Exile In Barbara Kingsolver's Poisonwood Bible

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In the “Poisonwood Bible”, by Barbara Kingsolver, there are particular elements of exile that drive Leah Price to finding her true self and becoming independent, each leading her further away from the previous exile status and closer to her true self. Such instances of exile represent a placeholder for the next instance in which she descends into her true self and departs from her
“home”. For example, when she leaves America with her family, she knows little-to-nothing about what the Congo has-in-store for her. As she loses her connection with America, she begins to rely more on Nathan Price, her father, strengthening the bond that they already had, which only leads to the inevitable exile that she must face next (she can only find her true …show more content…
Rather than abandoning the influence that Nathan has on Leah, Kingsolver uses that influence to teach Leah that one shouldn’t rely on merely one person and instead, should bathe in the help from multiple people, such as family, and eventually move toward independence. This creates a journey for Leah in which she transcends into an
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Although Nathan Price wouldn’t necessarily fit the stereotype of a person that is a good role model, he seems to be just that for Leah, “He is very imposing, my father, with broad shoulders and unusually large hands”, “This is what I most admire about Father: no matter how bad things might get, he eventually will find the grace to compose himself”. Not only does she help him with nearly everything he does, “Then the two of us together, without a word passing between us, leveled it out again as flat as the Great Plains”, she also seeks his approval for everything. It is apparent to the other family members that Leah heavily relies on their father’s acceptance. Although the other family members don’t particularly like the father, they remain by
Leah’s side and maintain support for her. This factor brings Leah into the realization that she should rely less on one person and she should equally distribute her reliance instead, making …show more content…
This is an allusion to how many missionaries faced racial prejudice when they attempted to integrate with the Congolese. Further, Leah’s exile
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from her original home has forced her into finding a new home when she wasn’t fully prepared.
Leah didn’t actually have full control when she made her decisions. Although she thought she had full control, she didn’t really have control because she made her decisions when she felt pressured. This means that she probably wasn’t satisfied with her own decisions. Even though she wasn’t entirely in charge - effects of malaria and being pressured - most of the decisions worked out very well. For example, she was delirious when she separated from her mother and
Adah, yet she ended up falling in love with Anatole and eventually having children with him.
This correlates to how the Congo wasn’t fully in control of itself because America took control, when Mobutu entered the election and won, yet eventually everything worked out in the end.
Towards the end of the novel, Leah visits Rachel in hopes of staying at her hotel. In other
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