"The Mosquito Coast" vs. The Poisonwood Bible: Similarities and Differences

After watching the 1986 movie The Mosquito Coast starring Harrison Ford there are some immediate similarities that come to mind between Harrison Ford's character, Allie, and The Poisonwood Bible's Nathan Price. This movie, and the novel we are reading for class, parallel each other in almost every sense from the destination of the two families(Africa), to family structure, to personalities, to personal missions.
The first and most obvious similarity between Allie and Nathan Price is that both are incredibly strong willed, somewhat crazy men who have very unconventional relationships with their families. In some parts of the movie, as we have seen in certain chapters of The Poisonwood Bible, both Allie and Nathan Price don't seem to care for their family's overall well being very much. During the class discussion reflecting on this movie and book, there was a unanimous feeling that Allie is more affectionate towards his family then Nathan Price is. Although, we may be concluding this because of the simple fact that we are watching Allie interact with his wife and children rather then reading about it from a specific point of view. Another similarity between Allie and Nathan Price is the the family structure both of these men are the "heads" of. Both men have 4 kids, which include a set of twins. Also, Allie and Nathan Price are both quite disrespectful to their wives and don't really take their opinions into consideration. Leah, one of Nathan Price's twin daughters, and Charlie, Allie's oldest son are very much alike in the sense that at the beginning of the book and/or movie both these children hold their father's on very high pedestals, as if they can do no wrong. As the book/movie continues both of these characters eventually rebel against their father's and the decisions they make. Another parallel between these two different stories was that both dealt with a death of a family member. In The Poisonwood Bible Ruth May dies from a snake bite, while in The Mosquito Coast Allie dies from a gun shot wound. Both families suffer a great loss and have to carry their passed family member's body out of Africa. Another similarity between Allie and Nathan Price is that both have their own "thing" to preach. For Allie, it was his inventions and "Fat Boy" ice machine while Nathan Price preaches the Bible and the Word of the Lord. The extreme to which Nathan Price and Allie will go to preach their own things is both good and bad. Like the kikongo word Bangala, it has a double meaning. The last thing that was similar about these two stories is that both included helpful, native African characters. In The Poisonwood Bible the character is Anatole, the school teacher, while in The Mosquito Coast the character is Hatty. Both of these characters try to be extremely helpful but because of the stubbornness of the father's, their help in unappreciated.