly
exemplifies the true feelings of Mother that only the reader holds in his or her
mind. In Mother's instance, she holds the burden of being tied down to a man
who she feels is tearing apart her own family. Mother feels trapped, or
otherwise incapable of escaping a life she does not desire, but she does not
flaunt this yearning to her family. Instead, Mother compares herself to
Methuselah to reflect this pain of being stuck in a cage like a bird without
wings, to show the reader an inner conflict she struggles with and has yet to
share with anyone else.
In
addition, Adah uses her chapters to come to life and use her own voice. For a
large portion of the novel itself she is mute, yet to the reader, she is
colorful with words and her imagination — distorting words and phrases such as
“oh God!” To Dog ho!” (276). To her family, Adah is odd or deformed. As the
author implies, Adah is nearly a helpless child who is silent and walks with a
limb. In her chapters, the story of a brilliant young girl comes to life: a
girl who sees the world through a different lens. The reader understands her
hardships and pains as Adah struggles to understand why mother "weigh[ed]
the two of [her children] against one another" (412) and chose to save her
sister during an ant invasion. The reader is the only person who truly
understands the heartbreaking pain and confusion of little Adah, who struggles
with the feeling being left behind. If Adah was not one of the narrators, the
reader might have never known that she struggled for years to understand why
she was left behind once then chosen between Leah and herself to journey back
to America. Through her voice, as seen in the chapters, we are granted the
story and narrative of a girl so lost for words as to why she was the one who
traveled back to America. It would not be until Christmas Eve, 1968, that even
mother recognizes this internal conflict that Adah has contained within herself
for so long.
Although
there are far more examples, I thought Mother and Adah were the ones whose
characters seemed more open to the reader and quieter and reserved in the
novel. This stark contrast was an interesting stylistic choice made by the
author. It not only personalized the characters but created depth and
perspective for a story that surrounds the decision of Nathan Price. I feel as
though the novel would take on an entirely different meaning if told from
Nathan's perspective. Without the key thoughts of each woman, the reader would
not understand the residual effects of Nathan's missionary project.
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