So in The Poisonwood Bible, when Nathan Price first arrives at the village of Kilanga, Congo, he along with the rest of his family arrive with their own preconceptions of what's right and wrong based on the only past experiences they've had- their lives as American citizens. However America and Africa are two very different places (okay maybe that's a bit of an understatement >.<) and just as one cannot use the same strategy in a game of checkers to win a game of chess, so one cannot use the same point of view or perspectives they had in America to survive in Africa.
Exhibit A: Nathan's determination to baptize all the village people in the Kwilu River. In America, it is a Christian tradition to baptize new converts in a water-filled tank at Church to signify their acceptance of the Lord's guidance and Jesus as their savior; maintaining this perspective Reverend Price envisions uniting his new Congolese congregation in a grand baptism ceremony in the wide Kwilu River in order to truly purify their souls in his mind. While this would be all fine and dandy if they were in America, unfortunately for Nathan Price, they're not. And in Africa, rivers are as dangerous as they are wide, filled not only with countless virus inducing microbes, but also deadly crocodiles. Based on experience the Congolese know that their children will likely be eaten by the crocodiles if they are dunked in the river, but the Reverend in all his ignorance can see no other perspective than his own and the need to follow the American Translation of the Bible word for word.
However can the Bible be followed word for word? After all it wasn't written by God himself, but by people who believed they were inspired by God's message- so in reality the text is simply their own interpretation of how God wants people to live. But can their point of view be truly universally applied to all people from all different backgrounds, in all different circumstances of the world? Although I believe some aspects can be applied, I believe everything has to be read with a grain of salt and really interpreted in terms of respective situations. I mean Reverend Price's attitude towards to Congolese simply represents the Europeans' attitudes towards Africans and the whole basis of their justification of the imperialistic movement- the fact that Europeans, Americans and other foreigners simply assume their own "civilized" methods are superior when in fact the methods of Africans are just as civilized- it's just that they are facing an entirely different environment of constant famine, flood, lions, driver ants, meals of nothing but fufu, etc. But the reason Reverend Price treats them like his unenlightened foolish children is because in America and other countries, people are blinded by their ignorance (having never stepped foot in Africa and really experienced the kindness and sharing among all the villagers, the harsh famine and flood environment they must constantly endure that prevent them from being able to build the same urban cities and supermarkets that are seen as superior and proof of "civilization" in other countries). So from their limited POV Africans are barbarians with bones in their hair; but in reality the people are just as "civilized" because they've already developed the best ways to survive in Africa's environment- foreigners simply cannot see it because they don't understand the African environment as well as the people there do.
And even besides the basic ignorance foreigners have to the conditions in Africa, there are still their governments- that are not only blinded by ignorance but also by pure greed for Africa's mineral treasures. I really liked how Kingsolver brought that aspect about through the latter half of the novel and included it as a part of the overall growing up journey that occurs throughout the book for Leah, Adah, and Rachel- the realization that there are more perspectives than your own, just as there are more point of views than your own country's POV.
I just really like the ironic but rather sad way Adah puts it when she says: "What sort of man would wish to murder the president of another land? None but a barbarian. A man with a bone in his hair." (298) after she realizes the irony that while American political cartoons depicted the Congolese as barbarians with bones in their hair, at the same time their own President Ike was acting like a true barbarian- rather than respecting Congo's rights as an independent country, he and other foreign countries didn't want Congo to regain control of its own mineral resources and so plotted to murder the newly elected Congolese President Lumumba.
So what I'm really trying to say in the end is that POV can be point of view if you let yourself be accepting and respecting of others' points of view- as Leah, Adah, Rachel, Orleanna, Brother Fowles, and many others learn to do after their experiences in Africa. However, if one is only accepting of their own point of view and refuses to see things from others perspectives, POV can instead become the damaging "potential obstanite vice" that blinds them from maturing, being able to build and maintain relationships with others, or even communicate to others: Nathan Price is one such character because:
1)he's never really able to commnicate with the village people because he can't accept that he has to adapt his religion to the African environment (ex: that they can't be baptized because their children will be eaten by crocodiles)
2) he loses the trust all people around him, especially his own family, because he could never respect their perspectives, always assumed his POV was superior, and never admitted his mistakes (and a person can only live so long under that sort of oppression...)
3) because his character is so childish and he's never able to truly mature and accept other's POVs, his character actually fades relatively into the background as the novel goes on. I still remember one scene that made me laugh and kind of illustrates his childishness: during the panic of the ant invasion (literally a mad flood of driver ants eating alive everything everywhere), the villagers were still willing to rescue Rev. Price despite the fact that he continued to lecture them about loving the Lord- they simply rowed on with leaves stuffed in their ears.
Okay- so that's the end of that for now (sorry if it seemed so confusing because I'm still trying to decipher how everything in the book fits together- it was definitely fun to read but tough to analyze >.<)
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