Orleanna: related to Aurelius which means golden. A golden character can be seen as a protagonist or in this case a heroine. A heroine can be defined as a woman acknowledge for her courageous acts. This definition of the name Orleanna fits the character perfectly in her time with Nathan because of her perseverance to stay with him for the children and for being brave enough to finally leave him in the end. In her youth Orleanna grew up as a non-religious shopkeeper's daughter on the outskirts of Jackson, Mississippi. Though she grew up in the depression she seemed to find joy playing in the muck with her cousins and kissing boys when she got older. Up until the day she met Nathan Price she was “bursting utterly with happiness” (Barbara Kingsolver.
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Orleanna forfeited her religion in the Congo when she realized it would take a different way to survive in Kilanga. She realizes that trying to “civilize” the Congolese isn’t going to help them survive and isn’t what the natives want. She understands what Reverend H.T. Johnson says in Black Man’s Burden “Pile on the Black Man’s Burden”(Johnson. “Black Man’s Burden” 9) Orleana can see that they are a burden on the people of Kilanga because they have no knowledge of how to survive after the church cuts off their funding. Orleanna focuses less on trying to get the Congolese to become Christians and more on learning to take care of her family. Since Orleanna came from a non-religious household she can easily give it up when she sees that she has to get her family through their time in the Congo. It’s significant that Orleanna can give up religion because she is the only one in the Price family that doesn’t have a biblical name. For Orleanna to have a non- biblical name shows that the author foreshadowed the Orleanna’s veering away from the teachings of the bible. Orleanna admits “while my husband’s intentions crystallized as rock salt..I was blinded from the constant looking back: Lot’s wife. I only ever saw the gathering clouds” (Kingsolver 98). This shows that Orleanna understands that she is losing her relationship with religion by referencing the quote, “But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt” ( King James Version. Genesis.
Orleanna forfeited her religion in the Congo when she realized it would take a different way to survive in Kilanga. She realizes that trying to “civilize” the Congolese isn’t going to help them survive and isn’t what the natives want. She understands what Reverend H.T. Johnson says in Black Man’s Burden “Pile on the Black Man’s Burden”(Johnson. “Black Man’s Burden” 9) Orleana can see that they are a burden on the people of Kilanga because they have no knowledge of how to survive after the church cuts off their funding. Orleanna focuses less on trying to get the Congolese to become Christians and more on learning to take care of her family. Since Orleanna came from a non-religious household she can easily give it up when she sees that she has to get her family through their time in the Congo. It’s significant that Orleanna can give up religion because she is the only one in the Price family that doesn’t have a biblical name. For Orleanna to have a non- biblical name shows that the author foreshadowed the Orleanna’s veering away from the teachings of the bible. Orleanna admits “while my husband’s intentions crystallized as rock salt..I was blinded from the constant looking back: Lot’s wife. I only ever saw the gathering clouds” (Kingsolver 98). This shows that Orleanna understands that she is losing her relationship with religion by referencing the quote, “But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt” ( King James Version. Genesis.