Adah In The Poisonwood Bible

Words: 628
Pages: 3

In the novel, Poisonwood Bible, Adah Price often feels like an outsider within society and her own family because of her disability. It seems as though the particular standards in America are still very much upheld by her family even in the Congo, which deem Adah inferior. As a result, she resents her family and in turn she subconsciously isolates herself and refuses to speak, ultimately preventing her from creating any strong relationships with her sisters. She sets herself apart as "Adah the monster, Quasimodo, dragging her right side behind her left" (Kingsolver 62). Yet in the Congo, Adah is relieved to find that “living in the Congo shakes open the prison house of [her] disposition and lets all the wicked hoodoo Adahs run forth” (55). Whereas Adah’s family struggled in the new and strange Congolese society, Adah was the first to accept the Congolese people. She keeps an open mind about the people, because of her own experiences with judgement. Also, in the Congo she is surrounded by others who have disabilities just like her, such as Mama Mwanza, which makes Adah feel as if she is accepted in a sense and this encourages her to set herself …show more content…
Of course, as any other character, he is complex and has many layers that are revealed throughout the span of the novel, which ultimately makes the audience feel more sympathetic towards him at times. This is evident as we begin to learn more about Nathan’s past, horrific experience in World War II. His Purple Heart, to him, represents his failure to fight and die with honor as the rest of his company had done. As a result, Nathan hoped he could redeem his himself in the eyes of God by becoming a religious zealot, which would eventually result in his downfall: "Father would sooner watch us all perish one by one than listen to anybody but himself," (Kingsolver