The darkness is closing in on all sides and breath comes only in short painful gasps. The same words repeat; they are inescapable. They think in an eternal loop, ‘It’s my fault. It’s my fault. It’s my fault.’ Guilt is one of the most destructive forces in the universe, rated just above bullets and just below nuclear weapons. It eats away at the mind, and brings even the strongest of humanity to a screeching halt, for nothing can hurt someone quite like themselves. The Poisonwood Bible, a novel by national humanities award winner Barbara Kingsolver, presents a poignant example of the effects of guilt and its sister, blame. In this novel, Kingsolver indubitably exposes the fact that not only can guilt be placed upon those who need not be guilty, …show more content…
Guilt is more effective than any other form of reprimand, for guilt is not only brutal, but inescapable; Through us it effects all around us, controlling what we say, what we do, and who we are. In The Poisonwood Bible, Leah, in a moment of introspection, gifts us with this thought, “God doesn’t need to punish us. He just grants us a long enough life to punish ourselves.” (Kingsolver 175) When those who have wronged others find themselves constantly shrouded in a hood of guilt, the worst punishment the world could give is the punishment delivered by oneself. All of the horrible things that the person has done in their life or at least things they believe are horrible, line up in an intangible mob that destroys that person from the inside out. This self-inflicted torment brings even the strongest to their knees because no one person knows where weaknesses are better than one’s own mind. Take for example Nathan Price, the loss of his squadron was a traumatic experience, and from that incident, he gained survivors guilt. This is common in soldiers who see their comrades die; It has some of the most brutal consequences of any other type of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). As Nathan believed it was his fault, the guilt gnawed at him, slowly working its way inside of him until it was deep-set in his mind that their deaths were entirely his fault. After turning to god for solace, that guilt never truly left him, and he descended into madness. When he experienced the traumatic event and blamed himself for it, he allowed guilt to rule his mind and actions. Though there is no telling what may have happened had he not singled himself out as the reason for his companions’ demise, there is also no denying the fact that if he hadn’t, he would have never ended up in the Congo, and he may never have lost his wife, his children, and his sanity. That decision, be it a conscious or