Poisonwood Bible Character Analysis Essay

In the book The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, the narration is done by five of the main characters: Orleanna, Rachel, Leah, Adah, and Ruth May Price. When analyzing the narrative led by Leah Price, a 14-year old tomboy, the reader may notice her progression from a young girl who idolizes her father and loves him more than anyone else, into a rebellious young woman who despises her father. Some of Leah’s more prominent characteristics are her compassion and devotion. These characteristics are portrayed from the very beginning when Leah follows her father around even saying that, â€Å"I know he must find me tiresome, yet I still like spending time with my father very much more than I like doing anything else† (Kingsolver 36). In that context, Leah is still a young girl, who basically worships her father and does everything he does, loves everything he loves, but he does not give her anywhere near that much love in return. This is also evident on pages 41-42; she goes on about how awesome her father is and how admirable he is, almost justifying her idolizing him. Also, Leah states that â€Å"His devotion to its progress, like his devotion to the church, was the anchoring force in my life throughout this past summer† (64). These things are very important because it shows just how much Leah’s persona is affected by her father, also how influential he is on her beliefs (with emphasis on religion). After one has read the book The Poisonwood Bible and begins analyzing the text, one may notice that in the first part, there are events between the females of the Price family, and the father. In Book One, Genesis, in Leah’s narrative, starting on page 64, she describes a situation where her and her sisters were accused of teaching Methuselah (their parrot) a bad word. Going on to page 68, it appears that the girls were not actually responsible, but the emotionally jarring part is in the second paragraph of that page when she says, â€Å"Once in a great while we just have to protect her,† and Leah goes on to explain how her mother is chastised by her father, for â€Å"sins of womanhood.† Consequently, it seems as though these happenings were just the flint and steel of a fire in the making, most apparently in Leah. The first notion of rebellion starts on page 101, Leah’s narrative, but the strike is on page 115 when she announces, â€Å"For the first time ever I felt a stirring of anger against my father for making me a white preacher’s child from Georgia.† This strike failed to start a sustainable fire, as obviously when she goes with her father to Leopoldville, and actually says upfront, that she and her father â€Å"have patched things up.† Also when she explains to Mrs. Underdown how her father knows what’s best â€Å"in the sight of the Lord,† and that they were all â€Å"privileged to serve.† In this case, it is two steps forward, away from her father, but one step back. Leah’s next big step forward comes in Book Three, The Judges, when she begins to truly doubt her father: If his decision to keep us here in the Congo wasn’t right, then what else might he be wrong about? It has opened up in my heart a sickening world of doubts and possibilities, where before I had only faith in my father and love for the Lord. Without that rock of certainty underfoot, the Congo is a fearsome place to have to sink or swim. (244) Kingsolver uses imagery, so the reader might begin to see what Leah is seeing, and relate to her statements; her doubtful mind of her father could be very easy for readers to understand, maybe not all are able, but those who are may create an attachment to this character. People might say that the world is a place full of lies, deceit, and pain. Others might say that truth, justice, and happiness are just as common, or need to be. Leah has a strong sense of justice, and she believes that her father provides just that, but then she starts asking, â€Å"What if he’s wrong?† and that opens her mind to imagine her father, who was everything she believed was good and right in the world, her idol, as someone who isn’t so great after all; he made a mistake. As a result of this, she rebels, and starts turning away from her father. â€Å"Leah is the cause of all our problems†¦Leah would rare up and talk back to Father straight to his face†¦Leah always had the uppermost respect for Father, but after†¦ they voted Father out, she just plumb stopped being polite† (335). That quote is from Rachel’s narrative in Book Four, Bel and the Serpent; she continues to explain how Leah’s rebellion against their father began when she tried to go hunting with the men. Eventually, Leah’s contempt toward her father caused her to leave behind everything she loved because he loved it, mainly her religion. She continued was always very intelligent, and she grew up and became a teacher, but she was still a tomboy at heart, and she was still devoted, not to her father, but to her husband instead. Leah Price, a 14-year old tomboy who once idolized her father completely, became a woman married to a man of Kilanga, who opposed her father; she no longer believed in the God of her father, she live d among the people of Africa and married an African man. She was no longer a duckling to her father, but her own complete person who had her own opinion and beliefs and independence.