Through Nathan and Rachel's conflict, Kingsolver illustrates that ideological extremes do not work out for themselves, along with effecting others around them in a negative manner.
For instance, Nathan exhibits the personality of a strict, religious man who strongly believes in traditional religion, specifically Baptism. Nathan acts out in abuse to his family when they do not follow his moral ideals, especially out of his selfishness and cowardliness. These traits illustrate Nathan to a wrathful god who is quick to discipline and punishment. Nathan only try to save unbaptized persons for his own well being, in order to secure a spot in heaven, even if it destroys the lives of others around him, including his wife and daughters.
It would be expected that a man who believes in the Christian god wouldn’t view others as inferior, since one of the fundamental teachings of Jesus was loving all persons. Nathan Price on the other hand, is often sexist and racist, viewing women as having lower intelligence then their male counterparts. At one point, Nathan lashed out in a drunken rage on his wife for sexual tempting him, believing that god is watching him constantly, judging his every mistake.
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Rachel on the other hand, follows the personality of a generic, stereotypical teenage girl, following into the snares of vanity, her looks, and has no religion to call her own.
Rachel does not turn for direction in her soul, but turns to her body instead, leaving her to be egocentric. If something doesn’t interest Rachel, it doesn’t matter to her. For example, when Ruth May died, the rest of the family handled the death badly, compared to Rachel, who seemed upset only because she wouldn’t be able to forget the Congo, and will continue to have memories of it. This is ironic, considering that Rachel does not show any interest in the Congo, but now she will have to have it haunt her for the rest of her
life. Even after her teenage years, Rachel is still racist, ego centered, materialistic person. In some ways, she's like her father, believing that she is the center of the universe for lack of better terms, but instead of focusing on spirituality, she continues to be materialistic. Rachel's personality is of significance since it illustrates how two extremes of personalities, a religious radical, and self centered man, both have their flaws. Rachel, denying god, and being obsessed with vanity and her sense of self, does not help others around her, thus, not helping the community of persons in the Congo. Nathan, being a religious radical, has conflict with his family, as well as the people in the Congo who he is trying convert. These two have a constant power struggle within their family, which, in itself, a community of people, and with the larger, outside world such as the people in the Congo, but also in his own church. It could be debated that Barbara Kingsolver includes Nathan’s conflict with his Church in order to show how members of his Baptist church do not agree with his traditional ideals. Rachel’s conflict with society, and Nathan Price’s conflict with nearly everyone around him show that two different extremes of ideologies can, and in this case, did have a negative impact on different persons. Kingsolver’s Posionwood Bible is a warning of the extremities of ideologies, and how it can turn into a downward spiral for those who follow said ideologies, as well as the bystanders around these people. As the Dalai Lama stated, “Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them”. Sadly, Nathan Price and his daughter, Rachel, followed a different, destructive path.
Rachel is the oldest daughter in the Price family, she is fifteen when the family first arrives. Rachel is a beautiful girl, and pretty much all she cares about is how she looks. As soon as she stepped foot in the Congo,
Because of the wealth and power that surrounded her family name, Rachel became the victim. If not for all the drama caused by owning much of the land and her family flaunting their fortune, the community of people ready to solve their problems or vendettas by crying witchcraft may have overlooked Rachel. Though money and power have been sought time after time, they often have their downsides. Rachel’s family and their search for wealth did not grant them happiness, but it may have been the main factor in Rachel’s death.
Thomas C. Foster in his work How to Read Literature Like a Professor argues that even though characters may display evil characteristics, their religious values overpower and express “themselves in connection with the [character’s] role within society” (Foster 125). Literary characters may display some of the same characteristics as Christ while accomplishing actions with “redemption, hope, or miracle” (132). Jay Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby symbolically resembles a Christ figure—sacrificing himself to save Daisy from the law, outstretching his arms towards hope, and coming to West Egg to retrieve Daisy’s unworthy world.
When Nathan arrived at the Hospital, he met Elizabeth and found she had not eaten, had anything to drink, or spoken since her arrival. He also noticed she had numerous bruises and scars in areas known for suicide attempts. When she was a young girl she watched her father, Jon Doe, from the previous robbery brutally murdered in a subway. The other men, who helped him commit the crime found him, beat him and threw him in front of a subway train. The men who did this were arrested and tried, but were now out of prison and looking for her. This is why she stayed in the hospitals because she felt safe. He tried to speak to her and with no replies he began to walk out when she said, “You want what they want”, he turned and asked her what she meant. She repeated herself and then sang, “I’ll never tell”. With this Nathan grew curious as to who “they” were.
Are humans inherently sinful and in need of a Savior? In the case of Hazel Motes and Enoch Emory, the two could not escape their inevitable fates. Despite the attempts of Enoch Emory to be a normal teenager, he surrenders to his animalistic behavior he desperately fought so hard to suppress. Similarly, Hazel could not shake Jesus. He could not escape the truths his grandfather spent time shouting from his pulpit. Throughout the novel, Haze crafts idols in attempts to replace his idea of Jesus. O’Connor uses imagery and symbolism to vividly explain the conflicting sides of Haze: his humanly rebellious side and his spiritual side. Haze spends most of his time in Taulkinham convincing others that sin is a made up concept and that said sin does not need atonement. He preaches that there is no consequence for sin, yet, at the end of the book, tortures himself for his own transgressions. In Wise Blood, Haze is a dynamic character in that he gives in to what he spent so much time denying and finds repentance. He no longer views Jesus as a ragged man in the shadows, but the just Judge. Enoch, on the other hand, inherited his father’s “wise blood” and tried to prevent his deterioration into bestiality. However, as Enoch finds out, one cannot escape his destiny. In this novel, O’Connor uses irony, symbolism, and imagery to disguise the inevitable truth – you cannot escape what’s in your blood. As Haze and Enoch discovered, fate certainly does not wash out in the
Nathan was a soldier in World War II and was able to escape from his almost death. Viewing himself as a coward, an element he believes God hates. He then decided that he will never be a coward again and he will not fail his God by being a coward. For this reason he vowed that he will never be a coward again and he would not run away from any situation that t...
