A Comparison of Two Evils In the novels Heart of Darkness and The Poisonwood Bible by Joseph Conrad and Barbara Kingsolver, both authors effectively utilize point of view, imagery, and symbolism to convey the central themes of good versus evil and race superiority. In both novels, the characters grapple with personal beliefs and doing what is humane. Throughout these novels, Conrad and Kingsolver both use a variety of images and symbols, as well as points of view that are similar, yet independent in their own respects.
In the novel Heart of Darkness, Marlow, the captain is one of the narrators, while another anonymous passenger is as well. Through this novel, Marlow and the passenger describe the events aboard their ship, the Nellie. Throughout …show more content…
This emphasizes the theme of race, and how the colonists believed they were superior mainly because they “conquered” the land. When in reality, the native tribes had been on the land in Africa for decades. Marlow is an agent for the Company, a Belgian ivory trading firm. Throughout his journey, they learn about Kurtz, a god and prisoner of the natives. After rescuing Kurtz, Marlow’s point of view shows us how he succumbs to madness and disease. The novel primarily focuses on how the “savages” are treated. After coming to the realization that they were being treated wrongly, Marlow decides to not support the Company, and supports Kurtz. Meanwhile, in The Poisonwood Bible, the point of view shifts to a family who is on a similar journey. Nathan Price, an evangelist Baptist preacher who takes his family on a mission trip from Bethlehem, Georgia to the Belgian Congo village of Kilanga in 1959. Their main mission is to bring Christianity to the “unenlightened souls”, or native Africans. The points of view include Orleanna Price, mother of Rachel, Leah, Adah, and Ruth-May, their four daughters who also narrate the story. Throughout the novel, the women of the family show how their father refuses to accept change, and won’t shift his view, which ends up with disastrous …show more content…
The characters all come from a racially segregated Georgia, and in 1959, Jim Crowe “makes the laws” as Ruth-May establishes. Coming from a place where they do not interact with blacks to a place where they are told they will “save” them is a harsh reality. Although the young girls are raised to be racist, the saving grace is Adah, whose disability impairs her body but not mind. She is horrified by her father and sisters racial prejudices, and says “ I can see no more”, and regards what seen as a “burden to bear”. Perhaps her lack of racism stems from the fact she is discriminated against often for her disability, or maybe it comes from her intelligence, we don’t know. We do, however, know Nathan Price, her father, sees himself above almost anyone. Not only because he delivers God’s word and should be revered, but because he feels he is superior in his own right. At the beginning of the novel, he is disgusted by the villagers nakedness, and when preaching, makes that clear. “ Nakedness, Father repeated, and the darkness of the soul”. He makes obvious that nakedness and wickedness go hand in hand, and the people of the Congo are wicked for their nakedness when he quotes scripture. “The emissaries of the Lord smote the sinners, who had come heedless to the sight of God, heedless in their
In the novel Heart of Darkness, Marlow, the captain is one of the narrators, while another anonymous passenger is as well. Through this novel, Marlow and the passenger describe the events aboard their ship, the Nellie. Throughout …show more content…
This emphasizes the theme of race, and how the colonists believed they were superior mainly because they “conquered” the land. When in reality, the native tribes had been on the land in Africa for decades. Marlow is an agent for the Company, a Belgian ivory trading firm. Throughout his journey, they learn about Kurtz, a god and prisoner of the natives. After rescuing Kurtz, Marlow’s point of view shows us how he succumbs to madness and disease. The novel primarily focuses on how the “savages” are treated. After coming to the realization that they were being treated wrongly, Marlow decides to not support the Company, and supports Kurtz. Meanwhile, in The Poisonwood Bible, the point of view shifts to a family who is on a similar journey. Nathan Price, an evangelist Baptist preacher who takes his family on a mission trip from Bethlehem, Georgia to the Belgian Congo village of Kilanga in 1959. Their main mission is to bring Christianity to the “unenlightened souls”, or native Africans. The points of view include Orleanna Price, mother of Rachel, Leah, Adah, and Ruth-May, their four daughters who also narrate the story. Throughout the novel, the women of the family show how their father refuses to accept change, and won’t shift his view, which ends up with disastrous …show more content…
The characters all come from a racially segregated Georgia, and in 1959, Jim Crowe “makes the laws” as Ruth-May establishes. Coming from a place where they do not interact with blacks to a place where they are told they will “save” them is a harsh reality. Although the young girls are raised to be racist, the saving grace is Adah, whose disability impairs her body but not mind. She is horrified by her father and sisters racial prejudices, and says “ I can see no more”, and regards what seen as a “burden to bear”. Perhaps her lack of racism stems from the fact she is discriminated against often for her disability, or maybe it comes from her intelligence, we don’t know. We do, however, know Nathan Price, her father, sees himself above almost anyone. Not only because he delivers God’s word and should be revered, but because he feels he is superior in his own right. At the beginning of the novel, he is disgusted by the villagers nakedness, and when preaching, makes that clear. “ Nakedness, Father repeated, and the darkness of the soul”. He makes obvious that nakedness and wickedness go hand in hand, and the people of the Congo are wicked for their nakedness when he quotes scripture. “The emissaries of the Lord smote the sinners, who had come heedless to the sight of God, heedless in their