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.
