Roles...

What do you think the role of each child will be in the story The Poisionwood Bible?

Nathan and Orleanna Price have four daughters, Rachel, Leah, Adah, and Ruth May. Rachel, a self centered teenager is the oldest sister, Leah and Adah are twins, and Ruth May is a young five year old. Each girl is unique, and I think that each of them will play an interesting, important role in The Poisionwood Bible.

Rachel, the oldest sister seems very vain and self centered. In some ways I can kind of relate to her, but sometimes I find her to be a little annoying. She is obsessed with looks, especially her own looks. She even compares herself to Rebekah, the virgin at the well, from the bible. She also shows how self absorbed she is when she says, “of course, everyone kept staring at me, as they always do here. I am the most extreme blond imaginable. I have sapphire-blue eyes, white eyelashes, and a platinum blonde hair that falls to my waist” (47). Rachel really doesn't like living in the Congo because it means she doesn't get to have any of the fun girly things that teenage girls in America have. Although she is a little annoying and extreme in some parts, Rachel shows us what we would all feel like if we had to go rough it in the Congo after living a nice cozy life in America.

Leah is the perfect, gifted twin sister. She is a tom boy that's always folowing her father around. This surprised me because not a lot of adolecent girls like to spend that much time with their fathers. She even says, “I like spending time with my father very much more than I like doing anything else” (36). Leah always listens to her father. In some ways she is just a big kiss up because she wants his attention. Because Leah has the biggest connection with the girl's father, Nathan, a lot of the things she says have to do with her father and his views on god and the church.

Adah is also a gifted twin despite the fact that she only has half a brain. Her brain is what makes her seem to bee the most complex sister. I think she will give us a totally different perspective on everything in the story because her half a brain makes her view on the world unique to everyone elses. One of the first things she says is, “Through Adah eyes, oh the world is a-boggle with colors and shapes competing for a half brains attention” (30). Also, because she doesnt talk too much, the things that she actually does say in the book probably have a lot more meaning to them than things that other people say.

Ruth May is only five years old when the Price family goes to the Congo. She is still young , so she sees everything from the eyes of an innocent child. Her perspective is really interesting because it seems like she is always discovering something new.