The Poisonwood Bible Ruth May's Death Analysis

To begin with, Orleanna in Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible and Materia in MacDonald's Fall on Your Knees both lost their daughter. They both have grieved their loss, but it is in the way they grieved that has determined their progress in life. To start, the death of Ruth May was tragic to say the least, but Orleanna reacted in a smart way that has shown to pay off. It is evident that Ruth May's death was the figurative 'last straw' for Orleanna and she needed no more delay to leave the Congo. Orleanna became fixated on saving herself and her remaining children, saying "as long as I kept moving, my grief streamed out behind me like a swimmer's long hair in the water" (Kingsolver 381). Orleanna kept herself distracted from Ruth May's death

This key characteristic that Orleanna acquires has made her grieving process much easier than Materia's. Although Orleanna claims responsibility for Ruth May's death, she begs God for forgiveness everyday and knows that she is not meant to go to Hell for her sins because God will forgive her. This is a more positive grieving because she is closer to God and her daughter now. Alternatively, Materia's guilty conscience tells her that God will never forgive her for what she has done. She feels exiled from Him and she convinces herself that the only way this sin can be forgiven is to kill herself. Her husband, James finds Materia's body and "he turns off the gas, hauls his late wife upstairs and onto their bed, scrunches her rosary into her hands, then calls the doctor and the priest" (MacDonald 138). Materia's decision to kill herself is a form of sin in itself. She is also leaving behind her family to do what she thinks will set her free, which is a selfish decision. As both mothers are religious, they turn to religion to help them grieve. Orleanna asks God for forgiveness, whereas Materia plays God and ends her life to escape persecution from

For example, James becomes more involved in his family members lives after Kathleen's passing. Initially, James only paid attention to Kathleen as she was his first daughter and he was clearly obsessed with her. His other children were raised by Materia, but when both Materia and Kathleen died, he stepped in to raise them as a single father. James shows his strength by emerging himself into his family to help the entire family cope. In contrast, Nathan turned his attention to others when his family needed him the most. After learning from his children that his youngest daughter, Rith May, was killed, he said, "she wasn't baptized yet" (Kingsolver 368). Nathan then goes into the village center and attempts to baptize the Congolese children with the rain water. This sends a haunting message to the Price family that Nathan shows no regard for his family members feelings. Instead of helping his family, he turns them away and focuses on his religion. This turns out to be a detrimental mistake as his family leaves him in the Congo. In addition, James attempt to fill the void left by Kathleen in a healthy way by raising Kathleen's daughter Lily. James takes her in and deceives his other daughters about Lily's true mother as he adopts his daughter's child as his own. This is a healthy way to fill Kathleen's void as he is taking in another child and