Compare And Contrast The Poisonwood Bible And We Grow Accustomed To The Dark

A novel about colonialism in Africa and a poem about darkness can have similar meanings? Yes, in fact Barbara Kingsolver's novel The Poisonwood Bible and Emily Dickinson's poem We Grow Accustomed to the Dark have very similar aspects when it comes to certain aspects. The Price family, specifically the Price women in Kingsolver's novel, show very similar feelings towards Kilanga as do the people about the dark in Dickinson's poem. Both writings mention that in order to overcome this obstacle, you must approach it in steps. In Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible, Orleanna and the daughters become more accustomed to the lifestyle in the Congo, and going along with the writings of We Grow Accustomed to the Dark, upon arrival the Price women act as if Kilanga was the dark, but they will later take steps forward and eventually overcome the obstacles that they encounter; along the way they not only adapt to Kilanga, they will also begin to shift religious views. The Price women adapt to Kilanga much like people grow accustomed to the dark. The Price women are highly religious, European people who are used to all of the luxuries that they have, and aren't used to

Dickinson's We Grow Accustomed to the Dark explains how people need to take steps further into the unknown to get somewhere in life. In The Poisonwood Bible, the Price family takes steps into the unknown by living in Kilanga, and learning the traditions and ways of the natives. They not only modify their entire lives after moving to Kilanga, they also change their religious views after realizing that what they were set out to do wasn't right. These two works go hand-in-hand with one another, and really combine to resemble the true ways to deal with the