Downward Spiral Of Orleanna Price In The Poisonwood Bible
Submitted by Carrie326 on 06/30/2008 05:21 PM
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Downward Spiral Of Orleanna Price In The Poisonwood Bible
In Barbara Kingsolver's novel, The Poisonwood Bible, the main character, Orleanna Price, goes through an internal and external struggle that weighs her character down all the way until the end of the book. This downward spiral starts the moment they set foot in Africa, bringing her through emotional hells as one thing after another disappoints her. When she loses her youngest daughter it reaches rock bottom and her hope for recovery is lost until her final forgiveness at the end.
When the Price family first learns of their father's plans for them to go to the Congo, Orleanna begins packing all of her worldly belongings. Rejected by the airlines and told she can only carry 60lbs per person, she already is put through an internal struggle to determine exactly what is needed and what can be parted with before their trip.
Arriving in the Congo, she's quick to see the wrong decisions were made and nothing they brought was right. This starts her emotional disappointment for their entire trip. They have no gifts for the needy village children who expect such things from newcomers, they bring pointless treasures that serve them no good in the midst of the jungle, and they are quick to learn their food supply is entirely too inadequate.
As they settle in further, she begins to feel as though she may actually be able to blend into Africa, not just as one of her husband, Nathan's, followers. One day in the marketplace wipes that vision entirely away, however. Until that point, she had been getting along well with the villagers, but on that particular day she calls her daughter, Leah, to her side and they end up making a spectacle. Soon, all the villagers near by are shooting them looks of disdain, and Orleanna begins to see the truth after all: "Until that moment I thought I could have it both ways: to be one of them, and also my husband's wife" (89).
Not long after the day they lost Mama Tataba and Methuselah, Orleanna begins to struggle...
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