Such is the case in The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. She has the Underdowns, a family of six, travel from the USA to the Congo on a Christian mission. In real life, there are still several churches that send people in missions, including the one I belong to, the LDS church. Do not think for a moment that this book is preachy or that it's all about the Bible either.
It is the story of a pastor, who decides to move his wife and his four daughters, in order to bring salvation to the heathens of Africa. The character of Nathan Underdown represents all those fanatics that take their beliefs to the extreme. Their righteousness is so supreme, that everybody else is in dire need of salvation. Kingsolver makes sure to have him as the big-time patriarchal figure for 2/3 of the book. I loved how she made him so stubborn, not willing to learn the way of live in Africa, or how cultures are so different but that it does not mean that one is better than the other. He doesn't change, no matter what transpires around him.
As for the wife, Orleana, she represents the submissive, lost wife that many of us might have known in the past or might know right now. She has been beaten down emotionally and sometimes physically by her husband. How many women like her exist in real life? Too many. She loses her voice (not literally), and does not gain it back until a tragedy strikes the family.
The daughters, oh the daughters! Rachel, the twins Leah and Adah, and the baby Ruth-May. What names! Four girls under their father's tutelage and tough authority. Kingsolver decided to have this father not love his daughters, but rather use them as examples for his own work. The relationship of these sisters resonated with me big time. I am a twin, and we are four sisters in total. They all have different personalities as do we. Oh, I loved to see it in a book, written by a stranger, but able to relate to fictional characters. I love books like this.
My favorite sister: Leah. She starts as being almost as anal as her father, but by the end of the book, she is a completely different person that has lost her faith in her religion and has to make do with her own beliefs. She starts as one who does not question their father, to one who loses all respect for that person. From believing, thou shall honor thy parents, to just not caring. That is usually what happens when a parent is such a totalitarian, they lose their kids' love and respect. I love, love how she ends up marrying a Congolese and stays in Africa.
Adah, as Leah's twin, was my second favorite. So nice to have a character who has a supposed disability, have an internal voice in the book. We can feel her frustrations and get a glimpse as to how one might feel if your body was disabled in some way. How people can be so rude. It was neat to see how she related to the other people in Africa, where people live with disabilities and are not looked down upon. I loved that part in the book.
Rachel, on the other hand, is the obnoxious sister - the one that people think: "I can't believe she said that!" She's the one who is vain and of course is not happy to be in Africa, the one that you know will never get used to not have all the luxuries we all take for granted in the western hemisphere. She is not shy about her racism and the author makes sure to have a character we can all dislike. She does not grow and some people really get stuck in a rut.
As for Ruth-May, she was the baby, a five year old in the middle of a harsh country, the Congo. You have to read the book to see her sweet character.
The book has a fictional family, but they live in the midst when Congo becomes a democracy, the Republic of Congo. Patrice Lumumba became the first prime minister. He was a champion for his country, he wanted Europe to leave them alone. He wanted his country to keep its riches to make his people rich, not the foreigners. But what happens when there are riches in a country that can be easily be exploited? Well, other countries take notice and take over. Such was the case in Congo. The USA and other European countries decided to help Mobutu to take over.
History tidbit: after winning its independence from the Belgiums, the Congolese people elect Lumumba to become prime minister in June 1960, and ten weeks later there was a coup d'etat. Mobutu takes over. Patrice was murdered on January 17, 1961. That is how quickly they got rid of him, so much did powerful men did not like this country to be independent. There is known involvement from the Belgium gov't and the American gov't when Eisenhower was presiding. Mobutu, who then became president took over. He is best known as being one of the most corrupt leaders in the world. One of his best known extravaganzas that he paid with the country's money in the name of tourism, was the fight between Mohammed Ali and George Foreman. They were each paid $1 million dollars to fight.
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| Mobutu wearing his trademark hat |
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| Patrice Lumumba - see that smile? :( |
Of course, there were still people starving, children dying, but what country does not have corruption? It's the sadness of humanity, there will always be one who uses another. Barbara, writes about these events in such a way, that you don't even know you are getting served with history. I loved it! I had no idea about Mobutu or Lumumba before I read this book. It's made me realize that by living in the Americas, we don't get to know too much about Africa. We don't go into much detail at school, unless it is a chosen topic for a paper. It's something I want to change with my girls. Do correct me if I'm wrong - it has been my case. We might have some history from former slaves, but not too much specifically from the countries in Africa (not to say that the history from former slaves is less interesting or not as important). You know what I mean? It would be neat if we learned more about each other, take the time to learn about each country in the whole world - Ecuador, Croatia, Libya, New Zealand, etc.
I write this post when there is a crisis happening in Africa. When there are so many without food, or the capacity to help their own babies. It's made me realize how it is that some of us are born in such different places, with such different needs and wants. How greedy we are here, but so hard to not be at the same time. Would you give up all of your comforts? I would if it meant my children would be safe, somehow.You can now guess I really liked this book. :)
