In Barbara Kingsoliver’s “The Poisonwood Bible” , the reader is introduced to the Price family.
This southern baptist family is from a small quaint town of Bethlehem, Georgia, and the members include four daughters (Ruth May Price, Leah Price, Adah Price, and Rachel Price) and father Nathan Price, who is married to his loving wife Orleanna Price. Nathan is a strong Baptist preacher at the local church in Bethlehem and being as he is the pastor, his family are his constituents. As the novel begins, Nathan decides sacrifice their life in Bethlehem and embark on a mission trip to the Congo for just a few months, but as the book continues, the trip lasts much longer than a few months. Nathan in turn sacrifices his and the families own well being, sense of…show more content… Ever since Nathan’s experience in World War 2, he has sought out to “give back” what he feels he owes to the lord. This leads to him sacrificing his compassion for his wife and kids and becoming blind to his own malicious behavior. Orleanna notes how poorly Nathan thinks of her, and how he values the conquest and sacrifice of love by stating, “To resist occupation, whether you're a nation or merely a woman, you must understand the language of your enemy.
Conquest and liberation and democracy and divorce are words that mean squat, basically, when you have hungry children and clothes to get out on the line.” (71) Nathan sacrificed a first world life for a third world expedition all in the name of finding his own self-righteousness. murray 2
Instead of having all the necessary tools he and his family had, he now has a wife who is suffering and whose children are making by with what they can. Nathan is undoubtedly a very good preacher, one who is very convincing and powerful. These traits help the reader understand how he is able to drag down his family in spite of his own desires. Nathan uses the bible as a source of intimidation and leverage to get what he wants out of his family and out of
his
