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Zoe Bauer
Mrs. Carroll
AP English IV – 5th hour
7 April 2015
We live in a patriarchal society which is defined as a society organized and run by men. Men make the rules and dominate in business and government. It is said to be a "man's world", men also make the rules and dominate in all forums outside the home. In virtually every known society past and present, women have not been treated as the full equals of men. A woman's main value is to support a man, bear children, and housekeeping duties. This is how it is and has been for millennia in most cultures. The novel, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, shows the paternalistic society in which the Price family lives in. In 1959 an obstinate Baptist minister named Nathan Price …show more content…
A child is supposed to be your pride and joy and Nathan does not see this.
Nathan does not care about his family and is more abusive to them than he is loving. “But my father needs permission only from the Savior.” “Climbing trees is for boys and monkeys.”
Orleanna struggles to find herself and do what is right for her children. She wants support from her husband and help with major decisions in their family’s life, “But Nathan [will] not hear my worries,” she says. All Orleanna wants is for Nathan to listen to her, but he will not even do that. Nathan is only in the Congo to make himself feel better. He cares about nobody else. Like all the women do in the Congo, Orleanna made dinner. She created the nicest dinner possible with the ingredients she has been provided with for Anatole. This still was not enough for Nathan. He thought the food was terrible and could not believe what Orleanna had just done. He calls her meal “pitiful.” A husband is supposed to be supportive of his wife. Nathan has proven that he is a terrible husband. Orleanna says, “I [am] his instrument, his animal, nothing more.” She realizes that Nathan is only using her for his wellbeing. Even when the Price family is warned to flee the Congo, Nathan refuses to leave. His children and his wife are in danger, yet he does not seem to care. At first, Orleanna does not know what to do and contemplates her decision. Nathan is the boss and going against …show more content…
In the wake of Ruth May's passing, Orleanna quietly rescues her daughters out of Kilanga, leaving Nathan behind. They walk along the trail in exuberant rains, but Leah falls extremely sick with malaria to proceed. Rachel then flies to Johannesburg, South Africa by Axelroot. Finally, Adah and Orleanna advance to the Belgian Embassy, and after that on to Georgia, and as Leah recovers from malaria under Anatole's protection she falls deeply in love with him and chooses to marry him and then live in the Congo. On the other hand, Rachel weds three different men, the final one of whom leaves her a hotel in the Congo. There she happily spends the rest of her life running the hotel. Adah goes to medical and becomes very successful. She takes on science as her new religion. Leah and Anatole have four children. They spend their lives helping African nations to become truly independent. Finally, Orleanna becomes an advocate for woman’s rights, but she is living her life with guilt. She carries it everywhere that she goes. All Orleanna wants is forgiveness from Ruth May, "My baby, my blood, my honest truth: entreat me not to leave thee, for whither thou goest, I will go. Where I lodge, we lodge together, where I die, you’ll be buried at last." Orleanna acknowledges that although she buried Ruth May, she never let her go. In the end of the book, Ruth May forgives