Leah's Exile
Exile can be viewed in different lights, positive and negative. In The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, the Price family experiences a unique type of exile. Leah Price, a young teenager at the start of the novel, has a very interesting experience different from the rest of her family when her father moves them all from their home in Georgia to a small village in the Congo. The move across the world had enriching and alienating effects for Leah. She encounters loneliness, guilt, and negative attention but she also finds love and a new understanding of life. Leah’s experience illuminates the themes of guilt and adaptability in the novel as well. Throughout the novel we see how Leah’s encounters change her as person and the ways that exile can have huge ramifications.
Adapting to a completely new place was not easy for the Price family. Leah didn’t know the language, culture, or politics of the country and this left her feeling alienated. She was cut off from everyone except her family for a while. Not knowing much about the village, Leah’s mother for a certain period kept her daughters in the house at all times so they wouldn’t get sick. This caused Leah to feel alone because she was very different from her sisters and couldn’t interact with anyone else. Leah didn’t understand the new culture that she was thrown into. She didn’t know Kikongo (the native language) and she couldn’t survive in the environment as well as the villagers could, even with God on her side. This caused her to feel guilty and embarrassed in many ways. Leah would unfairly compare herself to her friend Pascal. Pascal was able to build a small model house and no matter how hard she tried, Leah’s creation couldn’t compare. She felt left out that she didn’t know the same things as Pascal. She was alienated for wanting to hunt when most of the villagers agreed that in was inappropriate for her to do as a girl. When she got older and married the village teacher and freedom fighter, Anatole, she felt guilty yet again for being different. She believed that her whiteness was putting Anatole in danger while independence was going on. Leah’s whiteness would always set her apart in the Congo and the consequences of being set apart left her feeling alienated.
Through the guilt and alienation Leah was able to have enriching experiences as well. Leah gained a new view of the world that she never would have found if she hadn’t been moved to the Congo. The exile taught her the injustices of the world. She could have lived an ignorant life in America and continued to believe that the world was a just and fair place but she gained the rare opportunity to experience the truth firsthand. Leah became culturally enriched as well. She learned new languages and settled down in Africa and gained an intense love and respect for it. She met her husband Anatole and they were able to stand together for the independence that they thought the Congo deserved. The things Leah saw and the people she met would influence her greatly and she would go on to name two of her sons Pascal, after her childhood friend, and Patrice, after Patrice Lumumba, the independence fighter. Moving to the Congo gave meaning to Leah’s life. Leah’s story shows how able she was to adapt to a completely new environment. It also illuminates the horrible way the West treated the Congo. We see Leah’s whiteness cause her tremendous guilt. She is danger in the Congo just for being white because of the things the United States were doing. Leah’s exile shows more in depth how the Congo suffered from the West.
Leah’s life was completely changed by her father’s decision to become a missionary in the Congo. She experienced alienation through guilt and loneliness but she also experienced enrichment by finding a meaning to her life. The novel seeks to show the consequences of U.S. interference in the Congo and Leah’s exile illuminates those consequences through her personal struggles and triumphs. Leah adapted to this new environment better than the rest of her family even though she experienced a great deal of grief. Her exile gave her the experience she needed to live the life that she needed to have.
Adapting to a completely new place was not easy for the Price family. Leah didn’t know the language, culture, or politics of the country and this left her feeling alienated. She was cut off from everyone except her family for a while. Not knowing much about the village, Leah’s mother for a certain period kept her daughters in the house at all times so they wouldn’t get sick. This caused Leah to feel alone because she was very different from her sisters and couldn’t interact with anyone else. Leah didn’t understand the new culture that she was thrown into. She didn’t know Kikongo (the native language) and she couldn’t survive in the environment as well as the villagers could, even with God on her side. This caused her to feel guilty and embarrassed in many ways. Leah would unfairly compare herself to her friend Pascal. Pascal was able to build a small model house and no matter how hard she tried, Leah’s creation couldn’t compare. She felt left out that she didn’t know the same things as Pascal. She was alienated for wanting to hunt when most of the villagers agreed that in was inappropriate for her to do as a girl. When she got older and married the village teacher and freedom fighter, Anatole, she felt guilty yet again for being different. She believed that her whiteness was putting Anatole in danger while independence was going on. Leah’s whiteness would always set her apart in the Congo and the consequences of being set apart left her feeling alienated.
Through the guilt and alienation Leah was able to have enriching experiences as well. Leah gained a new view of the world that she never would have found if she hadn’t been moved to the Congo. The exile taught her the injustices of the world. She could have lived an ignorant life in America and continued to believe that the world was a just and fair place but she gained the rare opportunity to experience the truth firsthand. Leah became culturally enriched as well. She learned new languages and settled down in Africa and gained an intense love and respect for it. She met her husband Anatole and they were able to stand together for the independence that they thought the Congo deserved. The things Leah saw and the people she met would influence her greatly and she would go on to name two of her sons Pascal, after her childhood friend, and Patrice, after Patrice Lumumba, the independence fighter. Moving to the Congo gave meaning to Leah’s life. Leah’s story shows how able she was to adapt to a completely new environment. It also illuminates the horrible way the West treated the Congo. We see Leah’s whiteness cause her tremendous guilt. She is danger in the Congo just for being white because of the things the United States were doing. Leah’s exile shows more in depth how the Congo suffered from the West.
Leah’s life was completely changed by her father’s decision to become a missionary in the Congo. She experienced alienation through guilt and loneliness but she also experienced enrichment by finding a meaning to her life. The novel seeks to show the consequences of U.S. interference in the Congo and Leah’s exile illuminates those consequences through her personal struggles and triumphs. Leah adapted to this new environment better than the rest of her family even though she experienced a great deal of grief. Her exile gave her the experience she needed to live the life that she needed to have.
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