The Poisonwood Bible Entry #1

What role do you think each child will play in the story The Poisonwood Bible?

Rachel Price: Rachel Price is the oldest of the four Price sisters. She is nearly sixteen years old and is considered by her sisters to be quite vain. From her first section in the book we can tell that Rachel is much more concerned with keeping her clothes clean then she is about bringing the “Word” to the people of the Congo. Her materialistic side is clearly shown when Rachel explains to the reader, “Day one in the Congo, and here my brand-new tulip-tailored linen suit in Poison Green with square mother-of-pearl buttons was fixing to give up the goat” (23). Although Rachel is without a doubt the most materialistic of the four sisters, she brings a very interesting point of view to the story with her critically observant comments about her surroundings. “The spoons they gave us were big old metal soup ladles, which I knew would never fit into my mouth….I looked around for someone to trade spoons with, but lo and behold, nobody but our family even had any kind of a spoon at all! What the others aimed to do with their food, I wouldn’t hazard to guess. Most of them were still waiting to be served, like birds in the wilderness” (25). This is a great example of Rachel’s critically observant commentary of her surroundings; I think this particular view of the Congo will help the reader in the long run get a sense of the Price’s new home from a critical point of view. Rachel will be the conceited, selfish child who will never forgive her Father for taking her away from her comfortable life in Georgia and dragging her to the Congo of Africa.

Leah Price: Leah Price is the healthy one of the set of twins in the Price family. She is very observant of her surroundings, especially when it comes to gardening and nature. She is a bit sarcastic and critical of her sisters, especially her older sister Rachel, as shown in this next quote, “Rachel is fifteen—or, as she would put it, going on sixteen—and she cares for naught but appearances. Her full Christian name is Rachel Rebeccah, so she feels free to take after Rebekah, the virgin at the well, who is said in Genesis to be “a damsel very fair” and was offered marriage presents of golden earbobs right of the bat, when Abraham’s servant spied her fetching up the water….Sitting next to me on the plane, she kept batting her white-rabbit eyelashes and adjusting her bright pink hairband, trying to get me to notice she had secretly painted her fingernails bubble-gum pink to match” (15). Leah is probably one of the most positive of the four sisters when it comes to her outlook on their new life in the Congo. This is probably because she is the “Daddy’s girl” out of the four and believes everything that her Father says and does is correct. I think Leah will play the role of her Father’s advocate throughout the book, supporting him on every decision he makes and firmly believing in the mission they were sent to Africa to do.

Adah Price: Adah Price is the disabled one of the twins. Although she is disabled, and does not speak, her view of the Congo is the most clear and perceptive. Adah really tells it like it is, without any negative bias opinion. Adah seems to completely accept not only her disabilities but also how others view her. Nothing seems to phase her too much. Adah is the sister who has the clearest view on life, and takes each of her family members for who they are, good and bad. “ ‘It’s a place right out of a storybook,’ my twin sister, Leah, loves to declare in response…Next comes this observation from my sister Ruth May: “Nobody here’s got very many teeth.” And finally, from Rachel: “Jeez oh man, wake me up when it’s over.” And so the Price family passes its judgments. All but Adah. Adah unpasses her judgments. I am the only one who does not speak. Our Father speaks for all of us, as far as I can see. And he is at the moment not saying much” (32). Although she does not speak, Adah seems to have the most to say with the most interesting point of view. Adah will be the sister with the clearest view of the world, and the most meaning behind what she says throughout the book.

Ruth May Price: Ruth May is the baby of the Price family. She believes everything she hears, as shown in this example, “My name is Ruth May and I hate the Devil. For the longest time I used to think my name was Sugar. Mama always says that. Sugar, come here a minute. Sugar, now don’t do that” (21). This quote shows just how gullible and naïve Ruth May is about things she hears in her surroundings. For this reason, Ruth May is in some ways a reflection of her parents. She believes everything they say to her, and everything she hears from them. Ruth May has a very naïve tone and I believe she will be the voice of innocence throughout this book.