POV (aka: point of view/ perspective). I don't think we think about it enough. I mean I know that ever since we were wee little munchkins in elementary school we've always been told to follow the Golden Rule: "Treat others like you want to be treated." But when you think about it, even when we do mature and can supposedly see situations from other people's perspectives ("put yourselves in their shoes!"), it's still tough because we often end up seeing their perspectives from the way we want to perceive it (kind of like walking their path but in our own shoes?). How does this happen? I guess it sometimes occurs because we're blinded by greed, ambition, and the such; but other times it's ignorance.
In The Poisonwood Bible, when Reverend Nathan Price uproots his family from the cozy small Christian town of Bethlehem, Georgia, USA, to the seemingly wildly inhabitable (only to the Price family, being so used to American climate and conveniences as they were) jungle village of Kilanga, Congo, Africa, it's difficult for them to even imagine or bother to consider the perspectives of their new Congolese neighbors when they're worrying so much about their own adjustment and surviving the presumed one year until they can return to their comforting American environment intact. But then again, their initial shock and ignorance of the rich culture, customs, and just life in general is not necessarily their fault considering the extent of the technology, as well as the economic and societal conditions in that time period. There were no personal computers then, much less access to the vast expanse of information about conditions in other countries that we have today with the Internet, World Wide Web, and a click of the mouse; instead there were automobiles, televisions, and radios- but only in America and not so much interior African villages, as the land would never complacently permit such a take over without putting up a long hard fight. So they didn't have much access to any true information about not only the harsh everyday conditions they would face, but also the benevolence and generosity of the people there; they could only make judgments before based on the stereotypes and propaganda in American newpapers picturing the Africans as mere primitive savages- essentially from their own narrow point of view, having either never stepped into Africa long enough to experience the vast differences between the two worlds of America and Africa that cause such a different, but no less inferior, culture to thrive there, or are blinded by their own greed to rob Africa of its rich valuable minerals. The youngest, Ruth May Price, gets a sample of that stereotype when her own Sunday school classmate in Bethlehem taunts her about her family's mission trip to the Congo telling her to watch out for "the cannibal natives" that would boil them and eat them (Kingsolver 21). In addition society-wise, Jim Crow laws and segregation of blacks were still in full effect in the South and economy-wise, foreign countries were still manipulating Africa's politics to gain control over its much coveted natural resources- regarding Africa countries as possessions rather than fellow nations of equal standing.
So right after being abruptly plopped into Africa, the Price family didn't know much about how to communicate effectively with their new Congolese neighbors (and hopeful congregation) because they hadn't yet had the resources or enough experience in the vastly different environment, to understand the point of view of the people who've lived all their life in Africa, from Tata Ndu to Mama Mwanza, though they eventually are able to in the end (sorry!-I will elaborate more in part 2 but I must sleep now! >.<).
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