Essay #1

Exile in Africa

                In The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, Orleanna Price experiences an exile. Through the will of her husband she and her family are dragged into the destitute land of the Congo.  The family must overcome physical and physiological barriers they have never come across before.  The exile creates positive and negative effects in Orleanna Price.  She tasted the sweetness of freedom from her husband as well as the bitterness of the loss of her daughter. These contrasting feelings add depth to her character.  They pose the question: how did Africa change her?

                Orleanna experiences alienation in many ways while in Africa.  Most obviously was her removal from the society she had lived with her whole life.  But she could overcome that relatively easy.  The more biting alienation was the one she experienced from her family.  Her husband did not respect her or treat her as an equal, with none of her other housewife friends, she had no merit in Africa.  Initially her children did not particularly look for her direction.  Leah was busy being her father’s shadow, Adah always had her own thing going on, and Rachel couldn't get along with either of her parents.  Her kids do not turn to her until things started going wrong and their father’s audacity had to be second-guessed.  Orleanna tried to cling to the world she knew by packing cakes for her children’s birthdays.  The failure of baking the cakes is symbolic of the fact that Africa has changed her, even if she wants to pretend that it hasn’t.

                Orleanna also experiences enlightenment of sorts from Africa.  She gains an appreciation for nature that followed her home to the United States.  She gardens and daydreams of the okapi she spied in Africa.  She also owes her liberty to her exile.  Her husband’s persistent obstinacy leads to the death of her youngest child, which sets her over the edge.  At that point she can tolerate him no longer.  She rounds up the children and takes matters into her own hands.  They are leaving Africa.  It took a great shock like the loss of her daughter to push her into action.  Had she never been exiled, she would have tolerated her husband’s subjugation all her life.

                Africa changed Orleanna price.  At first, it took her away from the community she knew and loved.  It created a wedge between her and her daughters.  Then things went awry.  She lost a daughter.  She then saved herself and her daughters from the dangers of a religious zeal to passionate in Nathan Price.  She gained her freedom and a appreciation for nature, as well as the struggles of the third world.  She experienced enrichment and alienation and came out a different, more complex person.