In the first chapter of God Behaving Badly, David Lamb argues that God is unfairly given a bad reputation. He claims these negative perceptions are fueled by pop culture and lead many to believe the lie that the God of the Old Testament is angry, sexist, racist, violent, legalistic, rigid, and distant. These negative perceptions, in turn, affect our faith. Ultimately, Lamb seeks to demonstrate that historical context disproves the presumptuous aforementioned. In addition, he defends his position by citing patterns of descriptions that characterize God throughout the Old Testament. “Our image of God will directly affect how we either pursue or avoid God. If we believe that the God of the Old Testament is really harsh, unfair and cruel, we won’t want anything to do with him” (Lamb 22). Clearly, they way Christians choose to see God will shape their relationship with Him.
In regards to narrative perspective, Ruth May and Rachel both take completely opposite directions in their stories. However, there are a few similarities. Right after Ruth May dies, Rachel is contemplating on how to tell her mom. At this time, Rachel says “the whole world would change then, and nothing would ever be all right again” (Kingsolver 366). This is probably the time that Rachel is the most objective because she doesn’t know how to feel about everything that is going on. However, her being the oldest of the Price daughters, she feels as though she has this weight to carry in order to break the news to Orleanna. At the end of the novel, the voice of dead Ruth May in her message to Orleanna says “you are afraid you might forget, but
Hayes and Nate had different viewpoints on what freedom is. Although Nate’s lifestyle was different from his father’s, he still was not free. Nate worked to provide for his family, and his father did so as well. Hayes had the mindset of a slave, and held onto the past, and it showed in his behavior towards people.
Mr. P bestows the curse of hopelessness to Arnold, which inspires him to break free from the bonds of his ancestors. Even though his students see him as worthless, Mr. P is humble, poor, hurt by the ones he is trying to save, an educator, and merciful, which leads to the betterment of Junior. Going back to biblical references, the readers can see that these adjectives also line up perfectly with the personality of Jesus: the higher power capable of breaking generation...
Kingsolver only gives the reader five possibilities out of an infinite number of options of how the people’s reaction towards guilt impact the way people decide to live. Since there is also a sixth Price in this story, Nathan Price, the audience (readers) may wonder why Nathan is not given a voice as well, so that he too can present us with a possible response to guilt. In my opinion, I believe Nathan's relation to guilt, however, is very different from the relation Kingsolver wants to explore here. Nathan is not the conqueror's wife, but the conqueror himself. He is not the passive partner in crime, but the perpetrator. Nathan represents the active forces of evil for which we now feel the burden. He is a stand in for the United States government, the Belgian colonialists, the thousands of arrogant and destructive missionaries, and all others whose blind arrogance and greed wreaked havoc on a continent. Nathan himself never speaks to us, though his sermonizing voice echoes through the novel. He is excluded because he resists all sympathy, he refuses to admit to doubt or weakness. "Our father speaks for all of us," observes Adah pg. (32), and so the voices of his family are a kind of descant to his mission. Telling a story in a sequence of monologues by different characters is a
The Templar’s refusal, although harsh, seemed to affirm the goodness Nathan saw in the young man, “A modest greatness would hide behind the monstrous, merely to escape admiration” (212). The lengths the Templar went to in order to save a life is a testament in itself of his goodness, far more powerful than his insults. “I find it strange that such an ugly spot [on Templar’s robe], soiled by the fire, bears better witness than a man’s own lips” (212). For Nathan, friends do not concern themselves with social status, religious beliefs, or titles; but rather, they can distinguish between the man and the facade. In Nathan’s words, "are Jew and Christian, Jew and Christian first and human beings second?" (214).
In Nathan Price’s military experience, he escapes the Death March during the war while his unit dies. He then fears that God is constantly judging him as God is always watching. He feels that he must avenge his unit and appease God by saving more lives than the ones that were lost from his unit. While he is in the Congo, he tries to convert the Africans on numerous occasions to Christianity in an attempt to satisfy his goal.
Nathan Kilpatrick summarizes Nathan Price as a bipolar behavior man who abuses religion and also speaks for the family. According to Adah, Nathan speaks for the family but his words are empty because he stays in his stubbornness and does not learn the culture. Kilpatrick also believes Nathan downgrades Christianity in this book because he does not know the language so he misuses the meaning. Kilpatrick acknowledges that Nathan is teachable about little things like the garden but the things that actually make an impact, he is unmoveable. Adah says, "It is a special kind of person who draws together a congregation, stand before them with a proud, clear voice, and say words wrong, week after week". Even his own kids see his flaws as a person.
Her caring personality stuck out as I was talking to her. She’s going to be a great nurse and be very compassionate about her nursing career. Her future patients will love her. Not only is she caring towards people, she’s also caring to animals. If Rachel won a billion dollars, she would donate some of her money to the Humane society because she believes that the animals deserve to have live the best life possible. Along with donating to the Human Society, she would donate to the children’s hospital, which brings out her compassion for her future career as a