Finale of Poisonwood Bible!!

FINAL BLOGPOST OF THE YEAR!!!! <3 :)

Growing up is very important and crucial in every person. Unfortunately some people never grow up and always stay in the realm of being oblivious to real world issues around them. Sometimes kids have to grow up faster than others because of their situations. If a kid is in a violent environment then the kid has to grow up faster so he/she can fend for itself against anything that wants to harm it. Sometimes the phase in which a person grows up is through an experience he/she has. In the Poisonwood Bible Rachael, Leah and Adah have to grow up. They are faced with issues that made them open their eyes and realize that the world they believed in before is not what they want to believe in now. Many/most of them grew up after their sister Ruth died. It was a traumatic event, which made them realize they needed to see the world in a different way. Throughout the book they all had a point in their experience at the Congo in which they were forced to finally grow up.

One of the most important events was when Ruth died this was because she was so innocent and important to every single girl and that’s why her death made such an impact. Besides experiences, the girls viewed the world differently. Adah went on to view the world in a scientifically way. She saw the way nature and just the human food chain worked. Every person had to die in order to give space to the next person who is born. Adah went on to live her world in more knowledge and complex way. She actually was one of the smartest of her sisters and became to see the world in a totally different way from the way her dad made her view the world when she was younger. Adah no longer had that strong faith towards god in fact she only just viewed that god was there she no longer actually believed in god. Leah became separated from her dad. In the beginning of the book she was hesitant about her beliefs in god and how her father wanted her to believe in god. She wasn’t sure. As the book progresses was it then that she realized she didn’t want to believe and have so much faith in god like her father. She didn’t want her world to revolve around church and obscure her eyes from other ways of seeing the world. Leah became a lover of nature and understood how the Congo worked. The Congo in some ways owned the people but at the same times was very beautiful. Leah understood the Congo more than anybody else and that’s the very reason why she stayed behind. Rachael became different too. In the beginning she didn’t or want to be very religious but by the end she had a clearer sense of what she wanted to do with her life. She didn’t care about appearances anymore she learned from Ruth’s death that there are so many other important things besides the way she looks. As all the girls grew older they started developing their own separate ways. They were all still sisters that loved each other but the things that happened to them in the Congo made them who they are now. This experience was their coming of age and realizing that they needed their own opinions’ about god, civilizations and the world in general. The girls were finally able to grow up as their father loosened his ties on them and finally died. This was when they all had a clear opinion on some levels about where they stood on a global scale.

Growing up and coming of age are the same. They both demonstrate how 1 person changes. This phase/ change can and may be different to every person. Sometimes the person they were before was shy and insecure but by the end of their journey they are outgoing and brave. Sometimes the change is minimal but still noticeable. For example the person may be snobby because she is popular and is gorgeous but maybe by the end of their experience they may be more kind to people, which can be a big subtle difference. This phase doesn’t happen when the person wants it to happen sometimes it happens so unexpectedly. A person may grow up at 10 or they may grow up in their late teens to early 20’s. As I’ve said before growing up is a phase every person must grow through. At the end the person may become a better person but sometimes they can become nastier. It just depends on how they viewed others and the world when they were younger. Sometimes people can’t change how they view people because it was so drilled into their minds. For example if a person lived in a racist environment then they most likely will become racist because that’s the only way that person knows on how to view people. If another person lives in a very arrogant place then most likely the person will become as arrogant as its parent unless they have an experience or another person that corrects their views.

All the girls grew up in the book at their mid teens to late teens. The age changed because they sort of viewed the world differently at almost the same time some longer than others came to this realization. They all grew up. Their father was their obstacle. He sort of prevented them from seeing the world however they wanted to see it. The dad was so caught up in keeping his views about church so drilled into his daughters that he lost them amidst all his drilling. He became obsessed with changing the people in the Congo that he forgot that he didn’t have to change every single detail about the people who lived in the Congo he just had to respect them and help them like a good Father he was supposed to be. The dad should’ve listened to the land and people around him because then and only then would he have realized he wasn’t helping anyone but actually harming everyone and blocking them from opening their eyes. The environment he made his daughters grow up in was what made all the girls coming of age seem so drastic because the dad was blocking them from issues all around them. The Congo pushed all the girls to grow up and make their own opinions without their dad in the way.

I believe coming of age is very important and probably one of the most important experiences a person will go through in their entire life. I think this is due to the fact that after his or her experience then that is the person they will become. In fact at the end of their coming of age is how they probably will be and act around others. It’s almost like deciding the final steps in that person’s life. However Rachael, Leah and Adah are at the end is how they will be for the rest of their lives. It’s the finale in which the personalities and views they obtained at the end is how they will be forever. Coming of age happens to everyone it’s just how the person handles it that makes it memorable.

Superficial and Growth

Growing up, I believe is when a teenager/ kids realizes something important about herself, people around her or life in general. Usually in coming of age books the main character has a certain behavior that is considered “childish” or immature. The character goes through some type of journey, physically or emotionally and by the end of their journey they realize what it feels like to be an older person. Coming of age/ growing up happens eventually to everyone, it may not happen until that person/ character is in his late teens or it may happen when the person/ character is in his or her early teens. Growing up is when the character realizes he or she needs to change his/her views.

In the book The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver the story is told from 4 different viewpoints. It’s a story about a religious family moving to the Congo to help the people there save them and show them the light of God. The father of the family is a preacher and he wants his family to grow up and be the servers of God, unfortunately the kids think otherwise. The mother is just watching her kids grow up and explore the craziness of the jungles. Their viewpoints are not used in the story but the girls express how they feel their father is reacting/ feeling. The story is told from the viewpoints of the kids, 4 girls. The 4 girls are Leah, Adah, Rachael, and Ruth. Each girl is unique in her own way and each girl handles growing up and moving into a new country differently. There is a set of twins in the family, Leah and Adah but you could hardly tell that they were twins by their different personalities. All the girls grow up by the experiences they have in the Congo.

Rachael is the oldest. People would think she is the most responsible and mentor to the rest of the girls, but not really. The fact is that her sisters and herself know she just cares about superficial stuff. Rachael’s struggle is that she wants to lead a normal teenage life, but how can she if she’s living in the middle of the Congo. Rachael mentions in the beginning of the book how the only thing she’s looking forward to is her birthday party. Her sisters describe her as a rebel because she wants to stray away from church. She paints her nails and wants to be free. As the book moves along she starts to learn how things that are superficial isn’t important they are just that, superficial. There are more important things in life and family than the way you look.

I haven’t finished the book but I am looking forward to seeing Rachael develop. I guess I am more interested in her than the other girls because her issue, her immaturity level is funny, how she only wants a normal teenage life except she can’t have it because of the situations she’s put in. I think in a more complex book like this, it’s important to refer to a character or something the reader notices that is more childish so the reader can focus more on the actual coming of age rather than trying to decipher the next word. I believe Rachael is complex but I also believe that the reason she’s growing up now is because she learning to test her loyalty to her father. If anyone has not read this book I really recommend it J